Author: Gordon Govier

We gathered outside the Madison Federal Courthouse to commemorate the moment the Roman legal system sentenced Jesus to die. We remembered Veronica and her small gesture of kindness, wiping the brow of the condemned Jesus, outside the City-County Building, where the homeless gather in need of the smallest kindnesses. And we remembered the moment of Jesus’ death on the steps of Grace Church, where a homeless man died in the bitter cold just three months ago.

Jesus Christ’s suffering didn’t end on the cross but continues today in the forms of inequity, discrimination and other woes, according to the organizers of the annual Social Justice Stations. The fifth annual pilgrimage of nearly two miles through La Crosse will take place from 10 a.m. to noon Good Friday, April 18.

A Wisconsin church plans to create an unforgettable night for special needs students by hosting individuals with Down Syndrome, Cerebral Palsy and Autism as honored guests at a prom next month. Great Lakes Church says the event’s concept is compassionately simple. Students are pampered and paired with a high school student who acts as their host for the night while keeping them company and providing assistance if needed.

Last fall, Jose Flores applied to UW-Madison and the University of Dallas, thinking he might want to become a pediatrician. But something nagged at the high school senior. “I didn’t feel really content,” said Flores, 18, who lives with his parents and two brothers on Madison’s East Side. “I have an ambitious personality. I want to do a lot, and I feel very strongly I could work hard enough to become a doctor. But I thought maybe I need to be doing more for God.”

The lawsuit by the Freedom From Religion Foundation (FFRF) challenging the clergy housing exclusion proceeded this week as the government filed a brief in the Seventh Circuit defending the constitutionality of the law and arguing that FFRF lacks legal standing to bring the case.

Former Madison resident Larry Mykytiuk has written the cover story in the March/April issue of Biblical Archaeology Review: “50 Real People of the Bible Confirmed by Archaeology.” The article is based on Mykytiuk’s PhD research at the University of Wisconsin Department of Hebrew and Semitic Studies. He received his PhD from the University of Wisconsin in 1998.

Just a few weeks after his election last spring, Pope Francis stunned papal observers by washing the feet of two women during a Holy Week ritual.

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker believes he can do all things through Christ, but an atheist group charges that he cannot do all things through Christ on his official social media platforms. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has demanded Walker remove posts from his official Facebook and Twitter feeds that read, “Philippians 4:13.”

A low-income apartment project that was rejected by Madison’s elected officials but supported by state and federal housing programs is now being built on Madison’s east side. Eagle Harber Apartments is being developed by Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County and will provide affordable housing for up to 36 families. The official groundbreaking ceremony was held this past Sunday, March 23, 2013.

The success of Alex and Stephen Kendrick has inspired legions of Christians to tell their faith-friendly stories on film — well, video at least. And one couple who responded — Brookfield native Diane Peterson and her husband, Scott — screened their first film for a Wisconsin audience last week. The Petersons aren’t banking on the breakout success of the Kendrick brothers. But like that duo, they are evangelists for their faith and hope to pursue that mission through cinema.