Informal Congregational societies were held at private residences in Janesville, Wis., as early as 1843 and Reverend C.H.A. Bulkley, an itinerant evangelist of the American Home Missionary Society, became the first minister of this group in 1844. In February 1845, a noted Congregational-Presbyterian missionary in Wisconsin, Reverend Stephen Peet, helped Reverend Bulkley organize the First Congregational Church of Janesville. The congregation, which consisted of 15 members, met in various buildings, initially meeting in the Courthouse.
In 1848, the congregation's first full pastor, Reverend Hiram Foote, arrived; land was purchased on the corner of Jackson and Dodge streets; and construction began on the church's first building. Completed in 1850, the building was expanded the following year to accommodate the growing congregation. The 1850 building was razed in 1868 to make room for a larger building. The new building, completed in 1869, burned down on May 1, 1875 during a thunderstorm. A decision was made to rebuild substantially on the same site and the new sanctuary was dedicated December 19 of that year. The builders used standing walls from the burned building to construct a Gothic revival, cream brick church which is still in use. A large addition was also added for Sunday school and social purposes sometime during the late 1800's. A parsonage was built on land adjacent to the church thanks to an 1895 gift given by Mrs. Laura Kendall.
During the last years of World War I, the Congregational Church and Presbyterian Church formed a Federated Church. The Congregational Church lacked a pastor but was blessed with coal for heating, and the Presbyterian Church had the pastor, but lacked the coal. The Federated Church was dissolved after the war by the Presbyterian Council.
Between 1936 and 1937 the church basement was excavated and remodeled to add classrooms, a kitchen, and a dining room. In 1951, the First Congregational Society purchased most of the remainder of the city block on which the church was situated, including two houses and a meeting hall. The meeting hall and the church parsonage were razed, and a two story church education addition was completed in 1957, which was the same year that a national merger formed the United Church of Christ. An extensive remodeling project was undertaken in 1964 to repair structural damage and to remodel the sanctuary.
With a long history of social activism, the Janesville church first formed the Social Action Committee in 1935. Discussions included workers' rights, equal rights, and the abolition of war. While other churches were moving to the suburbs after World War II, the Congregational Church decided to remain in downtown Janesville to serve a diverse group of people in the city. This was also the motivation for housing in the church the Head Start Program for disadvantaged children.
