News

David Wahlberg – Wisconsin State Journal – The Israel-Hamas war. Polarizing politics in Madison and Washington, D.C. Mass shootings. Nasty social media posts. It’s not hard to find situations in which forgiveness might make the world better. For Robert Enright, a professor of educational psychology at UW-Madison and pioneer of the scientific study of forgiveness, the first step starts at home. Only by forgiving those close to us who have harmed us can we become strong enough to think about forgiving more distant enemies, Enright said. Read more of this story.

Oregon, WI – Faith Evangelical Lutheran Church, Oregon has resolved to open a Christian, Classical, Hybrid school in Oregon, WI. Since last summer, members of the congregation, along with others from the community, have been working to determine what a private school might look like that could serve the Oregon community and surrounding areas. The answer is taking a space at the church formerly used as a preschool and using it for a school-homeschool hybrid, at least until more room is needed. The school will be called “Sursum Corda Classical” – a Latin phrase meaning, “Lift up your hearts” and…

WAUKESHA, Wis. (ADF)– A Wisconsin court ruled Tuesday that Kettle Moraine School District’s policy of changing students’ names and pronouns at school without parental consent and over their objection violates parents’ rights. Attorneys with Wisconsin Institute for Law and Liberty and Alliance Defending Freedom representing two sets of Wisconsin parents challenging the policy filed the lawsuit, T.F. and B.F. v. Kettle Moraine School District, in November 2021. Read more of this story.

Hope Night Wisco! Frank Lloyd Wright probably didn’t have this in mind when he first began designing what became Madison’s Monona Terrace Convention Center: a Friday night Holy Ghost revival service that filled Exhibition Hall B for three hours or more. Hope Night Wisco at Monona Terrace was the 13th event in a series of Hope Nights that started a year ago last March when a recently converted couple in Chippewa Falls decided to sell their bar and event center. Before the sale their pastor, Landon Huie of Eau Claire’s Oasis Church, suggested, “Let’s have a worship night and lift…

Madison Christian Giving Fund Newsletter – Ten years ago, before the Madison Christian Giving Fund (MCGF”) came into existence, the newly formed Madison Christian Generosity Council received a very generous unsolicited donation in the sum of $50,000. The donors’ intent was clear: to distribute this money to organizations in the Madison area that advance the Kingdom of God. Since then, an astounding transformation has taken place. Over $1.1 million has been raised, and through a meticulous granting process, more than 60 Christian organizations and projects in Dane County have benefitted from this support. As a result, hundreds of people have…

Collaboration Project – Danielle Sill is from a family that regularly ran 5ks on major holidays. However, she claims she didn’t love running until she started training for the Madison Half Marathon with Team World Vision last year. “I started to enjoy it because I had other people to run with, and I knew I was running for a greater cause than just staying fit. Instead, I was running to help others receive clean water, making my miles feel more impactful.” Read more of this story.

By Melissa Perry, Wisconsin State Journal – Myzell Alexander moved from Arkansas to Madison after graduating from high school in 1961. The first thing that he was determined to do was find a church. “When I left home, my mother always told me, ‘When you leave, get involved with the church,’” he recalled. “So I started going to St. Paul.” Now, at 81 years old, Alexander has been a member of St. Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church for over 60 years. During those six decades, Alexander has attended countless Sunday services, served as an officer of the church and raised…

Dan Hummel, the Director of University Engagement at Upper House, is a University of Wisconsin-trained historian. After publishing his research on the relationship between evangelicals and Israel in 2019, he has a new book, The Rise and Fall of Dispensationalism: How the Evangelical Battle over the End Times Shaped a Nation, published by Eerdmans. A release party was held at Upper House earlier this spring, where Hummel talked about the book and answered questions. Now, a review of Hummel’s book by the distinguished historian George Marsden has just been published on the UW History department’s web page. The review, and of course…

“For God so loved the world,” proclaims the Gospel of John, which poses an intriguing question. Is this verse talking just about the people in the world or the whole of creation: animals, plants, the environment, etc.? Rev. Ed Brown would say the latter. Brown is the Executive Director of Care of Creation, a Madison-based ministry. Speaking in Jakarta, Indonesia, Brown compared God’s creation to an orchestra. “Every creature is an instrument in God’s orchestra,” he said. “We are not the conductor, God is. God wrote the music.” Brown described the human race as the special instruments of the orchestra,…

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…