Author: webadmin

As the sun rises on a Wednesday morning in May, a vintage ‘65 Ford Mustang cruises up to a home just off Milwaukee Street on Madison’s east side. Dave Bechtold jumps up and helps the driver back the classic pony car in next to a bright yellow Dodge muscle car of more recent vintage. Before long the front yard and curb is filled with cars and motorcycles, as their owners sit nearby enjoying cups of coffee, donuts, and other breakfast fare. It’s another Dads at Dave’s morning. Each Wednesday during May and October, it’s a place for guys to hang…

By Pamela Cotant for the Wisconsin State Journal- When the COVID-19 pandemic shut down the 21-year run of Lamppost Players Children’s Theater, director Sharon Redinger figured the time just might be right to lower the curtain for good. The 21st year was 2019, and plays were not performed from 2020 to 2022. While other groups and activities were easing out of pandemic restrictions sometime during that period, Redinger wasn’t gearing back up. “I actually wondered if we were just done,” Redinger said. “Twenty-one years is a nice run.” Another reason it seemed like a natural ending was her agreement with…

PORTLAND, Oregon/CBN NEWS – Tucked away in a quiet Portland neighborhood is an animation studio that is opening the Bible to millions in a new and fresh way. An idea of some college buddies has become one of the most successful ways for people to understand the Bible. During their college days, long-time friends Tim Mackie and Jon Collins would kick around ideas on how to get more people to read the Bible and understand it better. After attending Bible college together, Jon served as a pastor before beginning a career making explainer videos for large companies. Tim got his…

The Wisconsin State Journal has chosen to honor five people who are over the age of 65 for their service to the local community, dedicating themselves to enriching the lives of others. Out of dozens of nominees contributed by Madison-area residents, these five were chosen by a panel of State Journal staff and AARP Wisconsin representatives. Three of the five acknowledged their Christian faith as part of their motivation to serve: Bernie Hartwig Adrianna Marks Andy Czerkas Also named were Oscar Mireles and Jim Latimer. The 5 Over 65 program is sponsored by AARP Wisconsin, Capitol Lakes, Quartz and Vista…

The 2022-2023 Annual Report of The Collaboration Project highlights 12 months of activities aimed at bringing together the Church of Dane County in unity to promote the flourishing of all. “The kind of unity is an opportunity for the Church to be a light and a source of great hope in our world today,” writes executive director Jon Anderson. “The greater community is deeply divided, and these divides threaten the ability for all to flourish, especially for the most vulnerable.” Check out the whole report here.

MADISON (WKOW) — A group of Republican state lawmakers are proposing an amendment to the constitution that would prevent the state or any political subdivision of the state from closing or forbidding gatherings at places of worship during a state of emergency. This includes public health emergencies. Read more of this story.

By Daniel Silliman – Christianity Today – Paul Eshleman, an evangelism strategist who organized one of the largest outreach efforts of the 20th century so that everyone in the world could hear at least once that God loved them, died on May 24 at age 80. Eshleman was the director of the Jesus Film Project, producing the 1979 feature for Campus Crusade for Christ (now Cru) in partnership with Warner Bros. and overseeing its translation into more than 2,000 languages. Eshleman arranged for the film to be shown across the world, from places in rural Asia and Africa where people…

By Sophie Carson – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – When Judge Christopher Foley made official the last adoption of his career Friday, he threw his arms in the air and cheered with the little boy he’d invited to sit on the bench. Foley’s family, filling the courtroom gallery, applauded too. A longtime institution of Children’s Court, the judge known for his joyful approach and care for the well-being of Milwaukee County’s kids is retiring at 70 having presided over about 4,000 adoptions. He united families, fiercely advocated for children’s best interests and in some cases, welcomed them into his own family.…

Madison’s Brat Fest started 40 years ago with a table, three chairs and a grill. So selling over 100,000 brats over a holiday weekend is impressive. So was what looked like the largest crowd ever at the annual Brat Fest community worship service. For the second year in a row, the 2023 worship service was hosted by Sun Prairie’s Heartland Church. A show of hands revealed about two-thirds of the crowd at the Main Stage Sunday morning were from Heartland. One count put attendees at 950. Looking out over the sun-soaked crowd, Heartland pastor Jon McNary said, “I think this…

by Gordon Govier, MadisonChristians.com – Lighthouse Church is not the first in Madison to offer a food pantry…or a Christian school. But few churches offer both in such a robust manner. The newly built Extended Hands food pantry attached to the northwest end of the Lighthouse church and school building was dedicated with prayers and a ribbon-cutting ceremony, Thursday afternoon, May 18, 2023. The growing complex is located at 6402 Schroeder Road on Madison’s westside in what started out as a Rayovac office building, and then for many years served as the national office of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship. Andy and…