Author: Gordon Govier

At a community worship service last weekend in remembrance of homicide victim Ashlee Steele, the Rev. Jeff Meyer drew upon both ancient biblical texts and current events. It was the only reference during the 45-minute service that hinted at the circumstances surrounding Steele’s death.

Paul Ryan doesn’t yet know if he is going to run for President, but his latest policy proposal looks like something he can campaign on. “I realized we have an economy of exclusion not participation,” the Wisconsin congressman told me from Capitol Hill last week. And since “it’s clear that we’re not going to get the debt crisis solved with this President,” Mr. Ryan drew up perhaps the most serious anti-poverty plan put forward by a Republican.

A vicious circle is playing out across the religious landscape, to hear church musicians tell of it. Fewer young people are studying the organ, which has led some churches to remove the instrument for lack of practitioners. And without the physical presence of an organ to spark interest, even fewer young people are considering the possibility of learning to play it.

The rosary beads next to the foosball table in Sam Gagliardi’s apartment suggest he has both fun and faith on his mind this school year. The UW-Madison junior is one of the inaugural tenants of Lumen House, the unusual campus housing project undertaken by three Downtown Madison Catholic congregations. The merged congregations are together known as the Cathedral Parish.

Last night in Oshkosh, I participated in a candelight prayer vigil for persecuted Christians in Iraq. Hot wax dripped through the bottom of the cup into the palm of my hand as beautiful prayers ascended to heaven. Waves of rain beat softly on the roof of the sanctuary. Gentle rain filled the silence between petitions. A wave of rain would subside, and then Pastor Wiley of Wesley Church would intone, “Lord, in your mercy …” We answered, “Hear our prayer!” The Iraqi children I sat near were in seventh heaven, not because of the prayers they are too young to…

Mount Zion Baptist church is a vital institution in south Madison. It has contributed in many important ways to the south side community. Any of us who have grown up in south Madison know Mt. Zion. It seems like the church has always been here. But, that is not the case. The story of Mt. Zion begins in June of 1911.

Think you’re having a bad day? Is something keeping you down? Need to be inspired?  Rich Dixon may just have the right message for you.   The Fort Collins, Colo., man taught math to teenagers – from a wheelchair. Today, after 35 years as a public high school math teacher, he’s a freelance writer and an inspirational speaker who rides around the country on a specially designed cycle – using only his hands. Paralyzed from the chest down due to a freak accident in 1987, he will begin his Wisconsin Hope Tour 2014 on Tuesday, Sept. 2, in Madison. This…

Last October, Madison City Council members approved an ordinance change allowing religious institutions and nonprofit organizations to host people in tents or other temporary portable shelters on their premises. One impetus was the “tiny house” movement, the effort by Occupy Madison Inc. to build a series of small structures on wheels for homeless people. The houses can be parked on city streets, but only if they are moved every 48 hours. Through the ordinance change, churches and other worship communities could provide longer-term sites. Ten months later, no church is yet hosting a tiny house or homeless encampment, but it’s…

Wisconsin Congressman James Sensenbrenner (R-Menomonee Falls) converted to Catholicism in a quiet ceremony at Milwaukee’s St. Francis de Sales Seminary on Monday — a private affair reportedly attended by at least two Wisconsin bishops and Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York.

Building shelters for vulnerable children around the world is a longstanding mission for Hovde Properties and the company’s charitable-giving vehicle, the Hovde Foundation. Brothers Eric and Steve Hovde started the foundation in 1998 to support two central missions: clinical research to find a cure for multiple sclerosis, and to provide charitable relief for those in desperate need. Read more of this story.