Author: Gordon Govier

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – Eleven Wisconsin couples are proof that love is still alive and well after it was announced that they will be the first members inducted into the state’s Marriage Hall of Fame, the Wisconsin Family Council stated Monday. Married couples in Wisconsin had the chance to apply if they had been married 60 years or more. As part of this inaugural group, the council put the cut-off at 65 years. Read more of this story: https://www.nbc15.com/2022/02/28/11-couples-named-first-members-wisconsin-marriage-hall-fame/  

Awaken Dane is a two-year cohort program consisting of three main tiers: Monthly meetings of the pastor with a team of congregational members to work through the Stepping Out curriculum together Monthly meetings of all participating pastors to reflect on the program and form a community together alongside Awaken Dane coaches Two plenaries hosted at Upper House Madison each year to present a topic to Awaken Dane participants while featuring different local speakers Read more of this story at: https://www.collaborationproject.us/stories/one-more-layer

The Wisconsin Court of Appeals ruled last week in favor of a church in Madison. As a result of that ruling, Capitoland Christian Center Church remains free to expect its employees to share and live out its religious beliefs. In its decision, the court affirmed a lower court’s ruling that the church did not engage in marital-status discrimination when it informed one of its employees that the church’s religious beliefs prohibited her from living with her boyfriend, a condition of employment which the individual had previously agreed to uphold. Read the court’s decision: https://adflegal.org/sites/default/files/2022-02/Sandoval-v-Capitoland-Christian-Center-Church-2022-02-24-Court-of-Appeals-Decision.pdf.  

“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…