Our Pastor
Rev. John D. Heeckt
Phone:
860-927-3335
Email:
Office Hours:
Tuesday & Wednesday 11-1pm in office, Thursdays 2-4pm at Wilson’s Cafe in town.
About Pastor John
Born as a child, the Rev. John David Heeckt (or the boy who would one day become the Rev. John David Heeckt) hails originally from the great Cornhusker state of Nebraska, where he was born in the bustling little burgh of Grand Island. Ignoring Horace Greeley’s advice about going west, John and his family came east to New Jersey when he was three, settling in rural Hunterdon County. (Yes, Virginia, there is a rural New Jersey, but like so many things these days, it’s not what it used to be.)
In any event Rev. Heeckt was educated in the local public schools, where he earned such comments on his reports cards as, “talented, but utterly unwilling to apply himself,” and “does not play well with the other children.” He hit his educational stride at university, however, completing his undergraduate work at Rutgers University, and going on to earn graduate degrees from Yale, Harvard, and Boston University, as well as a Doctor of Ministry from Emory University.
Ministerial Qualifications
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Master of Divinity, Yale University
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Master of Sacred Theology, Boston University
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Doctor of Ministry in Congregational Leadership, Emory University
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Member Committee on Ministry, Litchfield North Association, UCC
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​Former Conference Board Member, Penn Northeast Conference, UCC
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Former Chair, Committee on Ministry, New Haven East Consociation, UCC
Not particularly active in church as a youngster, Rev. Heeckt, came to faith during his high school years at Evangel Chapel, as Assemblies of God church in Bridgwater, New Jersey. Upon reaching man’s estate, Rev. Heeckt began to discern a call to ministry, beginning a spiritual journey that saw him leave the Assemblies of God, traveling through the Lutheran and Episcopal churches (he was confirmed Episcopalian, in fact) before arriving, at long last, in the United Church of Christ. After setting the unofficial record for time in the UCC ordination process, Rev. Heeckt became Rev. Heeckt when he was ordained in October, 2006, while serving his first pastoral call, Ridgebury Congregational Church in Ridgefield, Connecticut. Subsequent to that, Rev. Heeckt has also served congregations in Branford, Connecticut and Easton, Pennsylvania, before arriving here in Kent.
