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The Thanksgiving meal drive is more than two decades old, launched by Pastor David Smith of Door Creek Church and Tracy Smith, his wife, in partnership with the South Madison Neighborhood Center and the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County, but the method of preparing, organizing and delivering the dinners is new to this year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

For the past several months, Upper House has been working behind the scenes with the Wisconsin Council of Churches, Collaboration Project, and the University of Dubuque Theological Seminary to apply for a grant from the Lilly Endowment Thriving Congregations Initiative. We were thrilled to recently learn that the endowment awarded the partnership a $1 million grant for the Awaken Dane initiative. We look forward to working with initiative leader, Rev. Kerri Parker of the Wisconsin Council of Churches, the collaborating partners, and local churches and congregations, on this five-year effort.

Is there such a thing as “cosmopolitan evangelicalism,” and is it worth talking about? As a historian of American evangelicalism, I can only recall reading the term a few times—in D. Michael Lindsay’s Faith in the Halls of Power (2008), where he gives it some sociological heft; in Lydia Bean’s The Politics of Evangelical Identity (2014) comparing Canadian and U.S. evangelicals; in the epilogue to David Swartz’s Facing West (2020); and in Charlie Cotherman’s recent history of the Christian study center movement, To Think Christianly (2020). I work at a Christian study center at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, so Cotherman’s…

As the days keep clicking away on the calendar and the prospects of the pandemic settling down by December diminish, a number of pastors and worship leaders are pondering how to make the seasons of Advent and Christmas meaningful when all the traditional ways of gathering may be off the table. Here’s one idea that could allow congregations to collaborate in bringing a bit of light to a season that more than ever could feel very dark. The beginnings of the idea come from a Methodist pastor in the area. Some congregations have a special service on the evening of…

The story of Doxa’s partnership with Lincoln Elementary School offers a blueprint of how a church can engage with a community institution and adapt its engagement when a pandemic hits. Doxa is a two-year-old Madison church plant, but this young church is serious about its mission: “To share the gospel and our lives for the glory of God and the good of Madison,” says Sam Roberts, Doxa’s Local Missions Director. “Our bread and butter is being a church for the city and the campus.” But how does a church best serve its community?

MADISON — Rather than a St. James Church basement full of “holy rollers” this fall, only six people are working each of the three weekly shifts to produce the traditional pfeffernuesse cookies sold at the annual fall festival. For the first time in the 44 years of producing pfeffernuesse, the cookies are being “spit” out of a machine onto the large cookie sheets. No hand rolling this year.

2020 has not been what we had expected to say the very least, but there is hope. Over the past few months, the Collaboration Project staff have felt called to pursue hope in the midst of discouragement. The very pursuit of collaboration is an act of hope. This year, collaboration provided an opportunity to connect with and serve the African American Council of Churches (AACC).

Some of the folks are from Christ the Solid Rock Baptist Church – a predominantly African-America congregation. Others are from Lake Edge Lutheran – a very white congregation. There are a smattering of people from an Episcopal congregation, a United Church of Christ congregation, other points on the Christian denominational spectrum.Guiding the group is Rev. Everett Mitchell, pastor of Christ the Solid Rock (and a Dane County judge). This group has grown from something he began at Lake Edge in 2008 as a law student after teaching a Sunday school series on Black Theology and Black Power to this vibrant  multidenominational weekly exploration…

MADISON — In the midst of protests, conflicts over the upcoming election, and a range of varying reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, it was time for some peace and prayer. Nearly 1,000 people came out to downtown Madison for those moments of peace and prayer during the second “Unite” Rosary Rally on October 11.

Dave Heide, the owner and executive chef at Liliana’s restaurant in Fitchburg, is not what you would describe as much of a churchy person. And yet he has found that folks from area congregations have played an important role as he has sought new ways to feed the hungry in this time of a pandemic and beyond. Heide’s newest venture – Little John’s – envisions having a space to create meals from food gleaned from grocery stores and then distributed as healthy meals to people for whatever they can afford – or for free. (Here is a short video describing the project.)And Heide…