Exegeting Madison Wisconsin

Update entries are shaded Latest update 1/18/11 2/22/11 3/18/11

For the past 6 years I have been working with engaging the Christian community to enhance and empower its service to the community.  Now that I've moved to Madison I have a unique opportunity to apply much of what I've learned, and to learn and apply tools that i have not yet used, to study a city that I am returning to after 20 years. In studying it and making connections I hope to discover what my niche might be in this unique and wonderful city in the great North.  I am clearly mostly interested in working with the Christian community, of which I am a part.  However, especially in Madison, I think it is important to understand all the faith communities and other communities that are non-faith-based.  I am also interested in "poor" communities, which are communities of the disenfranchised, excluded, with restricted access to resources.  My personal belief system compels me to relocate (or living among the people as Modeled by Jesus), redistribute (which includes recognizing and utilizing existing God-given resources beyond just money), and reconcile (reconciliation between people, including the excluded, and reconciling people to God) [Best articulated by Dr. John M. Perkins].

I welcome comments and suggestions: This particular posting will be under continuous edition as i cover the following topics based on The Lausanne document “Toward the Transformation of our Cities” suggested twenty steps in exegeting a city:

NEW STUFF: 

BUS TOURS:   

-Housing First Bus Tour April 30th 9-12and May 4th 4pm-7pm

Greater Isthmus Group (GIG)  work with NanCnare and Barbara McKinnon

-Guided tours CNU http://www.cnu.org/cnu19/guidedtours

REENTRY SIMULATION:

Madison Urban Ministry:  3/21 with MedStudent; 4/5 United Way

Prison Orientation: Oakville Prison 5-8

FOOD PANTRY GARDENING:

-http://www.cacscw.org/pantry_garden.php

-Door Creek  April 18/19

Door Creek Church

Final tally for our food pantry garden: 5268 lbs. of veggies from a modest plot, 15 helpers and a perfect growing season (thanks God!). Just think of the difference all that food made in many lives this summer and early fall.

ZOO's 100 year Birthday!

http://vilaszoo.org/events/index.php?category_id=5007

Rainbow Project:  Volunteer Development  http://www.rainbowproject.bizland.com/Jobs/Overview%20of%20The%20Rainbow%20Project%20Inc.%20%282007.07.21%29.pdf

TIME BANK:

http://www.danecountytimebank.org/

 TimeBanking connects you to the best in people because it creates a system that connects unmet needs with untapped resources.  It provides ways for us all to contribute and benefit.

1.    Compile a list of significant historical events that inform the city’s identity.

Early History of a city that is 150 years old: Before the arrival of European settlers, the Madison area was home to Native Americans for nearly 12,000 years. Beginning in 1837, Yankee, English, Irish, German and Scandinavian settlers flocked to the rapidly growing community named for James Madison. Known for its natural beauty and healthful conditions, Madison's designation as the capital of Wisconsin guaranteed its growth as a center of state politics and education. By the time Madison became a city in 1856, the community had grown to more than 9,000 residents.

1857-1882 capitol building built….bringing workers with the marble from Italy

The 1960’s & 70’s. 

The War at Home: shows how Vietnam was fought in Madison

  2. Understand clearly the sections or zones that make up the city.

City of Madison Neighborhoods (click here)
Madison Neighborhood stats (click here)

http://www.citytowninfo.com/places/wisconsin/madison need to get US census updates 2010

3.    Study the neighborhoods: their ethnic, social and economic composition, religious affiliations, occupational patterns, younger and older populations, concentrations of the elderly, young professionals, singles, problem groups, to understand a neighbourhood you must walk the streets, talk to people, insiders and outsiders.  These are areas that I am particularly interested in

The Triangle   http://www.thedailypage.com/theguide/details.php?event=246560

South Side     http://www.cityofmadison.com/police/south/newsletters/documents/Feb09.pdf
                      http://www.southsideraiders.org/the-news/6-raiderhistory.html

