Year: 2021
“It seems God is really up to something!” We all concluded this as we sat around a cozy living room on the Northside. That night I had been invited to meet with Troy Gardens Missional Family to talk about how YWAM could collaborate with them to pull off a 24 hour prayer and worship event on Madison’s Northside. What struck me first was the warm connection I felt with this group of people I just met, and then the stories we shared about God stirring believers from many churches to collaborate and pray together. And, now the Lord had opened…
Protests at Wexford Park typically involve an overzealous parent. There are soccer fields here. Sometimes the excitement of watching a 5-year-old who seems destined for a spot on Team USA becomes too much for those on the sidelines clutching their insulated coffee cups and who may disagree with a call by a teenage referee. But on a recent Saturday morning the protest came at the park shelter from a retired Lutheran minister wielding a hammer and conviction. Read the rest of this story at: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/watch-now-protesting-gun-violence-with-a-hammer-and-forge/article_42f4f5cc-e80b-5baf-bcdf-fed451b45e1c.html
You’re a college student, and you’ve been in lockdown for over a year during the pandemic. As it becomes safe to meet in-person again, your campus minister gathers you and other students for in-person training on topics like justice and evangelism. Then she asks you to put what you learned into practice by inviting your non-Christian friends to join a self-care GIG (Group Investigating God). This is exactly what happened at the University of Wisconsin (UW)–Madison in the spring of 2021 as Ministry Team Leader Brittany Pedersen prepped her students for the return to in-person ministry. If anyone got a…
St. John’s Lutheran Church has refined plans for a roughly $35 million redevelopment of its Downtown property with a design that will feature stained glass on part of the first floor and prominent vertical columns defining nine stories of housing above. The 10-story redevelopment, introduced in August, will include a new sanctuary, community spaces, offices and other amenities on the first floor, topped by 122 mostly lower-cost apartments with below-ground parking at 322 E. Washington Ave. Read more of this story: https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/downtown-church-redevelopment-to-rise-10-stories-over-east-washington-avenue/article_303ecf03-0c68-5231-86e0-e9101bea1959.html
SPRING GREEN, Wis. (RNS) — The Rev. Derek Miller has seen the future of the church in America. And it is small. On a Sunday morning in early November, Miller, guitar in hand, stepped up to the microphone at Cornerstone Church of Spring Green and began singing the familiar Charles Wesley hymn “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing.” Read more of this story < clip and paste > https://religionnews.com/2021/11/16/why-the-minichurch-is-the-latest-trend-in-american-religion/
On September 15 the Madison Christian Giving Fund hosted an event called “Reigniting a Movement of Generosity” at Upper House on the East Campus Mall. The highlight of the morning was the testimonies of 21 Partners of the FUND. Each one shared who they were, the service they provided, and the importance of the support of the Madison Christian Giving Fund. Hearing from each of them, one by one, helped me realize how important their work is in advancing the kingdom of God in Madison. They penetrate jails, prisons, neighborhoods, shelters, schools, campuses, dorms, and even dental and medical clinics…
“People around Wisconsin don’t know what’s happening in Madison,” Linda Maris told a local gathering last week. Maris is president of National Christian Foundation Wisconsin and speaks to Christian gatherings around the state. She noted that the capital city has a reputation for many things, but not as a hub of Christian generosity. Maris spoke at the Madison Christian Giving Fund’s Re-Igniting A Movement of Generosity in Madison breakfast at Upper House on Wednesday, September 15. But only after a long line of beneficiaries of the Giving Fund’s generosity testified to the importance of the funds they received to support…
From its humble beginnings on Monroe Street in 1985, to its present location on MacArthur Road, Care Net has expanded their service offerings multiple times in response to the needs of the community. Their mission has always been to provide women in Greater Dane County who faced unintended pregnancies with the resources and help they needed to say “yes” to their unborn children. Their leadership and board have not wavered in their commitment to follow the Holy Spirit’s guidance in serving women, protecting their unborn children and sharing the love of Jesus. Today these services, which are offered free of…
Uchenna Jones went from being told she’d never be able to run again to founding a Madison 5K focused on “faith, fellowship and fitness.” The 42-year-old married mother of three sons is the force behind the 3-year-old Madison Gospel 5K, modeled on a similar event she came across in Chicago in 2017 as she was just starting her distance-running journey.
The Madison Area Jail Ministry is a “Ministry of Presence” according to Michael Marshall, volunteer Executive Director. The ministry was founded by 3 Lutheran pastors who recognized that no one was paying attention to the spiritual needs of thousands of people in the Dane County jail. Many of the people in the jail are filled with uncertainty waiting for their trial or sentencing, stressed about their children, family and future. While there are community programs designed to assist people coming out of the state prison system, there are few programs available to those released from the Dane County jail, according…