This preaching class was recorded at our third annual Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit on October 9 & 10, 2024. Rev. Dr. Danielle L. Brown is the 10th Senior Pastor of the Shiloh Baptist Church in Plainfield, New Jersey, the first woman to hold this position since the church’s founding in 1908. An increasingly sought-after preacher and workshop lead…

This preaching class was recorded at our third annual Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit on October 9 & 10, 2024. Rev. Dr. Phillip Pointer, Sr. is the Senior Pastor of Saint Mark Baptist Church, one of the largest Baptist churches in the state of Arkansas. Raised in the Greater Washington D.C. area, Pastor Pointer is a fourth-generation Baptist pastor…

Reverend Dr. Charles E. Goodman, Jr. is the Senior Pastor/Teacher of The Historic Tabernacle Baptist Church of Augusta, Georgia. In his role, he established “one church in multiple locations” that serves a TAB Global audience with multiple weekly services, virtually and in-person. Pastor Goodman is also the author of four books: You Can’t Run from …

Rev. Dr. Marcus D. Allen, Sr. is the senior pastor of Mount Zion Baptist Church in Madison, Wisconsin. He holds a doctor of ministry from Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary. His profound love for God's word and people, coupled with his generous spirit, defines his ministry. ---- 🖥️ Watch this talk on YouTube https://youtu.be/CKdhcA3csl0…

Isaiah Oby, Associate Pastor at Northside Christian Assembly, presented on AI tools for ministry. https://www.perplexity.ai/ https://notebooklm.google.com/ https://gemini.google.com/ ---- 🖥️ Watch this talk on our YouTube page https://youtu.be/Mho50H-mfx4Von Upper House

Have archaeologists “disproved” the historical reliability of the biblical texts? These concerns are as common as they are serious for believers, whether confronting flashy news articles or hearing well-articulated, challenging claims from scholars. This lecture aims to contextualize such questions by describing what biblical archaeology is and why…

Have archaeologists “disproved” the historical reliability of the biblical texts? These concerns are as common as they are serious for believers, whether confronting flashy news articles or hearing well-articulated, challenging claims from scholars. This lecture aims to contextualize such questions by describing what biblical archaeology is and why…

Have archaeologists “disproved” the historical reliability of the biblical texts? These concerns are as common as they are serious for believers, whether confronting flashy news articles or hearing well-articulated, challenging claims from scholars. This lecture aims to contextualize such questions by describing what biblical archaeology is and why…

This event was recorded live at Upper House on June 6, 2024. This contentious era has tested many of us who long to positively engage on issues that matter, yet find ourselves instead engaging in fruitless arguments, or distancing ourselves from people we care about, or occasionally disparaging those we oppose. We know that God desires us to work o…

This event was recorded live at Upper House for our annual Baccalaureate Service. Adam Penning serves as lead pastor of Blackhawk Church Downtown. Previously, he was the Cru Campus Ministry Director for the New York City Metro Area; from 2001 to 2015, Penning served with Badger Cru on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, including as Area Di…

This was recorded live at our annual Baccalaureate Service. Thomas Browne is the Senior Assistant Dean in the Office of Academic Affairs in the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences at UW–Madison. He is an advocate for meaningful culture and climate change to encourage and support those who might feel undervalued or marginalized. Since 2000 he …

This panel discussion was recorded from our annual arts conference, Let the Art Speak: Between Friends. The panelists include Melissa Shackelford (curator), Leslie Iwai (visual artist), and Susi Jensen (writer). Melissa Shackelford is the Director of Program Curation and Community Impact at Upper House. Leslie Iwai is an installation artist and scu…

This talk was recorded live at our annual arts conference, Let the Art Speak. Craig Detweiler is a Los Angeles-based author, filmmaker, and cultural commentator. As a film producer and author, Craig writes about culture, theology, and technology, as well as creates screenplays. He received an MFA in cinema-tv production from the University of South…

In this conversation, Marcia Bosscher (editor) and Tish Harrison Warren (writer) discuss the collaborative process of writing between writer and editor. This video was featured at our annual Let the Art Speak conference. Tish Harrison Warren is a priest in the Anglican Church in North America. Her most recent book is Prayer in the Night: For Those …

What does it mean to love someone? This is a recorded lecture by theologian and public intellectual Miroslav Volf. Drawing on biblical themes and stories of The Good Samaritan and The Widow’s Offering, Professor Volf will speak to love’s generous practicality, its incomparable power to confer value, nobility, and beauty on others, and its active re…

Why would we consider forgiving someone who has deeply harmed us? How do we even go about forgiving someone who doesn’t deserve it? And where might forgiveness eventually lead us—individually and even corporately—if we pursue it? Forgiveness is beyond challenging. Some injuries are so acute, the very idea of forgiveness seems out of bounds. And whe…

