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They are pastors of four churches in downtown Madison, religion lived out in the heart of Wisconsin’s capital city. They are United Methodist, Episcopalian, Evangelical Lutheran Church of America by denomination. They have worked together on issues of hunger and homelessness in the city.And now they are working together in a new way, sharing ideas and concerns as they plot the plans for their congregations in the coming months of this season of pandemic.
Christians, Muslims, Jews, nonbelievers and more gathered in Downtown Madison Sunday to show that the Black Lives Matter movement transcends any religious boundaries. Several thousand participants took part in a Black Lives Matter solidarity march that made its way from the intersection of University Avenue and Park Street all the way to the Capitol building. The march was yet another peaceful gathering of its kind in Madison and across the nation protesting police brutality and white supremacy after the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers. The march was sponsored by the African American Council of…
Churches in Madison and Dane County can now follow the same rules as any other local business regarding in-person attendance after the Madison Catholic Diocese challenged as unconstitutional earlier this week the limitations for places of worship in the local coronavirus reopening plan. Also, Public Health Madison and Dane County officials said Friday the county will not move to the next phase of reopening businesses and other entities to 50% capacity before June 12, and even if data looks good, the shift likely won’t happen for a few days to give time to prepare. City and county officials announced Friday…
Pastors and leaders of Madison-area churches – 65 of them – shared an open letter addressed to the African-American parishioners at their congregation and to the African-American community as a whole resolving to “preach, teach, and advocate against the sins of racism.” “We want to express our deep sorrow for the suspicion and double standard we have held towards people of color in this land,” they wrote. “We repent for this evil and ask for your forgiveness. We recognize that institutional and systematic racism are prevalent in our land. The tragic events that continue to happen serve as evidence of…
A Washington, D.C.-based law firm that specializes in religious liberty cases has sent a letter to Dane County and city of Madison officials saying their coronavirus reopening plan discriminates against the Madison Catholic Diocese. In a letter sent Wednesday on behalf of the diocese to Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway, County Executive Joe Parisi and Janel Heinrich, director of the joint city-county health department, attorneys with the nonprofit Becket Fund for Religious Liberty and three other law firms say the county’s Forward Dane plan unconstitutionally singles out churches for tougher gathering restrictions than many other venues.
This week we have seen the repeat of the protests and riots of the 1960s. They have been triggered by a white policeman’s murder of an unarmed black man named George Floyd in Minneapolis. The unrest goes deeper, way deeper. The racial injustice African Americans experience every day, and the lack of progress or interest in addressing it is fueling the massive protests we see in the news every day. Here is a historical perspective. In 1968 the federal government recognized the danger of continued civil unrest on a national scale. If the root causes were not dealt with our…
MADISON — The Diocese of Madison, under the leadership of Bishop Donald J. Hying, is launching a bold new initiative called “Go Make Disciples” in order to renew our commitment to the mission of evangelization. As we approach the 75th Anniversary of the establishment of the Diocese of Madison, which we will celebrate in 2021, Bishop Hying is calling all of us in this beautiful diocese to answer that call in a new and deeper way by re-committing ourselves to the life-giving mission of evangelization, that is, to proclaim — by our words and by the testimony of our lives…
For the past 20 years Mt. Zion food pantry has assisted anyone in need in their community, open on the 1st and 3rdMondays and 4th Tuesdays of every month. Most of the food comes from the Second Harvest Food Bank, but some is purchased from Woodman’s as a supplement; no grant money comes in for the pantry, it is run entirely by the members of Mt. Zion. During this season of pandemic, the food pantry has not closed its doors and has even added some new services to help meet the needs of their community. Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen, Pastor of Mt. Zion Baptist…
The Psalm 46 fund, launched in early April to respond to immediate needs of African American and Latino families caused by job losses and other hardships caused by the coronavirus pandemic, has raised more than $290,000, organizers announced in an interview on Real Talk with Henry Sanders, Madison365’s video show and podcast. Rev. Marcus Allen, senior pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and president of the African American Council of Churches (AACC), joined Lighthouse Church pastor Marcio Sierra as guests on the show. “This fund has been very beneficial for us and those in our community,” Allen said. “And (it’s)…
When houses of worship across the state closed their buildings in mid-March as part of the effort to stop the spread of coronavirus, something unexpected happened. “The building is closed, but the church is open,” said the Rev. Charlie Berthoud, pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church on Madison’s West Side. As religious leaders scrambled to create ways of worshiping safely, many found that more people are exploring their faith and actively participating online than were doing so in person. And some groups say they’ll maintain their heightened digital presence even after opening for in-person worship services.