Author: Gordon Govier

(RNS) — Pam Schulz has never seen anything like it. Just about every home in the Cedar Rapids area has been impacted by the storms that swept across the Midwest last week with hurricane-force winds, according to Schulz, the executive director of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church, a congregation in Marion, Iowa, affiliated with Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ. Some have trees downed in their lawns. Some have trees through their houses and on their cars. Some, more than a week later, still don’t have electricity. And unlike the flooding that swept Cedar Rapids about a decade ago, the damage…

“Schools shut down and immediately we were brainstorming, what are the kids and families going to need?” said Cherokee Heights Middle School social worker Abby Ray in an interview with Collaboration Project’s Jon Anderson and Westminster missions chair Pamela Wilson. Providing food for families who depended on the now-closing school food programs rose to the top. Ray reached out to Laura Glaub, social worker at Thoreau Elementary, as the two schools had many shared families. “What can we do?” she asked. They had two days to get food out of school food pantries and develop a plan. Glaub approached Westminster Presbyterian for…

With ever-evolving social restrictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic, mourning the death of a loved one can be difficult. But it doesn’t have to be. That’s why Fitchburg businesses like Gunderson Funeral and Cremation Care, 2950 Chapel Valley Road, and Agrace Hospice and Palliative Care, 5395 E. Cheryl Pkwy. have conceptualized ways to serve their clients in their grief process despite distancing.

MADISON — Barring local county health departments issuing an order for closure, Catholic schools in the Diocese of Madison will return to in-person instruction this fall, but how that looks from school to school will vary. “All of our schools are very different,” said Michael Lancaster, superintendent of Catholic Schools for the Diocese of Madison.

TOWN OF ROXBURY — A leaky roof has created a rare vantage point in northwestern Dane County. The view from the top of the scaffolding that surrounds the steeple of St. Norbert Catholic Church will only be around for another month or so. But the work, which includes repairing and replacing some of the stone and mortar along with upgrades to the spire, is designed to preserve, restore and stabilize the church building. The goal of the $1.2 million project is also to ensure that one of the oldest Catholic parishes in Wisconsin remains viable.

PARDEEVILLE, Wis. – The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office is launching a police chaplaincy program to help its deputies and community members deal with traumatic situations. “Deputies see a lot of different, difficult situations weekly, sometimes daily,” said Capt. Jim Stilson. “It’s not so much the incident and what they see. It’s also dealing with the families and humanity of it.” Stilson said tough situations, such as notifying a family they’ve lost a loved one, can stick with you.

The American Solidarity Party, which supports “the sanctity of human life, the necessity of social justice, our responsibility to care for the environment, and promotion of a more peaceful world,” is expected to be included in the Wisconsin November 3 election ballot when slots are decided by the Wisconsin Election Commission on September 1. David Bovee, Wisconsin ASP Chair, announced in an email to supporters the successful result of the 2020 Wisconsin petition drive on behalf of presidential candidate Brian Carroll and vice presidential candidate Amar Patel:

Over four to five hours a day, Laurie Warren Jones cuts fabric, snips elastic to length and sews the pieces together. The retired American Girl employee has turned her home on Madison’s North Side into a one-woman assembly line for cloth face masks: Churning out 3,300 facial coverings in nearly five months of work — all of which have been donated. More than half have gone to St. Mary’s Hospital. Others were donated to organizations and groups like the Lussier Community Education Center, the Platteville Library, the YMCA of Dane County and Pres House — a Presbyterian ministry and apartments…

On June 19, the African American Council of Churches (AACC) organized a celebration of Juneteenth by serving over 2,000 households in Dane County. Over the course of an afternoon, more than a hundred volunteers from 30 local churches came together to celebrate through united service. Considering the number of families served and volunteers involved, one would think an event like this took months of preparation… Yet, just two weeks prior to Juneteenth, Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen — Senior Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist Church and President of the AACC — put his plan in motion to gather in a big…

What does “love your neighbor” look like when a perfect storm hits? Who is our neighbor? What’s the perfect storm?