Author: Gordon Govier

Deacon Steve Przedpelski and Carmen Mojica are a fixture in some neighborhoods of Milwaukee, dispensing bagged lunches, health information and hope to prostitutes from an old minivan emblazoned with the words Franciscan Peacemakers. Theirs is a mobile ministry that meets women — and sometimes men and teens — where they are: on the streets.

The beginning of a new year is typically a time when individuals and organizations refocus or reprioritize for the coming year. Churches do that, often with a time of prayer and reflection to identify themes and goals. The main goal is to identify how the church can best disciple its members and serve or impact its community through spiritual disciplines and biblical practices. Another goal may be to keep the church focused on its mission rather than just maintaining practices, which is a trap for all institutions. An ambitious alliterative theme is often chosen to stir members’ imaginations and stir…

On Dec. 10, neighbors of First Presbyterian Church in Oregon heard alarms sound inside the church and called 911. Police and church officials responded to a stomach-churning scene. “There was probably an inch of standing water in half the building,” said the Rev. Le Anne Clausen de Montes, the church’s pastor. “It was one of those times when you have to say, ‘This is going to change everything.’”

SEATTLE (CBS Seattle) — Seattle Seahawks (and former Badgers) quarterback Russell Wilson espoused about his Christian faith in a recent documentary entitled “The Making of a Champion.” In the video, Wilson, 24, describes how he found God at the age of 14. “I had a dream that my dad passed away and that Jesus came into the room and he was basically knocking on my door, saying, ‘Hey, you need to find out more about me,’” Wilson said. “So that Sunday morning I ended up going to church and that’s when I got saved.”

This particular Sunday at First Presbyterian Church in Waunakee, members of the congregation are spending their morning in the room below the sanctuary. “We’re taking probably two tons of stuff down by the time we add up all the luggage,” said Kim Tews. A group of around 50 are going on the Guatemala and Haiti week-long mission trips this Wednesday.

For the second year in a row, most of the Madison area’s largest private schools don’t plan to participate in the state’s new private-school voucher program. Officials with the Madison Catholic diocese and several other area private and religious schools said they don’t plan to sign up by the February 1 deadline for participation in the 2014-2015 school year.

Sunday night, a homeless man died on the steps just outside the entrance to the Men’s Drop-In Shelter. I don’t know much more than that. Apparently he had left Grace to go to one of the overflow shelters to spend the night. I don’t know what the cause of death was. I don’t know if his death was at all related to the brutally cold weather. I don’t know if others have died already in this brutal cold.

A pair of Wisconsin churches co-sponsored a billboard message to let their city know that, despite an atheist’s claim to the contrary, there is life after death. The sign, which says, “Life is short. Eternity is not. – God,” was posted on a billboard in Janesville, Wisc., earlier this month, and was sponsored by local congregations Bethel Baptist Church and New Life Assembly of God.

A community effort – and the generosity of First United Methodist Church – made for a warm and well-fed New Years Eve day for 138 homeless people in Madison on Tuesday. The call for a warming space during two frigid days that coincided with locked doors at Madison’s Central Library and the homeless services program at Bethel Lutheran Church, came on Monday afternoon, said Karen Andro, director of outreach ministries at FUM.

In the early 1980’s, Concerts of Prayer brought together Christians from around the Madison area to pray for revival in the church, in the city, and in the nation. The monthly Concerts of Prayer were led by David Bryant, who lived in Madison while he worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, and were held in churches all over the city.Bryant left Madison and moved to New Jersey, to help launch a Concert of Prayer movement in New York City. An article posted this week on the website Journey Through NYC Religions tells what happened next.