News

Mike Valleskey was struggling to understand how his job at Sears fit into his new life of faith. Valleskey hadn’t been asked to perform unethically or kept at work so late he lost touch with his family. But he couldn’t see how a disciple of Jesus Christ could work 9 to 5 inside an office with such a large mission field outside."I contemplated going back to Bible school," Valleskey tells CT. But before making the jump, he looked at his sphere of influence—his wife and four children, no surprise there, but the next one blew him away. "The workplace," says…

Church attendance surges at Easter, but no pastor is going to spot people such as Dave and Debra Pitzo coming through the door in their finest Sunday clothing today.The Pitzos will be worshipping informally in their Greenfield home, where eight to 25 friends and relatives gather for spontaneous prayer and music each Sunday.Read more of this story.

News Release(Madison, WI)—Alec Hill, president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship/USA, today announced that InterVarsity and the University of Wisconsin (UW) have reached an agreement that settles a lawsuit and fully restores recognition to InterVarsity’s student chapter at the UW-Superior (UW-S). The agreement also removes the threat of derecognition that has been facing InterVarsity chapters at the UW-Madison and other University of Wisconsin campuses.Read more of this news release.Alliance Defense Fund News Release.

MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA (ANS) — While on furlough from ministry to Latinos in Mexico City several years ago, Chuck and Betty Selander attended an indigenous Latino church in rural Minnesota. The experience changed their lives and the direction of their ministry. The Selanders were to attend an English worship service in the sanctuary upstairs, but were not scheduled to take part, so they decided to visit the Latino church meeting in the basement at the same time. "They were just thrilled; they told us that we were the first Anglo people who had sat through a worship service with them," said…

God’s plan for business is much more than making a profit so that donations can be made to churches and missions to help them carry on the work of the Gospel. That was the central point made by both Bill Pollard, chairman emeritus of the ServiceMaster Company, and Jeff Van Duzer, Dean of the School of Business and Economics at Seattle Pacific University, as they spoke at the Open for Business Track at Urbana 06, InterVarsity’s Student Missions Convention. “For some of us, the world of business has become our call,” said Pollard. “It’s where the lost and needy are…

COMMENTARYSANTA MONICA, CA (ANS) — For churches and ministries across the country, fundraising has become a vital tool that’s used to raise the necessary money to make ministry happen. It’s a noble effort, because people need to understand that without financial support, significant outreach is nearly impossible. However, in many cases, the tail has started to wag the dog, and some ministries focus on raising money more than their actual mission. Read more of this commentary.

Early in Scott Bessenecker’s book, "The New Friars: The Emerging Movement Serving the World’s Poor," you meet David Von Stroh. He’s holding a child on the streets of Bangkok, Thailand, and both are waving at the camera.Bessenecker is the director of Global Projects for InterVarsity Christian Fellowship, which has a presence on 530 college campuses. Its national offices are in Madison. He contends in his book that people like Von Stroh are part of "a missional, monastic-like order" of young men and women "burning with a passion to serve the destitute in slum communities of the developing world."Read more of…

With 280 beds of student housing in 176 rooms, a residence hall being built on a former parking lot in the 400 block of North Murray Street is on schedule to open in August."It’s gone really well," said the Rev. Mark Elsdon, co-pastor and executive director of the adjacent Pres House, a student center at 731 State St., which is building the residence hall. "The building’s looking really good."Read the rest of this story.

A small group of worshipers joined Madison pastor Richard Pritchard to welcome the Easter sunrise at Wingra Park along the north shore of Lake Wingra. Pritchard, Pastor Emeritus of Heritage Congregational Church, started the tradition of sunrise services at Wingra in 1968, almost four decades ago.

HOLLYWOOD, CA (ANS) — Can you trust what the Bible says about the crucifixion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in the Passover, Good Friday and Easter stories in the Bible? In the opening to the Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Luke in the New Testament, the Greek physician Luke, a close friend of the Apostle Paul, writes, "I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning."How can we know if this is true? How can we find out if the books of the New Testament are accurate, reliable records of the teachings of Jesus Christ?In a court of…