Allied Drive    http://www.cityofmadison.com/neighborhoods/profile/1.html
                     http://krause4alder.com/       Finding that 53711 is a zip code that is terribly divers!!!
   Gang Prevention & Safety Awareness Special Events   Speakers from community organizations, 1-4:30 pm, 7/27, Second Baptist Church, plus entertainment, food, kids' activities & school supplies. Free. 622-5900
When: 07/27/10 @ 1:00pm  Call: 622-5900
To start out with we will have several speakers, including Norman Thone, the chairman of power out reach youth org; and speakers from the YMCA, The Wisconsin Youth And Family Centers, The School Board, The Fire Dept, Pastor Anthony Wade of Second Baptist Church, Jackie Hunt of Allied Wellness Center On Mental Health, Selena Pettigrew of the Allied Community and Allied Wellness Center, St Mary's, The Boys and Girls Club, The National Guard/US Army, and many more. Our guests also include the chief of police Noble Wray, many alders and other agencies.

University of Wisconsin

Monroe St area

Williamson Street area

East side where I live between Atwood Ave/E Wash & Fair Oaks

Laotian/Hmong/Vietnamese: I was involved with the sponsorship and resettlement of them about 25-30 years ago so I am very interested to see how they have settled and prospered in Madison.

Crime map: http://spotcrime.com/wi/madison

4.    Determine and analyze the power centres in the city – the political figures, the police department, business leaders and the Chamber of Commerce, religious leaders.

Currently vamping up for Mayoral Election between Soglin (who was mayor after I left) and Dave   

Cieslewicz (who is current mayor and I don’t even know how to pronounce that)

The power of volunteerism: I've moved from a city that has a reputation of being the worst volunteer city in the US to one that is considered the best volunteer city in the US.  Today (1/14/11) I went to interview to become a mentor for a teenage girl through Madison Urban Ministries' Children of Incarcerated Parents.  After that I went to the Urban League of Greater Miami's Volunteer Fair. I discussed volunteerism with some folks.  While Madison is a great volunteer city and most of the time organizations get a glut of volunteers and volunteers have to compete for certain positions, still they find that volunteers prefer the "One-and-Done" experience.  Where a regular and longer commitment is needed, then it's hard to find...or keep...volunteers. 

Judge Paul Higginbotham: 1/17/11 received MLK Herritage Award.  Back in the late 80's when he was a law student I went with him on a week trip to Tchula Ms to show solidarity for Eddie Carthan.  They spend time interviewing people to help build a case for Carthan's defense...I think I still have some of those tapes in my possession (unless in this last move I threw them out). So in googling him i came across:

Pilgrims Covenant Church: this is what they have (in addition to other defamation) I just can't help wonder what they would say about Jesus if they were living in his time.

"A man is known by how he spends his time and the company he keeps. Judge Higginbotham's web site lists other endorsements as well as a list of the positions he has held with a plethora of liberal, in some cases even leftist, organizations including: Acting Executive Director of the Madison Equal Opportunities Commission, 1993-1994; Dane County Minority Affairs Coordinator, County Executive's Office, 1988-1992; Staff Attorney, Metropolitan Milwaukee Fair Housing Council, 1986-1988; Staff Attorney, Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, Inc., 1985-1986; Dane County Housing Authority, former Commissioner; Madison Mutual Housing Association, Board of Directors, former Vice-President; NAACP, former Executive Committee Member; Wisconsin Community Fund: Grant Allocations Board. At a recent Wisconsin Community Fund event, Paul Higginbotham was honored by his friend U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin. Other pals of Paul attending the party included such liberal luminaries as U.S. Senator Russ Feingold and former Madison Mayor Paul Soglin. In his acceptance speech, Higginbotham made the standard "progressive" call for "social justice." Higginbotham obviously is not the "middle of the road" candidate he would have voters believe him to be. His interests and experience have clearly been of the leftist, socialist persuasion."

