Heart Prairie Lutheran Church of Whitewater, Wisconsin was a historic church organized in 1844 by pioneer Lutheran minister, Claus Lauritz Clausen.
Before the church was built, services were held under oak trees, in the Lyman School, and in log cabins. One of those early log cabins, owned by Gundar Halvorsen, now sits on the campus of the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. The Norwegian pioneers began hauling brick by oxcart to build the present church, which was completed between 1855 and 1857. About this time the congregation joined with congregations at Whitewater, Palmyra and Sugar Creek to call the same Lutheran pastor.
During the later 19th century the congregation grew to over 100 members. After 1880 an organist played a reed pump organ that led the congregational hymns. The Norwegian language was used in the church until 1902. It was only then that the English language was introduced into the services, but not used exclusively until 1920. During the early 1900s membership began declining as a result of families moving out of the Heart Prairie area. Finally in 1948, because of dwindling membership, the congregation merged with First English Lutheran Church of Whitewater.
The church, which became known for its historical, architectural and religious features, is included on the National Register of Historic Places. Historically this church may be the oldest Norwegian Lutheran Church in America still being used in its original state. Architecturally the church is a lasting example of pioneer building. Brick was used not only to build walls, but also to supply ornamental and decorative details.
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“...I delivered the poor who cried, and the orphan who had no helper. The blessing of the wretched came upon me, and I caused the widow’s heart to sing for joy. I put on righteousness, and it clothed me; my justice was like a robe and a turban. I was eyes to the blind, and feet to the lame. I was a father to the needy, and I championed the cause of the stranger. I broke the fangs of the unrighteous, and made them drop their prey from their teeth.”
—Bible: Hebrew, Job 29:12-17.
Job, recounting his faithfulness.
“To the cry of “follow Mormons and prairie dogs and find good land,” Civil War veterans flocked into Nebraska, joining a vast stampede of unemployed workers, tenant farmers, and European immigrants.”
—For the State of Nebraska, U.S. public relief program (1935-1943)
“Is it possible that I am not alone in believing that in the dispute between Galileo and the Church, the Church was right and the centre of man’s universe is the earth?”
—Stephen Vizinczey (b. 1933)