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In a time of deep religious division and tension, many American churches are joining in a fresh bid for greater Christian unity. After five years of discussion and prayer, church leaders are to meet Wednesday in Pasadena, Calif., in the official launch of an ecumenical body – Christian Churches Together in the USA (CCT). Its mission: "to grow closer together in Christ in order to strengthen our Christian witness in the world." In its inclusiveness, CCT offers a striking contrast to religious dissension in the political arena. The group involves churches from all five Christian "families" – Catholics, Evangelicals and…
"The most important place is the least excavated place," said Israeli archaeologist Gabriel Barkay in a lecture on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount last night at Edgewood College, sponsored by the Madison Biblical Archaeology Society. The Temple Mount is the holiest location of Judaism since it was the location of first temple built by King Solomon and the second temple built by King Herod. It’s also the third holiest spot of Islam, the location of four mosques, and is known to Muslims as The Noble Sanctuary.
Representatives from eight of Madison’s largest churches met at Blackhawk church yesterday with Perry Polnaszek, a Chippewa Falls resident who initiated the Touched Twice clinic concept. Four clinics, zero-budget events which mobilize volunteers and churches to offer free health care to the needy, were held in Madison in 2004 and 2005 but not since.
A panel of three federal judges, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, heard this morning from both sides of an Iowa prison-ministry dispute in a case that will affect how religious organizations minister to inmates, and the overall viability of President George W. Bush’s faith-based initiative. Read more on this story.
NEWS RELEASEThe missionary church which will be organized as The Anglican Chapel of the Epiphany is under the authority of the Anglican Province of America (APA). Initial efforts include securing a place to conduct services and welcoming concerned Episcopalians seeking a traditional church. Additionally, to offer students a viable faith and a parish home for families wanting their children to develop strong traditional values and beliefs. The Rev. Earl R. C. Sias Th.D will serve as priest in charge.
"All around the world God is calling His people to prayer," said author Peter Greig as he spoke at the Sunday morning service at MadCity Church. Greig, through his book, Red Moon Rising: How 24-7 Prayer is Awakening a Generation, has emerged as a spokesman for an international 24-7 prayer movement that is reviving the church around the world.
Science and religion, often at odds when it comes to explaining creation, are now speaking with one voice when it comes to preserving creation. A news conference was held in Washington D.C. last month, featuring leaders from the scientific world as well as from evangelical Christianity. One of the participants, University of Wisconsin professor Calvin DeWitt, reviewed the event in a lecture at the Wisconsin State Historical Society auditorium last night.
John Muir, the founder of the Sierra Club, one-time student at the University of Wisconsin, and a pioneering wilderness preservationist, knew much of the Bible by heart and spent his formative years in a renewal group that had split off from the Church of Scotland.Although his religious faith is overlooked by most biographers, University of Wisconsin professor Calvin DeWitt says it explains much about Muir’s effusive descriptions of the natural world in his writings. He constantly drew upon and referenced scripture, catechisms and hymns, which made up "the soundtrack of his life."
The pattern is sadly familiar: Once-thriving congregations disperse to the suburbs, leaving behind landmark church buildings with a long list of needs and little money. Read more of this story. Churches Go Green
MADISON — "No one told me."It was a phrase repeated often by the many women who took the microphone at the Silent No More Awareness gathering at the state Capitol building January 16 to tell their stories of abortion.But with each story, these women were hoping that their words would reach another woman who might be considering abortion, that she might not have to say the same thing.Read more of this story.