Author: Gordon Govier

The Jewish Synagogues and Christian churches in our cities are both houses of worship, but from two separate faith traditions. One tradition worships on Saturday, the other worships on Sunday. Acknowledging some obvious, basic differences, I still used to feel that they functioned in much the same basic way. But that was before I began talking to archaeologists about synagogues in the first century, in the time of Jesus.

The statewide program that provides a taxpayer subsidy for students to attend private schools experienced a 37% increase in enrollment this year. In Dane County, three new schools joined the statewide voucher program this year after Lighthouse Christian School in Madison had been the sole school in the county participating since the statewide program’s inception in 2013.

The word behold is used over a thousand times in the Bible including, near the beginning, “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” [KJV] David Conover’s award-winning documentary, Behold the Earth, features Christian creation care activists who remind viewers that the Christian faith tradition, contrary to some contemporary trends, has often led in environmental concern. The documentary features, in a major way, University of Wisconsin environmental studies professor Calvin DeWitt; as well as the late Theo Colborn, who got her PhD at the University of Wisconsin; and climate scientist Katherine Heyhoe, who…

Plain People is an umbrella term for various Amish and Old Order Mennonite groups who set themselves apart from the modern world in different ways. The groups are offshoots of the Anabaptist movement launched in 1527, which was itself a fringe movement of the Protestant Reformation. Differences between Amish and Mennonites are not always easy to identify.

Easily the most meaningful, valuable act of service I’ve ever done is also Madison’s longest-running collaboration among communities of faith: the Community Meal Program at Luke House. Its aim is simple: to provide a good meal to anyone who wants it, served with dignity and in a comfortable environment. The meals are served in an unassuming building called Luke House at 310 S. Ingersoll St. All of the food and labor is donated by faith communities. Almost all denominations are represented, along with a few unattached volunteers.

I believe the Lord God has made another massive dent in the kingdom of darkness in Madison! WE International, Inspiring Hope Ministries, and Upper House collaborated to invite Bob Goff, author, speaker, lawyer, and Christian activist to bring his “Dream Big and Love Extravagantly Conference” to a sell out crowd at Upperhouse Friday night. Goff is a two time New York Times best selling author of Love Does and Everybody, Always, Honorary Consul to the Republic of Uganda, and founder of the non-profit Love Does, a human rights organization operating in Uganda, India, Nepal, Afghanistan, and Somalia.

On a quiet Sunday morning in August, members of a small majority-black church on the Far East Side welcomed white strangers into their worship service with wide smiles and warm hugs. Mother Rose Brown reached down and held the hand of a white woman visiting Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church with her black boyfriend for the first time from Chicago. Another black woman from the church called another white newcomer “sister.”

When city of Madison officials ask the local church community for help, that’s a unique situation. And almost an imperative to respond.That was the story Wednesday evening at the Madison Christian Giving Fund’s Ministry Marketplace Celebration, held at Turner Hall.Thirty-three local ministries were featured at tables around the marketplace. Attendees were invited to visit each table to find out how those ministries are impacting lives in Madison and “expose the good work being done in the community,” as emcee Fred Grossenbach put it.

Dallas Willard was a University of Southern California philosophy professor for 47 years, and a leading Christian author and speaker, until he died in 2013. But the six years that he spent in Madison, while working on his PhD in philosophy was foundational for his later ministry. Among his books, The Divine Conspiracy, was perhaps the most well-known, selected as Christianity Today’s Book of the Year in 1999. After he first arrived in Madison in 1959, Willard and his wife Jane were part of a Christian and Missionary Alliance congregation at 401 N. Blackhawk Avenue. That church building later became…

The Kingdom of God is advancing in Madison! But many of us don’t even know it.   More than ever before, people like you and me are working together with Christian non profits, churches, and social service agencies to solve Madison’s toughest problems, many times at the invitation of community leaders! Issues like sex trafficking, immigration, racial injustice, disparities in education, homelessness, and hunger relief are impossible to solve without this community-transforming collaboration.   This is a beautiful expression of the body of Christ.  One body, different parts, serving and loving people and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ, working…