Author: Gordon Govier

An expert on American religious history says it’s “problematic” that the term evangelical is losing its religious connotations and becoming a political description. Douglas Strong, the dean of the School of Theology at Seattle Pacific University (SPU), spoke at a special presentation at Upper|House on the University of Wisconsin campus Thursday morning, attended by 50 people. Strong said the religious term has a rich history, going back to Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation. And it does also have a political history, but a different political history than is associated with it now.

Across the city Saturday, Milwaukee’s faith community pitched in to offer help and hope in a new effort in partnership with city leaders to assess what’s needed to address urban problems. More than a dozen churches participated in “All Things in Common,” which was billed as a citywide block party but in reality was a chance to find out from folks who are hurting what they really need in the months and years ahead.

JANESVILLE—When Laura Diehl visited her daughter Becca the last time, she knew something was wrong. So she made supper for her Janesville family and drove back to the hospital in Madison. Laura was too late. By the time she arrived, Becca’s heart gave out. Ironically, the chemotherapy that saved Becca’s life at age 3 damaged her heart and cut her life short at age 29. Laura’s oldest child died Oct. 12, 2011. “When Becca died, it took me to an extremely dark place,” Laura said. “I didn’t know such darkness existed. I was isolated and alone.” She did not know…

I was previewing a documentary on race inside the studios of WKOW television last month. There were perhaps two dozen of us there — mostly police officers, clergy, social workers and elected officials — watching and then being interviewed to supplement the program. As the documentary wound to a conclusion, I noted that Gee’s was perhaps its most prominent voice. That is no surprise. Gee is a well-known pastor, community organizer and civil rights leader noted for his oratorical skill. A lifelong Madisonian, he leads Fountain of Life Covenant Church and the Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development.

ALLOUEZ, Wis. – Nearly 160 years ago, on Oct. 9, 1859, Mary appeared to a young Belgian immigrant living in Kewaunee County, located in eastern Wisconsin on Lake Michigan and near Green Bay. Today, it’s the only approved Marian apparition site in the United States. On Aug. 15, the feast of the Assumption, the U.S. bishops formally designated the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help in Champion as a national shrine.

A Downtown Lutheran church will partner with Catholic Charities Madison to operate a day resource center this winter for the homeless, filling a critical hole in the local safety net that had worried social service providers. The center will operate from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday from Nov. 1 through March 31 at Bethel Lutheran Church, 312 Wisconsin Ave., according to the Rev. Scot Sorensen, the church’s senior pastor.

Fitchburg’s Phil Haslanger spent 35 years in journalism, almost all of it with the Capital Times. By 2003, he began as part-time pastor at Madison-area churches while working full-time in various management roles at the newspaper. For the last nine years, Haslanger, 67, has been full-time pastor at Memorial United Church of Christ, 5705 Lacy Road. He’s a social advocate, a stellar writer and a compassionate pastor.

The Salvation Army of Dane County is proposing to demolish its current building on the Near East Side for a six-story structure that would update its homeless shelter for single women and families and add long-term housing and support services for destitute renters looking to get their lives back on track.

InterVarsity Christian Fellowship brought its national office to Madison in 1969; for many years it was located just a block off the UW campus in a former sorority house on Langdon Street. Today InterVarsity is located in a modern office building at University Research Park, and as of Wednesday has a new president. Tom Lin, the first full InterVarsity president to be selected from within the organization, now heads the campus ministry with 150 local staff who serve almost 1,500 field staff located on 669 campuses across the country.

After breaking a number of National Football League records during his 20-year playing career, legendary Green Bay Packers gunslinger Brett Favre was finally inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame last Saturday. Favre, who holds the record for most regular season wins as a quarterback and owns or shares over 140 NFL records, was enshrined in the same hall as other quarterbacking legends in Canton, Ohio, this past weekend with quite a number of cheeseheads in attendance at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium.