Author: Gordon Govier

Madison schools are failing minority children who are poor. Madison’s racial disparity and achievement gap offers little hope for minority parents with limited means. Their only choice was the public schools until Lighthouse Christian school entered the Wisconsin Parental Choice program (the only Madison school participating in the state voucher program).   LightHouse from Yellow Dog Productions on Vimeo.

Christa Fisher opens a cabinet in her office and fills a cloth shopping bag with some of the supplies inside: Bibles, pencils, postage stamps, calendars; a few pairs of clean socks. She checks the walkie-talkie on her belt, picks up a stack of yellow request forms, and goes to work. She heads through a security door and down a barren corridor to a jail cellblock. Four men in blue jail-issued scrubs come to greet her through the bars, as a TV plays in the background.

Festus, a 15-year-old donkey from Blue Mounds, led a group of about 200 congregants observing Palm Sunday on a parade to the Capitol. The donkey has grown accustomed to his role re-creating Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem on a donkey. In fact, Festus has caused at least three fender-benders, said his handler and owner, Marlene Cordes of Black Forest Farm.

City Church of Madison has no dress code. This is so both newcomers and returning visitors can feel completely comfortable and be themselves at the non-denomination house of worship. By presenting a relaxed and welcoming atmosphere, the church believes its worshipers will more strongly connect with God, form new friendships, and acknowledge God’s presence in their daily lives.

MADISON — A contest is being held to name the new homeless day resource center operated by Catholic Charities with submissions being accepted from March 22 to April 7. Groups, businesses, schools, clubs, and individuals can enter a naming idea and be eligible to win a gift with recognition at the ribbon cutting when the center opens in the fall.

With a few inexpensive moves to turn bare walls into venues, churches are using visual displays for a range of purposes. Some complement lessons taught in worship (one church asked members to submit art pieces in response to a sermon series on thriving). Others bridge cultural divides with the secular world (such as a show at a Fort Wayne, Ind., church featuring local artists’ creations from discarded objects and materials). In one indicator, some 400 churches with gallery ambitions have bought “Seeing the Unseen: Launching and Managing a Church Gallery” at $30 per copy, according to Cameron Anderson, executive director…

A man who could not see. Another man who invited him to open his eyes. People amazed and divided by the transformation that had taken place. And a new way of seeing the world and living in it. Those are some of the elements of that story of Jesus giving sight to the man born blind in the Gospel of John, chapter 9. They are also some of the elements of the story of Noel Paul Stookey – someone probably best know as the Paul in the folk trio, Peter, Paul and Mary, that soared to fame in the 1960s.…

From George Washington to Barack Obama, almost every president has signed a proclamation of national prayer. But since the Reagan administration the National Day of Prayer has been institutionalized on the first Thursday of May. And this year, our nation may need prayer more than ever. National Day of Prayer events in Madison have typically been held in and outside of the state capitol building. For the last six years the coordinator of the Wisconsin observance has been Joleen Helbig of Cumberland, Wisconsin. Helbig met with about a dozen local pastors and ministry leaders at Upper House on March 23rd…

I’m guessing that Rev. Marcus Allen gets the question a lot but I’m going to ask it anyways: Do people ever take notice that a rather young man is the new senior pastor at the 106-year-old Mt. Zion Baptist Church?

It may seem like Eric Brown II x’19 took the road well-traveled for a college athlete: he developed a passion for his sport as early as age seven, set records in high school, and followed in his father’s footsteps. Eric Brown Sr. x’93 also ran track for UW–Madison.But the road for Brown — who placed seventh in the 800-meter run at the Big Ten Championships last season — wasn’t always smooth. He was bullied in grade school due to a stutter, high-pitched voice, and skinny frame. He remembers his class erupting in laughter as he read aloud, bringing him to…