Author: Gordon Govier

At a time when municipalities are looking to shed anything extraneous, the Dane County town of Rutland stands out. It owns a church. Well, a former church. Rutland Center Church, erected in 1852 by a Protestant sect called The United Brethren in Christ, once was part of Rutland Center, a bustling stagecoach stop three miles south of the village of Oregon. Read more of this story.

Thousands of students who attend Catholic schools in the Madison Catholic Diocese converged on Alliant Energy Center Thursday for an all-schools Mass, only the second such gathering in the diocese’s 66-year history. They came from as far away as Berlin and Cassville and Lancaster, some in school T-shirts, others in suits and dresses.

MILWAUKEE — Lebanese American Elie Hasbani never dreamed he’d live in Milwaukee, and he never imagined he’d be running a marathon. “My main inspiration is Jesus,” he told CBN News. “That’s why I’m doing this and, of course, He changed my life.”

Driving north on Green Bay Road in Milwaukee, it’s easy to miss Memorial Lutheran Church, nestled back from the road with much of its brick facade obscured by the greenery. It’s harder to ignore its pastor and parish nurse sitting under a tent at its entrance, beckoning passers-by to stop for a moment of prayer.

Aaron Rodgers, the quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, has left little doubt that he is a great leader. Aaron led the Packers in 2009 back to the playoffs with an 11-5 record. “My most memorable moment so far as a Packer,” Rodgers says, “was celebrating with my teammates after beating Seattle to get into the 2009 playoffs.” Yet there is another side of Aaron Rodgers—that of a quiet leader in his personal life. Rodgers grew up in a home where his parents, Ed and Darla, were Christian models for Aaron and his brothers, Luke and Jordan. Read more of…

Yesterday, on the steps of the Racine County Courthouse, Great Marriages Racine held a public signing of the Community Marriage Agreement, a document that holds a commitment to preserve and strengthen, prepare, build and repair traditional marriages.   Many pastors were in attendance, with many others who were unable to attend but have signed also taking part in the marriage agreement.  This is good news for Wisconsin.

As long as there are tests, the saying goes, there will be prayer in public schools. And even though a handful of school administrators still have a heavy-handed approach towards faith in public schools, a large majority of public schools across the country handle faith issues with no problem. That’s the view of First Amendment expert Charles Haynes,

For months, Janesville Congressman and now Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan has spoken passionately about how Catholic social teaching helped shape his budget priorities. And for months, leaders within his own denomination have ripped him. A committee of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops blasted his federal budget approach for “unjustified and wrong” cuts to the poor. A busload of nuns motored through nine states, including Wisconsin, contending his fiscal priorities are “immoral” and would “devastate the soul of our nation.” But in Ryan’s own Catholic diocese, the reception has been much more nuanced, even flattering at times. Read…

(Madison, WI) – The search for God and spiritual significance is alive and well on U.S. college and university campuses. Madison-based InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA anticipates a record year of campus ministry in the 2012-2013 school year that is now getting underway. During the 2011-2012 school year just past, InterVarsity saw 3,354 new believers come to faith in Jesus Christ. That’s an increase of more than 700 over the previous year, and more than double the same figure from seven years ago. Read more of this news release.

JERUSALEM, Israel — It didn’t draw Super Bowl attention but Israel’s first-ever international tackle football game made history. It was American football, Israeli style, complete with the blowing of the shofar (ram’s horn). Played on a Baptist baseball field, Israel’s national team took on a foreign opponent for the first time ever — the Crusaders from Wisconsin’s Maranatha Baptist Bible College.