Author: Gordon Govier

Some of the greatest musical hits of the Reformation were sung at the Overture yesterday. Several times each year the Madison Symphony Orchestra and the Overture Center present a Free Community Hymn Sing, which is just the right kind of event to commemorate this fall’s 500th anniversary of the Protestant Reformation. As I guessed, the opening hymn was Martin Luther’s A Mighty Fortress is Our God, written in 1529, followed by The Church’s One Foundation, written by Samuel Wesley and Samuel Stone in the mid 19th century. The rest of the 11 hymns were from all of the past five…

The first Leading with Power luncheon was held today at the Marriott in Middleton. Leading with Power lunches are designed for men interested in meeting with other men, networking, or growing as fathers, husbands, and business men. The meetings feature a guest speaker and time for interaction.

A living-wage job is crucial to help ex-inmates thrive and keep them from winding up back in prison. Wisconsin prisons offer them the opportunity to work and get certified in a trade, and research shows these programs increase their chances of employment. But critics say there aren’t enough prison vocational programs to go around and offenders don’t find enough support once released. Wisconsin DOC officials acknowledge program capacity is limited, but say ultimately success is dependent on the prisoners themselves. “Programs have gotten better over the years,” said Dillard, who works with with ex-inmates today as the director of Ex-Prisoners…

  MADISON, Wis. – When Hurricane Harvey hit Texas, the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County rushed to collect supplies and brought down hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of donations. They’re now asking the Madison community to step up again as Hurricane Irma devastates Florida. It’s no longer a hurricane, but in Irma’s rampage across Florida, it flooded streets, destroyed homes and knocked out power to millions. “We’re just trying to figure out how we can best help the people in need,” Henry Sanders, founder and CEO of Selfless Ambition, said. Led by the Boys and Girls Club…

Michael Johnson, the CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, put this quote on one of his many Facebook posts during the extraordinary journey he led to bring supplies from Madison to the hurricane-ravaged people of the Texas coast and then to bring seven of them back to Madison: “So too, faith by itself, if it is not complemented by action, is dead.” (James 2:17)

In July when Sun-Prairie based nonprofit Hope 2 Others returned from its mission trip to Tanzania, it got right back to work preparing for its next trip. Part of the group’s trip in June and July was spent meeting with different tribes in Tanzania to gauge whether they would be interested in receiving two trainings Hope 2 Others offered – one called Helping Babies Breathe and another called Helping Babies Survive. The tribes were thrilled to hear about the training opportunities, said Hope 2 Others co-founder Karen Klemp.

They came from across the spectrum of Christian churches – evangelicals and progressives, large churches and small ones, downtown congregations as well as those east and west. They gathered to explore ways to work together to address the issues of violence in the Madison area. “Our churches are the strongest institutions in our community,” said Michael Johnson, CEO of the Boys and Girls Club of Dane County. But  too often, he said, they are missing on the scene of a crisis and too often, they are not working together to make a difference.

The Benedictine Sisters at Holy Wisdom Monastery received the inaugural Assisi Award for faith-based conservation at the 28th International Congress of Conservation Biology’s Opening Ceremony on July 23, 2017 in Cartagena, Colombia in front of nearly 1,500 attendees. The Assisi Award acknowledges organizations and individuals whose work demonstrates that faith-based conservation is contributing significantly to the common global effort of conserving life on Earth.

NASHVILLE (BP) — When millions gather Aug. 21 to view the first total solar eclipse the continental U.S. has seen in 38 years, they won’t just get an astronomy lesson. If they’re observant, they’ll also get a theology lesson. That’s the conclusion of three Christian university professors who told Baptist Press a total eclipse points to God’s existence, sovereignty, love, immutability and faithfulness.

The evil of racism is dominating our headlines and social media after the tragic events in and around Charlottesville, VA unfolded last weekend. Angry internet posts and bloggers abound. Deeply disturbing is that some white nationalists appeal to the Bible and to the church for support, which reminds us that racism is unfortunately intertwined with American church history.