The Madison Council of Churches, the first ecumenical organization in Madison, was formed in 1931 from the Dane County Sunday School Association by several “old line” Protestant congregations. It developed from an earlier organization known as the Dane County Sunday School Association.
The council was governed by semi-annual assemblies made up of representatives from each member church and by a cabinet and an executive committee. Financial contributions to the council were voluntary.
For many years the most outstanding activity of the council was its inter-denominational religious services at Thanksgiving, Good Friday, and other times. In addition, a Committee on Comity worked for orderly location and expansion of churches. In 1948 Reverend James R. Love, the chaplain at Mendota Hospital, became a part-time executive director which allowed the council to expand its program considerably. In 1949 it began a support program for international students at the university, and it co-sponsored a youth basketball league. In 1951 a Committee on Evangelism was formed to take a city-wide religious census. In 1955 the council began sponsoring licensed nursery schools. As a result of a constitutional revision and the participation of churches outside the city in programs such as the School of Religion and the Christian education workshops in 1959 the council changed its name to the Madison Area Council of Churches. During the 1950's the council became actively involved in the use of radio and television. Charitable efforts also expanded, and the council served as a clearinghouse for Madison's international relief efforts.
After Vatican II, Roman Catholic churches in Madison became interested, and by 1971 Our Lady Queen of Peace, St. Thomas Aquinas, and the St. Benedict Center had become members. In 1968 the council began sponsorship of the Ecumenical Information and Resource Center as a successor to the Catholic Information Center. In 1969 the organization was re-named the Madison Area Community of Churches.
During the 1960's and early 1970's MACC's social action concerns expanded as a result of outside funding secured by president Michael Petrovich, and the number of committees expanded to meet those demands. Staffing also expanded with a full-time executive secretary and an Audio-Visual Media Center and a Counselling and Consultation Center. At the same time, however, MACC struggled with lack of definition on the part of its member congregations and a low level of financial support from them. In 1976 MACC succumbed to this institutional fatigue and apathy, officially dissolving in October 1976. The Madison Church Women United assumed some of MACC's public information functions and the Madison Area Lutheran Council continued publication of MACC's Communicator and its church directory.
