Author: Gordon Govier

You are invited to come to the Wisconsin capitol on Thursday, January 16th, 2020, for National Religious Freedom Day.2020 is the Year of the Bible and I believe strongly we need to read and pray the New Testament through. We will be in room 400 NE from 10 a.m. – 3 p.m. The plan is to have the books of the New Testament written on an index card.  Participants would chose one card and when finished reading sign the back signifying they read the whole book or marking on the back where they ended so the next person can continue…

The Wisconsin State Journal asked a cross-section of area Christian clergy members to share with readers excerpts from their sermons they plan to delivery this Christmas. Below are portions of their messages.

PRAIRIE DU SAC, Wis. – Last week, Prairie du Sac resident Gene Weittenhiller shared his stage 4 pancreatic diagnosis with the world. For his last Christmas wish, he asked for as many Christmas cards as possible. When Milwaukee residents Markeith Powell, Marqwain Givhan and Earl Minley saw his story online, Minley said, “We took it upon ourselves to go out of our way two-and-a-half hours to see the smile on this man’s face. It was priceless.”

Recently some leaders of the Madison Christian Giving Fund met to pray.  We figured that since we exist to advance the Kingdom of God by supporting grass-roots ministries who serve people and lovingly share the gospel with them, we should be praising and listening to the King.

Madison-based Upper House is developing a cutting-edge Fellows program to help University of Wisconsin students integrate their academic studies with their Christian faith and vocation. This program will launch publicly in Fall 2020. To help hone the program, we are inviting students to participate in a Spring 2020 Pilot Cohort. Students in the Pilot Cohort will engage with rich content that aligns with the aim of the Fellows Program: to fill a gap in the life of the mind for Christian students at UW-Madison. The new Fellows Program and Pilot Cohort will be led by Dr. Daniel Hummel, Program Curator…

Over a decade ago, a few pastors were lamenting how they’d come to the end of an Advent season exhausted and sensing they’d missed it – the awe-inducing, soul-satisfying mystery of the incarnation. “For many of us, we were drowning in a sea of financial debt and endless lists of gifts to buy. We struggled to find the connection between our Christmas to-do lists and the story of Jesus’ birth,” they said. An overwhelming stress had overtaken worship and celebration. The time of year when focusing on Christ should be the easiest was often the hardest. Somehow, this had become the…

For Geneva Campus Church, it was collecting backpacks for students at West High School. For The Church at Christ Memorial, it was taking the teachers from Leopold Elementary out for a social get-together. For Redeemer City Church, it was taking care of kids at Huegel Elementary School so the African-American parent group could have a time to meet. For many congregations, linking up with Madison-area schools covers a wide range of activities, For some, it also involves providing food through a network of food pantries that serves low-income families. All of those connections came together on Nov. 19 as representatives of a range of…

Life is busy for most of us and  so it’s no wonder that the first thing to go by the wayside is self-care. Pastors and those who work in the church-sphere are no exception to this. In fact they may even have a harder time than others since it is their job to be “selfless”. This faulty thinking is damaging and needs to be counteracted. Pastors need to be provided the space to recharge and feel healed of the cares of their work. Some avenues exist – conferences, vacations, and getaways are some but tend to be expensive and time consuming.…

A panel of five local pastors responded to the survey of Dane County churches presented by Dubuque Seminary professor Christopher James at Upper House on November 19, 2019. The survey results presented a view of the Madison area in contrast to the popular perception of the city once described as the Athens of the Midwest. For one thing, Madison is not a bad place to plant a new fellowship. “It is possible to start new churches here,” James said. His research found 34 churches started since 2010 in Dane County are still going, and 52 churches started since 2000 are…

As Christopher James surveyed churches in Dane County and talked with pastors here and visited some of the churches, he began to get a sense of varied texture the religious landscape in a community not always thought of as religious. He explored the divisions in the community and among the churches. He looked at the differences in the ways Christians give voice to their priorities and go about their worship. In the process, he opened up possibilities for churches in this area to find new ways to shape the future. James is an associate professor of evangelism and missional Christianity…