News
Marcio Sierra Jr, pastor at Lighthouse Church, has seen close to half of his congregation lose their jobs in the economic tidal wave that has accompanied the COVID-19 pandemic. Marcus Allen, pastor at Mt. Zion Baptist Church and president of the African American Council of Churches, talks with members and neighbors whose precarious financial position has been upended by the current economic calamity. And most of those with jobs do not have the kind of work that lets them work from home, so they are more exposed to the virus. Sierra and Allen reflected on the words of Psalm 46 – “God is our…
TOWN OF BURKE — Many of the Reindahls are buried here.Their farmland is now covered by East Towne Mall and Reindahl Park along East Washington Avenue.One of them, Knute Reindahl, who in 1867 immigrated to this rural pocket of Dane County from Norway, went on to become a famed violin maker before dying in 1936. Some of the earliest graves in the Burke Lutheran Cemetery are Bosbens. They began attending church on this ridge in the 1870s and continue to worship on this 39-acre tract hidden from the sprawling American Center Business Park juxtaposed just over the hill to the…
In recent years, SSM Saint Mary’s Hospital-Madison has cut down on overhead notifications in hopes of creating a more peaceful, healing environment — but during the COVID-19 pandemic, two daily announcements have offered just that. Each morning and afternoon, the hospital’s chaplains broadcast a short prayer, maybe a minute or two, throughout the building. When Sister Pam Moehring walks through the hospital’s corridors, staff sometimes stop to thank her for the prayer. This small routine is one of many changes hospitals have made to adjust to the COVID-19 pandemic, as chaplains like Moehring have adapted to calling instead of visiting…
For members of Stoughton’s LakeView Church, coming together Sunday to celebrate Easter was somewhat akin to going to a drive-in. Churchgoers never got out the cars that congregated in the parking lot. Instead, worshipers listened to the service over FM radio, honking their horns and blinking their lights to acknowledge various parts. Some had signs with Easter messages affixed to their cars.
A pastor in the village of Waldo, population 500, prays for good weather and a packed parking lot on Easter – even though her church will stay empty. Worshippers at Trinity United Methodist, which has 84 members, will watch the Rev. Denise Kwiatkowski (kwai-at-KOW-ski) deliver her sermon outdoors, at the church carport. The service will be broadcast through a low-frequency FM radio transmitter as congregants follow along on the radio and stay inside vehicles, parked in a semicircle that faces the church.
Just days before churches celebrate Easter, Gov. Tony Evers said small gatherings and drive-in worship services are allowed under his “safer at home” order. The clarification comes after days of confusion for several Dane County churches that reported receiving conflicting information from state and local officials about whether such services comply with the restrictions imposed to slow the spread of COVID-19.
MADISON, Wis.– While messages of gratitude are pouring in for doctors and nurses on the front lines, we can’t forget about those who are providing support through different means: chaplains. Kendra McIntosh is the chaplain supervisor at UW Health. Although she and her team aren’t providing medicine and hospital beds, they are providing emotional and spiritual support for families as they work through these difficult times.
MADISON — Falls Baptist Church just wants to bring its faith family together for outside Easter Services — in as safe a way as possible amid the COVID-19 outbreak. But Gov. Tony Evers and his ever-expanding emergency orders curtailing civil liberties aim to put an end to such sacred gatherings. The Menomonee Falls church hopes to hold drive-in-style worship , in which parishioners tune into the Easter services on their vehicle radios in Falls Baptists’ parking lot. They would be together in spirit and body, but a safe distance apart with their car windows up. It would seem they would…
Spiritual practices tether us to God. That’s why we do them. We don’t engage in spiritual practices so that we will become more spiritual or so that we might attain more wisdom or love from God, we practice being with God so that we can be with God. The long-term effects of practicing being with God are profound. As we expose our (real) selves to the Lord, a healing work churns through our bodies, through our thoughts and through our emotions. Sometimes it’s a slow grind and other times it feels something like a miracle—a sharp movement from darkness to light…
When Francis Schaeffer released his How Shall We Then Live book and video series in 1976, the evangelical community didn’t know what to do about popular culture. Few people attempted to make connections as Scheaffer did with his history-based critique. Today, there are lots of voices to help guide Christians in how to live in contemporary culture. Alan Noble, editor-in-chief at Christ and Pop Cuture website, is one of those. He is an English professor at Oklahoma Baptist University and spoke at Upper House in Madison recently on the topic, “Disruptive Witness: Speaking Truth in a Distracted Age.”