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As Christians around the world mark the birth of Christ in Bethlehem this Christmas season, many Madison-area Catholics are learning more about the profound role of the tabernacle in their parishes. Madison Catholic Bishop Robert Morlino has directed priests to move the tabernacle to a prominent spot at the center of the sanctuary at all diocesan churches.

The mood is upbeat as the diners line up to fill their plates in the brightly lighted basement dining room. The aroma of oven-fried chicken is alluring enough to lift anyone’s spirits. Also on the menu this evening: cheesy potatoes, fresh green salad, dinner rolls and butter, peach crisp and ice cream. But first, a prayer; the group gathers in a circle, holding hands.

Eleven days in advance of the opening of Urbana 15, InterVarsity’s triennial student missions conference, leaders and staff gathered at InterVarsity’s National Service Center in Madison, Wisconsin, for a Commissioning Service. “I’m excited about the fruit of our labor that we’ll be able to see in just over a week,” said Urbana director Tom Lin.

For many the holiday season is a time to reflect, be charitable and make a biannual visit to their local church. But in-between Christmas and Easter, some southern Wisconsin church leaders are scratching their heads with the question, where did everyone go? National surveys continually show a decline in church attendance across the country — a fact that Bill Kapp, pastor at First United Church of Christ in Sauk City, said began in the late 1960s and “has been on a decline ever since.” Noting that demographics play a significant role, Kapp said it’s much more difficult for an isolated…

Mother Scott’s hands are as light as birds. It is as if the bones of her hands are the same as those of a bird: Hollow. If you ever have the chance to take Mother Scott’s hand, take it gently. Naomi Scott was born 89 years ago in Fairhope, Ala., the great-great granddaughter of a slave. She and her husband, Joseph Scott, moved to Milwaukee in 1951, urged by his mother to join the great migration north.

DE PERE – It’s back to the city for a larger Life Church. To the excitement of an overflow crowd, the De Pere City Council went against a staff recommendation and narrowly approved a zoning change for a highway parcel restricted to commercial development late Tuesday night. The 5-3 ruling paves the way for the relocation of the heavily attended Life Church from the town of Lawrence to the other side of Interstate 41.

The United Nations Climate Conference is wrapping up in Paris and the vested interests will no doubt keep the debate over climate change going on for a long time. Madison residents may be interested in the response from a local ministry focused on the environment called Care of Creation, which pursues a “God-centered response to environmental challenges.”  When Texas Tech University climatologist Katherine Hayhoe was here in Madison in November, Care of Creation hosted a get together with local faith leaders. I didn’t get a chance to sit in on that visit, as I did on her 2010 talk here…

WAUNAKEE, Wis. — Every December, for the past 25 years, singing hasn’t stopped at the Nativity scene in Waunakee’s Village Park. In the mix of voices, is JoAnne Buchanan-Rounds. She remembers the day this holiday tradition was almost gone.

When Kitty Geier retired after working as a nurse at St. Mary’s Hospital for 50 years, it didn’t take long before she was back — as a volunteer. “I waited two months,” she said. “This is my second family.” Geier, 74, is a Madison native and 1962 graduate of the St. Mary’s School of Nursing, which closed in 1974. She and her husband live two blocks from the hospital.

More than twenty years before the Justified Anger Movement began, the Rev. Alex Gee began to invest in rebuilding the African American community in Madison by launching the Nehemiah Project. The Nehemiah Center for Urban Leadership Development is now a $500,000 per year operation, providing housing, mentoring, employment, advocacy, and a variety of other services. And shepherding the Justified Anger Movement.”We’re still about empowering people to bring about hope, transformation, and justice,” Rev. Gee told a crowd of about 150 people who gathered at the Fountain of Life Covenant Church, 633 W. Badger Road, in Madison, for an update on…