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By Marcio Sierra, pastor, Lighthouse Church – Hallelujah, the work of building a permanent food pantry at Lighthouse Church and Lighthouse Christian School Madison has officially started. We can’t wait for this space to be ready so that we can continue to serve more people in the community. Thank you Extended Hands Pantry for running this pantry and all the work that you have done to make this happen. We are happy to say that together, we have raised over 3/4 of the finances needed to complete this project. If you would like to invest in people through this great…

By Nicholas Garton – Capital Times – Ramiah Whiteside stood tall as a proud mentor of currently and formerly incarcerated people.  Whiteside, who volunteered in the restorative justice program run out of First Congregational Church of Christ in Madison, spent 25 years incarcerated in prison before getting out and paying forward the wisdom and tools he developed while inside. Whiteside knew what his presence meant to several of the current inmates who attend restorative justice groups and other related seminars. He was a beacon of hope for them because he embodied what they could become. Whiteside, who was taking classes…

A state-of-the-art $25,000 holiday light show at Sun Prairie’s Dunkin’ restaurant runs through the holiday season, all of the way to New Year’s Day. It’s a little bit of holiday self-promotion but it also is designed to benefit and bring awareness to The Elizabeth House. The Elizabeth House is a program of Care Net Pregnancy Center of Dane County, offering a home for young, single pregnant women wanting to make a new start and is provided at no cost to them. The Elizabeth House’s residential maternity program helps mothers build life skills and secure emploment, childcare, and housing. Their goal…

Daniela Jaime – Wisconsin State Journal – Imagine a Madison where the isthmus between lakes Mendota and Monona is a seeping wetland. Where cornfields stretch from Wisconsin Avenue to James Madison Park. Herds of deer gather on State Street, and waterfalls pour from Wiicawak Bay (formerly Squaw Bay) into the Yahara River. Before the first white settlers arrived in Madison in 1837, that imaginary place was real and called “Teejop” (“four lakes”) by the Ho-Chunk people, said Janice Rice, Clan Mother and Peacemaker of the Ho-Chunk Nation. Dozens of Indian mounds dotted the landscape, from Lake Mendota to Lake Kegonsa,…

A seminary-level preaching class – co-taught by two local pastors – is coming to Madison beginning this January. The class is being offered by the Madison Learning Community (MLC), an initiative of the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary. Beginning with this class, Proclaiming the Word of God, MLC will be offering one seminary-level course each semester to Madison-area pastors, church leaders, and others eager to deepen ministry skills. The faculty for this first preaching course will be Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen, pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church, and Rev. Dr. Jessica Patchett, pastor at Christ Presbyterian Church. Both new and…

By Jim Polzin – Wisconsin State Journal – They are separated by only 14 yards rushing in the University of Wisconsin football record books. There’s Brent Moss at No. 9 in program history with 3,428 career yards and Terrell Fletcher one spot below him at 3,414 yards. There’s an entire generation of UW fans who either were not yet born or too young to appreciate the greatness of that special tandem. They may not know this: There was a time the Badgers had seven individual 1,000-yard rushing seasons; that number is now 35, a surge that began with Moss and…

By Gayle Worland – Wisconsin State Journal – If you’re tussling with a turkey and side dishes to serve to a Thanksgiving crowd — and are happy that you only do it once a year — just think about Michelle Ogilvie. Ogilvie, as a volunteer, cooks about 150 hot, full, hearty meals every week, then gives them all away. They go to feed people who are experiencing homelessness, often serving as their best meal of the day. Ogilvie does the meal planning, recipe-hunting, grocery shopping and all the cooking and baking in her Fitchburg home kitchen. On her days “off,”…

By Rob Thomas – The CapTimes – “Go tell it on the mountain,” as the spiritual goes. Don Wickstrum, a Monroe businessman and assistant pastor at Grace Church in New Glarus, has devoted his life to spreading his faith and telling his story of overcoming personal adversity. Only when Wickstrum goes up the mountain to tell his story, he’s traveling at speeds of up to 140 miles per hour. Wickstrum, 43, is also an auto racer (known as the “Fastest Pastor”) who for years has competed in the Pikes Peak International Hill Climb, a twisting, 12-mile uphill race in Colorado…

By Fred Grossenbach – Our Lady Queen of Peace Catholic church hosted a city-wide Thanksgiving Service on Monday, November 21, 2022, that drew close to 1000 people from many different denominations to worship, pray, give thank offerings and enjoy fellowship. This service was co-sponsored by 26 different organizations. In this era of conflict and division it was heartwarming to see people from different perspectives and traditions come together for one purpose: to give thanks to the One who has blessed us all. Bishop Donald Hying of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Madison gave a message of Reflection. He pointed out…

By Melissa Perry – Wisconsin State Journal – More than 30 years ago, the Rev. Alex Gee had a proposal for his friends, a group of young, Black recent and soon-to-be graduates of UW-Madison, as they each looked ahead to their respective futures. Gee asked them to stay. He argued that they could forge a space for themselves and Black residents in Madison. “I had this vision of creating something that could make Madison an exciting place for young Black professionals to hang out,” Gee recalled. “What I was noticing in Madison is that the Black population was growing, but…