Author: Gordon Govier

The University of Wisconsin-Extension’s Lowell Center in Madison is finding itself at the center of a dispute over whether it should stock Gideon Bibles in its guest rooms. First the UW-Extension agreed to remove all Bibles as of Dec. 1, after the Madison-based Freedom Foundation complained that it was inappropriate for the state-run school to promote a particular religious perspective. Now the organization Alliance Defending Freedom (formerly the Alliance Defense Fund), has fired off a letter to UW and the University of Iowa — which also pulled the Bibles — insisting the removal may violate the First Amendment.

COLORADO SPRINGS — AT 6:45 p.m. on Jan. 23, I was delivered to a Colorado state penitentiary, where I was issued an inmate uniform and a mesh bag with my toiletries and bedding. My arms were handcuffed behind my back, my legs were shackled and I was deposited in Administrative Segregation — solitary confinement.

Traffic was gridlocked on Park Street and Badger Road, cars filled every vacant parking spot in the area and more than 500 people — black and white — made their way to Fountain of Life Covenant Church Saturday afternoon to listen to the Rev. Alex Gee and offer assistance in easing the probmes of racial inequality in the community.

Many Madison area pastors met at Fountain of Life Community Church in Madison today, at the invitation of pastor Alex Gee. Afterwards Gee tweeted: “Hosted an INCREDIBLE fellowship lunch with 40+ #LocalClergy to address racial inequality by collaborating & praying.” The invitation is one follow-up to Gee’s heart-baring column in the Capital Times last November entitled “Justified Anger”, to which we responded that Madison churches had their best opportunity to change the city, if they were willing to listen. It looks like the pastors are listening.

Melissa Taylor stirs a steaming pot of soup atop the stove in her north side kitchen. There are lentils and carrots, tomatoes and celery, a bay leaf that bobs to the surface with each turn of the wooden spoon. It’s a feast, by some standards, famine by others — and a staple for the spiritual journey on which she and her husband, Josh Taylor, will soon embark. Come Monday, the Taylors will begin a 21-day “Daniel fast,” a Biblically inspired period of prayer and relative deprivation, various versions of which have become increasingly popular in evangelical Christian circles.

For the last 75 years, LeEldra Morgan has spent almost every Sunday morning at Parkside Presbyterian Church on Madison’s East Side. She was confirmed there in 1939 at age 15, later married her husband in the sanctuary, and watched as her two children took their confirmation vows there. She recalls decades when the congregation bustled with activity and purpose — “a youth group, a very active couple’s club, three different women’s circles, a men’s association, and an awful lot of mission work.” At one point in the 1940s, the church had 365 adult members, plus scores of children. Those days…

Did you know children legally may perform weddings in Wisconsin? A kid, say 14 or 15 years old, can pronounce a couple to be husband and wife, and tell the groom he may kiss the bride — maybe even before his own first kiss. It’s true, but this may soon change. A bill has been introduced in the Legislature to set a minimum age of 18 for wedding officiants.

Last year, 146 families with 310 children facing homelessness found shelter, thanks to The Road Home. Some of them got to know three Waunakee women who did their part along the way. Kjersten Busse, Sandy Meeker and Marian Quade are volunteer coordinators for The Road Home’s Interfaith Hospitality Network Shelter program that hosts families locally at Windsor United Church of Christ.

On a recent afternoon, the Rev. Alex Gee, pastor of Fountain of Life Covenant Church on Madison’s south side, facilitated a candid conversation with local African-American leaders on the realities facing blacks in Madison. The gathering was sparked by Gee’s powerful personal essay, “Justified Anger,” which ran in The Capital Times in December and generated enormous response. In it, Gee laid bare his frustrations with Madison — a city that prides itself on fair-mindedness — for its collective indifference toward the struggles of the African-American community here. Read more of this story.

The images from street demonstrations in Ukraine are striking, particularly the images of Orthodox priests carrying crosses and standing between the demonstrators and police. One image in particular caught the attention of Madison resident Bob Grahmann,  formerly a resident of Kiev, Ukraine for nine years.