Author: Gordon Govier

The presentation was titled “How to Talk about God without Starting a Fight” but it could just as well have been called “How to Report on Cat Cults and Snake Handlers.” Veteran religion reporter Bob Smietana was at Upper House on the University of Wisconsin campus and he brought along tales of the unusual stories he has covered over the years.Smietana is senior writer for Facts and Trends, a publication under the Southern Baptist Convention umbrella. Prior to that he was at Christianity Today, and six years as the Nashville Tennessean’s religion writer. His recent freelance writing include articles on…

MADISON (WKOW) — After years of work to end homelessness in Madison, local organizations say they’re finally seeing results. Although shelters in the area have been at capacity for years, many families who have no home have been able to turn their lives around as those resources helped them. Organizations like The Road Home, The Salvation Army and the YWCA are now collaborating on their programs to make the best use of the resources and give people one centralized place to go for the help they need.

“Even though violence is at an all-time low, these events are on the rise,” Madison police officer Matthew Magolan told members of Westwood Christian Church on a recent evening, as a special meeting was held at the church to learn how to respond to an active shooter. Churches as well as schools and businesses have been the scene of these shootings, which have become more and more common since the Columbine school shooting on April 20, 1999. Learning how to respond to such an event is prudent, and the Madison Police Department offers the training free as a public service…

Just two days after (Madison-based) InterVarsity Christian Fellowship filed a lawsuit against Wayne State University, the Detroit school decided to let the chapter regain its official status on campus once again—one of the quickest initial victories in a string of legal battles over Christian groups at public colleges. Last year, InterVarsity lost its recognition as a student group at Wayne State, the third-largest school in Michigan, over requirements that its leaders affirm the organization’s Christian beliefs. The school viewed the belief requirement as a violation of its nondiscrimination policy.

Nicole Baker Fulgham knows what it is like to grow up in poverty. She knows what it is like to teach children in poverty. And she knows what her faith tells her: “We are made in God’s image. I can’t believe that God would only give potential to white, wealthy kids.” So she has devoted her career to mobilizing people of faith to support public education reform and to close the academic achievement gap. She spoke on Saturday at the 2018 Kingdom Justice Summit, held at Upper House. (Selfless Ambition was one of the co-sponsors.) There were representatives of about…

“To talk about justice, one has to read the story (the biblical narrative) and immerse yourself in the story” says Tim Mackie, the creative director for The Bible Project, on Friday Night at the Upper House on the campus of UW-Madison. This was the first of three events for the Kingdom Justice Summit this weekend. Mackie along with Propaganda, a Los Angeles native rapper and spoken-word poet, were invited to discuss the theology of justice. The two sat down for 90 minutes and talked about what it means for be about kingdom justice as the church.

The Madison Christian Giving Fund announced that its campaign for 2017 concluded with $135,400 raised and they have allocated $135,400 to 25 Christian organizations to meet some of Madison’s most challenging issues in 2018. The Madison Christian Giving Fund is a new organization with a board of 20 volunteer members seeking to organize a central funding source for Christian based agencies. One hundred percent of the money raised through workplace payroll deductions, private donations and social media campaigns will be distributed to Christian based agencies that meet community needs while encouraging a gospel message of hope as part of their…

Billy Graham partnered with Madison-based InterVarsity Christian Fellowship many times during his life in order to bring the gospel message to college students. One campus that he often visited was the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, the home for many years of InterVarsity’s Urbana Student Missions Conference. He spoke at Urbana at least nine times: in 1948, 1957, 1961, 1964, 1976, 1979, 1981, 1984, and 1987.

Zach Nielsen faced a dilemma heading into 2016’s bitter election. The evangelical pastor of The Vine Church on Madison’s south side did not discuss how to vote from the pulpit, but privately, he said, it was rough. “For many people in my circle, the tension was wanting to cherish the right to vote, but on the other hand, not being about to, in good conscience, vote for Hillary or Trump. They were both seen as morally unfit for office. One because she is pro-choice, and the other because he is a loud-mouth lunatic who is a womanizer, celebrates all other…

The programming at Upper House includes a lot of campus-oriented events but the Faith in the Heart of the City series included, last week, a conversation with Renee Moe, a leader in the community as president and CEO of the United Way of Dane County. Renee is a University of Wisconsin graduate; I’ve known her since she was president of the UW student chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. Moderator Phil Haslanger, a United Church of Christ minister and former managing editor at The Capital Times I’ve also known for many years as a fellow journalist. So I knew…