When it all began...

Hidden Valley Community Church owes its beginnings to the efforts of many people: a rural church with a desire to sponsor a new church in Dodgeville, a church-planting organization committed to making it happen, and a young pastor with a passion to use his gifts to communicate God’s love in a relevant way to his generation.

Brian and Cherie Rudesill came to Dodgeville in October 1997 to plant a new church that would reach out to people who had given up on church but not on God.

Church Nomads on the move, and on the grow...

The “grand opening” scheduled for fall 1998 was postponed until early 1999. That winter, we gained an experienced worship leader and several new families. As our Easter launch date approached, all we needed was a place to meet. All inquiries for an affordable space were initially refused. It brought us together in prayer, and soon God opened the doors. HVCC’s first public worship took place at the Dodgeville Elementary School on Easter 1999. 78 people came. Within six weeks we had moved to the vacant former downtown post office. By Christmas 1999, average weekly attendance reached 70 people, and by then seven adults and seven children had come to faith in Jesus Christ.

"That church that meets in a garage..."

In 2000, Hidden Valley moved to a rented former car dealership in Dodgeville. To many we became known as, "that church that meets in a garage." For three years we celebrated special times, weathered crises, and planned for the future in that place. Each week more and more people came to experience contemporary worship, to receive practical guidance about God’s design for living, and to discover God’s place for them in the body of Christ.

New building, new location and a bright future...

In 2001 we purchased land for a building of our own, and late the next year we raised funds and pledges to build a 14,300-square-foot meeting place in a former cornfield across from Harris Park. In September, 2003 we held our first worship service in the new building, our current location at 605 Bennett Road in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

We have shared our space with dozens of community groups, and our vision for reaching out to southwest Wisconsin with the message of Jesus continues to grow. In March 2006, Hidden Valley went digital: we established our first video venue in Richland Center, and later that year our services appeared on local cable access TV. You can now see them on this website.