Author: Gordon Govier

  The holiest and most contentious spot of ground on this globe is without a doubt the tract at the southeast corner of Jerusalem’s Old City, known to the Jews and Christians as The Temple Mount and to Muslims as Al Haram al-sharif (the noble sanctuary). A recently published book project that tells the story of this place, put together by a team of Jewish, Christian and Muslim authors, calls it The Sacred Esplanade. Three of the key writers, representating each of the monotheistic religions, were in Madison last night for a presentation arranged by the Lubar Institute for the…

President Barack Obama visits Madison for a get-out-the-vote rally on the Library Mall, the first visit to the University of Wisconsin campus by a sitting president since Harry Truman’s administration. It’s all about politics, of course, but as the president was on his way to Madison the New York Times put up a story from the previous day’s visit to New Mexico, where a woman asked the president about how he became a Christian.

One dozen young adults from eight Madison area churches have joined the Madison Masters Commission (MMC), now in its second year at Bethesda Church, 3245 E. Washington Avenue. For four students its their second year, eight are enrolled new this year. “It’s a school of discipleship and the idea is transformation,” says Brian Bougher, a pastor on Bethesda’s staff and the director of MMC. “The program aims to teach the students to live as Jesus did by combining Biblical study with practical ministry opportunities.”

  In four weeks, Joni Eareckson Tada celebrates her 61st birthday, an incredible milestone for a quadriplegic. Currently recovering from treatment for breast cancer, Joni still lives in southern California and remains quite active in ministry. She has a strong link to Wisconsin.

Advance-K ministries, which is based on the fringe of the UW-Madison campus at 555 W. Mifflin St., is sponsoring Set Us Ablaze, an extended time of unified prayer and worship this weekend.  The 28-hour event begins at 6pm, Friday, Sept. 24th and ends at 10pm, Saturday, Sept. 25th. Set Us Ablaze will take place in a warehouse at 1828 Wright Street, on Madison’s east side, on the fringe of the MATC campus. Worship leaders from a number of Madison churches are taking part.

  MADISON — People are invited to join Christians around the world to pray, fast, and peacefully witness to end abortion during the Fall 40 Days for Life campaign. Madison will be one of some 238 sites in six countries participating in simultaneous programs from September 22 to October 31. This is the largest campaign to date since 40 Days for Life started three years ago.

There is a great opportunity to let children hear the Word of God—to tell them that God loves them and cares about them; to share the message of salvation in Jesus and teach Christian truths to live by. There are 32 elementary schools in the Madison Metropolitan School District. We are holding Good News Clubs (GNC) in six of those schools, plus seven more in communities outside of Madison.

Heavenly skylights arc over a giant hallway that cuts the top floor in two. Well-stocked coffee carts and smiling churchgoers fill the space like a mall food court. Three large worship venues line the atrium, and smack in the center is a round information table, in case you need help finding the Old Navy. Someone like myself, accustomed to a congregation of 60 Lutherans, quickly feels lost. Despite Blackhawk’s size, though, every detail runs smoothly, making for quite the experience.

NEWS RELEASE 17 Area Churches Represented at Habitat’s Building on Faith Day [MADISON, WI] — The pounding nails and the sawing of wood will be added sounds downtown this Saturday as Habitat for Humanity of Dane County will be framing walls for its Building on Faith Day More than 100 volunteers with 17 Madison area churches will be constructing walls for a future home that will be built this fall in the Twin Oaks subdivision, in southeast Madison. The home is being built with Jenice Anderson and her family.  

madisonchristians.com is committed to supporting the local Christian community in the Madison area. Our theme, “We’re in this Together,” is taken from Paul’s letter to the Romans: “In Christ, we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all of the others.” (12:5). In the past several years we’ve covered many stories of people and events in the local Christian communities. We have updated the website on a daily basis. When there wasn’t a local story we provided a link to coverage of interesting faith-related news by major media outlets. We have decided that we need to…