wikapedia:Ralph Ovadal (born August, 1951) is the pastor of Pilgrims Covenant Church in Monroe, Wisconsin. He is a Reformed Baptist, although his church is not part of any formally recognized denomination. He is noted for impassioned street preaching and picketing in various cities. Ovadal is highly opposed to abortion, public nudity, homosexuality, and ecumenism; his vigorous public actions against them have resulted in frequent scrapes with the law. Vehemently anti-Catholic, he openly calls the pope "antichrist,"

University of Wisconsin 1/19/11: http://centerfornonprofits.wisc.edu/aboutus/index.html

5.    Analyze the felt needs of specific people groups within the city.

South East Asians HMONG: http://www.apl.wisc.edu/publications/HmongChartbook.pdf
                                             http://www.themadisontimes.com/news_details.php?news_id=232

South Asians

African Americans

Hispanic/Latino

Homeless

RECOVERY: http://meetings.intherooms.com/meetings/search?latitude=43.066773&longitude=-89.403662&proximity=100

6.    Examine the traffic flow of the city.

1/17/11: take note that when there's a snow storm....I for one do not go out!  

So I am missing the MLK Day celebrations.

7.    Seek to discover how news and opinion spread in the city, and in particular groups.

 http://host.madison.com/wsj/

Allied Dr:  http://madisonvoices.com/
http://www.topix.com/city/madison-wi 
http://www.allgodspeople.com/madison/
http://www.channel3000.com/index.html
CITY LIVE: http://www.cityofmadison.com/mcc12/
STATE: http://www.wiseye.org/Programming/VideoArchive/EventDetail.aspx?evhdid=3759 
County DANE: http://www.radioreference.com/apps/audio/?ctid=3064

8.    Examine the relationship between city-dwellers and the rural, small-town communities outside the city. 

EG Madison’s corps is traditionally progressive to left wing while the rest of the state is progressive to conservative in politics.

9.    Faith Ministries and churches in the city – locate them on a map; identify them by denomination, size & age.

10.    Analyze the various types of existing faith communities.

        The Black Church: 1/16/11  Ecumenical Worship Celebrating the life Ministry & Vision of MLK

                     Mt. Zion Baptist Church: Pastor Rick Jones & Emmett Woodward (also in DA's office)

                                                           Deacon Gloria Ladson Billings, Deacon Percy Brown

                     St Paul AME: Pastor Thomas Flint
                     SS Morris AME:  Pastor Gregory Armstrong

11.    Find out the growth patterns of the various faith communities – attendance, membership, and rate of growth.

12.    Inquire about planting and closures of various faith communities in the past several years.

13.    Who is planning to start new faith communities?

14.    Strategies for establishing Churches and other places of worship/community hubs– what has been tried in the past, what has failed, and what was effective in starting churches and stimulating growth?

15.    Christians and other Faith Communities – where are the Christians located (which may not be where they attend church)?  Identify areas of the city where relatively few Christians live.

16.    Identify Faith Community in positions of influence in the city – in business, politics, the media, education, entertainment, and sports.

Volunteering: Some community organizations have difficulty finding volunteers from among churches because the churches feel their hands are tied to have freely express their faith.  That is unfortunate, because it is simply a matter of education on what is and is not appropriate. Churches may not understand what community organizations can offer them that they cannot do themselves. (1/14/11)

17.    List and analyze the parachurch ministries operating in and to the city.

18.    Make an inventory of all possible personnel resources that might be tapped for the carrying out of your church planting strategy.

19.    Evaluate all known methods for planting churches in light of what you know about this city, its history, people, existing churches, and particular characteristics.

20.    List and evaluate the community agencies (private, religious and civic) that are designed to meet particular needs (literacy, overnight shelter, emergency food and clothing, etc.) and consider how their help can be incorporated into your overall strategy.