MC News
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.
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.