MC News
RACINE — It was in a dream that Ben Johnston-Krase first received the message that would lead him to redirect his life. In the dream, he was called to set up a new church and when he got to where the church was to be, it was a farm.
Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker, 47, is facing new scrutiny as the flavor of the month in Republican presidential politics. Among various disputes in play, he’s an evangelical Protestant and thus needs to be prepared for skeptical questioning about religion and pesky “social issues.” But actually, we know little about Walker’s religio-moral thinking. A quick Internet search turned up only a couple unsatisfying interviews with him about this. There’s much ground left to explore.
Midway through the Sunday Mass at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church in Dodgeville, the service took a sharp turn toward fundraising. Monsignor Daniel Ganshert, the parish priest, told parishioners that for years, people in the Madison Catholic Diocese had been praying for more men to be called by God to the priesthood. The Holy Spirit has responded, Ganshert announced jubilantly. There are now 33 seminarians, or priests-in-training, up from six in 2003 when Bishop Robert Morlino arrived.
Conversations are the starting point of change. TED Talks are one form of conversational change agents. Another, Q Commons, came to Madison this past week at the Upper House, a new meeting place on the University of Wisconsin campus to talk about issues.”We live and work in a great city, so much great stuff happens here,” said John Terrill, Upper House director, as he opened the evening. “Q is an opportunity to think and dream, how can we achieve more.” The event Thursday evening featured three nationally known speakers on video, interspersed with three live, local speakers.
For 14 weeks last fall, Rhonda Hill and a group of women dug deep into the Book of Acts, Luke’s biblical account of the planting of the early church and of the great suffering — beatings, imprisonment, death — endured by many who spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For a woman like Hill — deeply religious, a believer in the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives — the Bible holds great meaning. And looking back, she sees those discussions as a preparation for this time.
MADISON — After consulting with diocesan boards, Bishop Robert C. Morlino has approved going forward with the proposed redevelopment project for the Bishop O’Connor Center (BOC). After these meetings concluded, Bishop Morlino approved proceeding with the project for the Bishop O’Connor Center as a mixed-use project, including 53 market-rate residential apartments and commercial space that includes religious use by the Diocese of Madison, Catholic Charities, Catholic Herald, Relevant Radio, and Catholic Mutual.
In a large privately-owned apartment building right in the middle of the University of Wisconsin campus, a second-floor food court has given way to unique new meeting space called the Upper House. The Upper House is not a ministry, or a think tank, or just a meeting space, but it has elements of each of them. It’s designed to be a place for conversation about important issues, including religious issues and community issues.
At All Saints Cathedral in downtown Milwaukee, just inside the entrance, stands an imposing structure of oak and bronze. Surrounding a small altar and carved image of Christare 104 niches designed to hold the cremated remains of members of the local Episcopal diocese. Wisconsin churches have been constructing these columbaria in and around their buildings for decades without controversy — until last year.
A news report that the Family Christian Stores chain has filed for bankruptcy is positive for customers of the affiliate store on Madison’s east side. The report in Christianity Today says that the chain made the move in order to keep from having to liquidate and close their stores. Presumably that will preserve Madison’s sole remaining Christian book store, located at 1746 Eagan Road, in the Princeton Club Shopping Center near East Towne Mall.
As a teenager, Don Rupp would listen to Paul Harvey News and dreamed of one day anchoring a national newscast. “That dream became a reality when Northwestern Radio (including WNWC in Madison) began a satellite music network. I anchored hourly news reports of ‘Faith News,’” he said.