Question: What is Christian Praying? The Hows, Whats, and Whys of This Mysterious Activity Answer: Amos Yong, Ph.D. Do you ever wonder what we are doing when we pray, particularly in light of Jesus’ and early Christians praying? The biblical accounts provide templates for praying on the one hand but also, if we are open to a fresh reconsideration, …

We dive deep into discussions about faith, Christianity, and the historical context of the Bible. In this episode, we explore the fascinating topic of apostolic prayer in the Book of Acts with our guest, Amos Yong. Amos shares insightful observations about the patterns and themes of prayer in the apostolic narrative, shedding light on the various c…

In this electrifying session, Dr. Amos Yong illuminated Jesus' prayer life, planting seeds of wisdom on the importance of nurturing a habit of heartfelt prayer. He adeptly unpacked the beginnings of Jesus' ministry and transported us to those quiet places where Jesus sought solace and strength through prayer. Tony Bolos introduced the concept of im…

By 2030, as many as 100,000 church buildings and billions of dollars of church-owned property are expected to be sold or repurposed throughout the U.S. — representing the loss of gathering places and even social services in communities nationwide. According to Mark Elsdon, author and editor of Gone for Good: Negotiating the Coming Wave of Church Pr…

It would be salutary for the church and its leadership to remain silent for a season until it learns how to engage in politics and even talk about politics in ways that are non-Nietzschean. James Davison Hunter (quoted above) coined the term “culture wars.” A sociologist, he is an astute observer of culture and a writer of many books reflecting on …

This gathering was cohosted with the Awaken Dane project, a Lilly Endowment, Inc., funded initiative that helps participants from local churches listen deeply for and awaken to where the Spirit of God is at work in their local communities so they can join in that holy work. During our evening together, we will address pressing questions: How might …

A fundamental difference between the secular and Christian imagination relates to how people view the world. For many, it is assumed that only those things we can physically see and touch are what exist. Scripture teaches, however, that there are two realities that exist alongside each other: one visible and one invisible. Moreover, Christians have…

Please view the video recording of this event on our YouTube channel: https://youtu.be/rhvILa9T-eI The church is often tested in its capacity to serve all of God’s people well, as mandated in Scripture. When it comes to serving people with disabilities, the church at times pays close attention to those who persuasively and loudly raise their voices…

Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen preached the opening sermon for the 2023 Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit. About our Speaker: Rev. Dr. Marcus Allen is the pastor at Mount Zion Baptist Church, one of Madison’s oldest and most storied African American churches; he is also president of the African American Council of Churches in Madison (AACCM). He has a heart a…

Three nationally known preachers with a passion for training pastors and ministers will headline our second Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit, focusing on the theme Preaching that Changes Lives (Romans 10:9-17). Mt Zion Baptist Church and Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin, are cohosts of this transformative Summit for pastors and ministers committed …

Three nationally known preachers with a passion for training pastors and ministers will headline our second Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit, focusing on the theme Preaching that Changes Lives (Romans 10:9-17). Mt Zion Baptist Church and Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin, are cohosts of this transformative Summit for pastors and ministers committed …

Three nationally known preachers with a passion for training pastors and ministers will headline our second Midwest Gospel Preaching Summit, focusing on the theme Preaching that Changes Lives (Romans 10:9-17). Mt Zion Baptist Church and Upper House in Madison, Wisconsin, are cohosts of this transformative Summit for pastors and ministers committed …

This recording is from our Let the Art Speak conference on April 15, 2023. Joel Sheesley was one of a few presenters throughout the day. Through the ages, artists of all types have been captivated by the beauty of the natural world. Consider Albrecht Dürer, who painted a nature study titled Great Piece of Turf (1503) featuring sweet-meadow grass an…

This recording is from our Let the Art Speak conference on April 15, 2023. Joel Sheesley was one of a few presenters throughout the day. Through the ages, artists of all types have been captivated by the beauty of the natural world. Consider Albrecht Dürer, who painted a nature study titled Great Piece of Turf (1503) featuring sweet-meadow grass an…

The spiritual history of UW-Madison is deeper, richer, and more complex than most people know. Have you ever wondered why there are so many churches located around the campus? Did you know that most of the early dorms had chapels? Have you noticed the religiously-themed plaques on buildings, or the statue in honor of Abraham in the Humanities’ buil…

The early Christian church emerged and dramatically spread even as Rome’s political dominion dramatically declined, weakened by mass-casualty pandemics, environmental calamities, political instability, and dehumanizing poverty. In this chaotic era, observes Roman historian Dr. Kyle Harper (University of Oklahoma), the church grew and “boasted of be…