Author: Gordon Govier

Faith and civic leaders will gather Jan. 27 at the Italian Community Center for the fifth annual State of Milwaukee Symposium sponsored by the evangelical Christian group BASICS and the National Christian Foundation’s Wisconsin chapter. More than 200 people are expected to attend the event, whose focus will be “Engaging Leaders in a City Transformation Movement.” Speakers will include Eric J. Swanson, co-author of the 2010 book “Transform a City,” which explores the ways Christian churches can address social problems that plague urban areas.

The five people running for Madison mayor all seem like decent enough eggs with some decent and — Christopher Daly’s proposal for a Madison public bank notwithstanding — realistic ideas for how to make Madison an even better place to live. One proposal sticks out, though, and not necessarily like a sore thumb. In an area where politicians aren’t given to thanking God for their successes and the most-depended-upon “higher power” is frequently government, one candidate suggests Madison city officials might need faith in something more than just liberal orthodoxy to solve problems. If elected, Richard V. Brown Sr. says…

Julaine Appling is often asked if she’s afraid of being on the wrong side of history. The short answer: she’s not. “There’s no right or wrong side of history,” the president of Wisconsin Family Action says in her office. “History’s being made every single day. It’s not predetermined. I’m making history now. So are you. What I am concerned about is being on the right side of truth.”

All its profound religious and historical significance aside, this book is a work of art. The St. John’s Bible — a modern realization of an ancient text — was created well within the lifetime of most of the people reading this. The seven-volume Bible is a work of stunning calligraphy, vibrant colors and illuminations laced with unexpected modernity. Grounded in the Midwest, is also the first handwritten, illuminated Bible to be commissioned by a Benedictine monastery in 500 years. This huge undertaking is the subject of “Illuminating the Word: The Saint John’s Bible,” an exhibition at the Chazen Museum of…

Some spectators mistook the procession around the Capitol Square for a festive occasion, thinking the horses were pulling a carriage with newlyweds. It was a much more somber event than that. The carriage was an 1800s hearse with an empty casket in the back. The mourners, about 75 of them, walked to the side in silence, some carrying candles. This was the seventh year a group of local clergy members and others have organized a memorial service to honor people who died without shelter in Dane County and elsewhere in the past year or in recent years. It was held…

Forty percent of Americans are evangelical Christians, and many of them reject evolution. Jeff Hardin, chairman of the University of Wisconsin’s zoology department, takes this personally. Hardin is an evangelical, but much of his evangelism is directed at his fellow believers. He wants to persuade them that evolution and Christianity are compatible.

Along with Easter, Christmas is a time when many Christians who otherwise aren’t regulars at a church return to the pews. The Rev. Kirk Morledge, pastor of First Presbyterian Church in Waunakee, said he doesn’t consider these people visitors — and they frequently don’t, either. “Many of them regard us as their church, even though they may attend just twice a year,” he said. “And we consider them very much a part of our faith family.”

For the tens of thousands who enter its gates on any given Sunday game day (or another day), Lambeau Field is a sight to behold. For David Jones, one of more than 77,000 people in attendance at the Green Bay Packers’ game Monday night, his experience was out of the ordinary among those packed into one of the National Football League’s oldest stadiums. Turns out Jones’ first trip to cheer on his beloved team in its iconic arena started with a spiritual act.

Several months ago, Mark Krueger of Middleton felt moved by his faith to do something more for the community. He looked at his skills and landed on what he knows best: the law. He and his wife, Michelle Hernandez, are attorneys and operate the law firm Krueger & Hernandez. Its main offices are in Middleton and Baraboo, with satellite sites in Chicago and New York City. Through the church they attend, Global Presence Ministries in Monona, the couple has started a free legal clinic. It operates from 9 a.m. to noon on Fridays at the church, 6406 Bridge Road.

The new prayer room recently opened at 6406 Bridge Road in Monona is unlike any other of its kind in the area. Not only a center of celebration, where laughter is heard among the singers and worshippers, the new prayer room encourages creatives to actively paint, sculpt, dance or play music during the service, giving vent to the creative Holy Spirit in each person. The vision of Global Presence Ministries is “Bringing God’s Presence, Advancing His Kingdom, Transforming Nations,” and members bring this vision to light by practicing their core means, prayer and worship.