Author: Gordon Govier

MADISON, Wis. A Madison pastor said his mom is recovering after a fight with covid-19, but he says he’s concerned about her treatment. His mom, Gloria Allen, lives in Milwaukee. Marcus Allen lives in Madison and is the pastor of Mt. Zion Church. Allen took to Facebook a week ago expressing his frustrations with his mom’s experience. “My mom has the Coronavirus and I’ve been down by it. It’s been real painful,” Allen said in a Facebook video.

As I write this, we are a month into the Stay at Home order in the state of Wisconsin and many of us have resorted to working from home. For myself as a pastor, I have transformed our guest bedroom/wife’s craft room back into a home office reminiscent of the early days of our church plant before we moved into our current building in Fitchburg. From here I have conducting many Zoom calls, recorded devotionals, and even preached Sunday sermons. This is the life many of us have come to know and will continue to know for the next month…

Marcio Sierra Jr, pastor at Lighthouse Church, has seen close to half of his congregation lose their jobs in the economic tidal wave that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. Marcus Allen, pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and president of the African American Council of Churches, talks with members and neighbors whose precarious financial position has been upended by the current economic calamity. And most of those with jobs do not have the kind of work that lets them work from home, so they are more exposed to the virus. Sierra and Allen reflected on the words of Psalm 46 – “God is our…

TOWN OF BURKE — Many of the Reindahls are buried here.Their farmland is now covered by East Towne Mall and Reindahl Park along East Washington Avenue.One of them, Knute Reindahl, who in 1867 immigrated to this rural pocket of Dane County from Norway, went on to become a famed violin maker before dying in 1936. Some of the earliest graves in the Burke Lutheran Cemetery are Bosbens. They began attending church on this ridge in the 1870s and continue to worship on this 39-acre tract hidden from the sprawling American Center Business Park juxtaposed just over the hill to the…

A month has gone by since Charles Huang told this story at Blackhawk Church during the Sunday service on March 15,  the first Sunday of online church during the COVID-19 Pandemic. At that point, people were just beginning to realize what in meant to shelter in place. Now, as our patience with being cooped up grows thin but the importance of staying put remains, it is a good time to hear his story. Charles shared this incredibly powerful, personal story about his experience with the SARS Outbreak while living in Taiwan, and what it looked like to love and be loved…

In recent years, SSM Saint Mary’s Hospital-Madison has cut down on overhead notifications in hopes of creating a more peaceful, healing environment — but during the COVID-19 pandemic, two daily announcements have offered just that. Each morning and afternoon, the hospital’s chaplains broadcast a short prayer, maybe a minute or two, throughout the building. When Sister Pam Moehring walks through the hospital’s corridors, staff sometimes stop to thank her for the prayer. This small routine is one of many changes hospitals have made to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, as chaplains like Moehring have adapted to calling instead of visiting…

For members of Stoughton’s LakeView Church, coming together Sunday to celebrate Easter was somewhat akin to going to a drive-in. Churchgoers never got out the cars that congregated in the parking lot. Instead, worshipers listened to the service over FM radio, honking their horns and blinking their lights to acknowledge various parts. Some had signs with Easter messages affixed to their cars.

A pastor in the village of Waldo, population 500, prays for good weather and a packed parking lot on Easter – even though her church will stay empty. Worshippers at Trinity United Methodist, which has 84 members, will watch the Rev. Denise Kwiatkowski (kwai-at-KOW-ski) deliver her sermon outdoors, at the church carport. The service will be broadcast through a low-frequency FM radio transmitter as congregants follow along on the radio and stay inside vehicles, parked in a semicircle that faces the church.

Just days before churches celebrate Easter, Gov. Tony Evers said small gatherings and drive-in worship services are allowed under his “safer at home” order. The clarification comes after days of confusion for several Dane County churches that reported receiving conflicting information from state and local officials about whether such services comply with the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.

MADISON, Wis.– While messages of gratitude are pouring in for doctors and nurses on the front lines, we can’t forget about those who are providing support through different means: chaplains. Kendra McIntosh is the chaplain supervisor at UW Health. Although she and her team aren’t providing medicine and hospital beds, they are providing emotional and spiritual support for families as they work through these difficult times.