New Second Harvest Food Bank Volunteer Dates Are Available

SAM Volunteer dates for June 2026 through December 2026 are now available. You can pick up the SAM-SHFB Volunteer Application Form from the Kiosk in the Gathering Space at church or by clicking here.

You will be notified once volunteer schedules are determined. If you have any questions, send an email toSAM@messiahchurch.com

2026 Girl Scout Cookie Sales at Messiah

Girl Scouts from Messiah's Community will be selling cookies on the following days:

Saturday, February 28 - Bella Wojta - Troop #7333

Sunday, March 1 - Grace and Haylee Mathews

Two Immigration Related Events

Know Your Rights Workshop -  Lake Edge Lutheran Church - March 9th - 6:00 pm

Rapid Response Training -  St. Stephen’s Lutheran Church - March 20th - 6:00-8:30 pm

Recently, the Messiah Senior Choir has been paying attention to the use of scents/perfumes/etc in the aid of their singing.

Pastor Jeff and Pastor Dan believe this conversation is worth talking about with the wider community as well.

Messiah has Choir members, congregation members, and staff who are sensitive to scents, causing them headaches, difficulty breathing, and other symptoms.

We are asking you to please be aware of your use of scents and refrain from using strong scents whenever possible.



We will continue this conversation with the Congregation Council. If you would like to be brought into the conversation, please reach out to the office or our council members.

Blood Drive – We Exceeded our Goal!

Unknown to us, the RedCross changed our goal to 36 donors and we had 39 so we were at 108% of the goal–hooray for us! We had 35 whole blood donations, 4 power red donations and 3 first time donors. Save the date for May 6th for our spring drive. 

Special thanks to our volunteers who greeted: Jim Alsmo, June Nyhus and Dave Lindorff, to those who ran the registration desk: Susan Ashley, Lynn Brandt, Nancy Battist & Barb Herrod, and those who ran the canteen and provided donor support: Grace Kyllo, Kathy Lukens, Walt Herrod & Terry Rieck, as well as Sarah Gordon for recruiting donors from Gunderson Funeral Home to partner with us every drive. Thank you to Dan Battist for help with tables and chairs. Thank you to Judy Armelin who keeps our weekly news and website updated so this information gets out and to Clark Kellogg for posting it on Facebook.

Gift card winners are: Barb Moseley, Dan O’Brien, Susan Krebsbach, Carrie Hinterthuer, Sue Meng and Ray Lux. Your gift cards have been mailed.

High School Ministry - Faith, Food and Fun 

SUNDAY, March 1 -  an evening of candle painting.

Teresa will provide all the candles and paint supplies.

We will have waffles with toppings and other goodies! 

The time is roughly 6:30-7:30 or 8:00 p.m. We will let the youth gage how late they can stay.

Please RSVP to Teresa so that we have enough materials and food available.

A New Group for Those Who Sew

or Would Like to Learn



Our goal is to encourage/teach people to sew while helping those in need.

In this group, we plan to sew simple projects to donate to charity.

We are starting with Ryan's Cases. These simple pillowcases are donated to the American Family Children's Hospital here in Madison.

As the skills of the group grow, we will also make "Little Dresses For Africa".

We will continue to look for other charities for which we can sew. Whether you are a skilled seamstress already or just starting out, this will be a great way to give to those in need.

The Racial Justice Team hosted an Adult Education session on Sunday February 8 on how to contact state and federal representatives. This was a direct follow-up to the book study When Thoughts and Prayers Aren’t Enough and an opportunity to speak up about gun violence, but these strategies can be used to express your opinion about any issues that are important to you. 

Here is a link to the google slideshow we used. There are many ways to get messages to our representatives and make our voices heard, and one is bound to fit your preferred method of communication because you can call, fax, email, or write a letter or a postcard. One of the easiest methods to use is the 5Calls app/website at 5calls.org. You set your location, select an issue from the sidebar and then the names and contact information of your elected officials pops up along with a suggested script which you can use verbatim or as a starting point. You can work your way through all of them or skip and select who you want to contact. 

Calling your representative is the best way to make your voice heard before they take a public stance because congressional staffers tally phone calls right away.

Other kinds of messages take longer.

• Emails have to be manually read and sorted.
• Faxes have to be digitized and emailed.
• Letters and postcards take time to arrive and get processed.

Gun Violence in Wisconsin Fact Sheet

When many of us hear “gun violence,” we think “mass shootings.” Those are horrific and should not be minimized in any way. At the same time, many people are unaware of the role guns play in homicides and suicides. Access to a gun can make an escalated argument or a critical moment of despair turn fatal.

We are one month out from our Safe Gun Disposal Event at St. Paul’s AME church at 4525 Diamond Drive.

The event takes place on Saturday, March 21st from 9:00 am -12:00 noon, followed by a forging event 12:00 noon - 1:00 pm.

Consider if you or someone you know might consider disposing of a gun that you or they are no longer using.

Gun-violence-in-Wisconsin-2023-Factsheet.pdf

The 3 Ps of the Guns to Gardens Event

on March 21 at St. Paul AME Church from 9 am to 12:00 noon

• This event is PRACTICAL. Sometimes people have a gun in their home that they simply do not want and they do not know how to safely dispose of them. They may have inherited guns they don’t want; they may have a gun that has been used in suicide or domestic violence; they may feel like they can’t handle it or are /not interested in it anymore, they may regret buying it. They can bring their gun here and be assured that it will be dismantled.

• This event is PASTORAL. Guns hold memories. If they are bad memories, the church can walk through this time by offering an option to pray and talk with a minister.

• This event is PROPHETIC. For people to voluntarily do this says that we choose another way, that God is on the side of peace and we are moving beyond thoughts and prayers to action at the grassroots level which can lead to action at the legal level.

Lenten Devotional

Writers from the Messiah community have teamed up to bring us a Lenten Devotional. Forty-six days of thoughts, challenges and reflections for this sacred season. Pick up a copy/copies of the devotional on the round table by the office window in the Gathering Space.

Click 2026 Messiah Lenten Devotional  to access an online version.

Daily reflections will also be posted to Messiah's Facebook page.

Ash Wednesday Soup Supper a Huge Success!!!

We had 202 people come to our Ash Wednesday soup supper with 17 types of soup.

We had so many people we had to wash the first round of bowls in order to keep serving!

If you are interested in serving or able to bring soup on March 11 or March 25, please contact Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com

Mid-Week Soup Supper and Holden Evening Prayer - March 11 & March 25

We will hold two Midweek Lenten Soup Suppers on March 11th and March 25th.

After supper we will pray Holden Evening Prayer in the Sanctuary.

Soup Supper at 6:00 pm - in the Social Hall

Evening Prayer at 7:00 pm. - in the Sanctuary

If you are able to provide soup and/or setup-serve-cleanup the meals, sign up on the Kiosk or contact Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com.

Divine Yoga Lenten Series - Tuesdays, February 24 - March 31 - 6:00 - 7:15 pm

The sessions are free with an optional offering to benefit the Guns to Gardens Safe Gun Disposal Event happening at St. Paul AME on March 21.

Grab your yoga mat or towel and join us from 6:00 - 7:15 pm on Tuesdays during lent from February 24 through March 31 in the Community Room (upper level opposite end of the building from the sanctuary.)

Divine Yoga sessions are open to all of Messiah and their friends.

Monetary Lenten Collection - Foil Pans for Goodman Thanksgiving Baskets

Lent is a time of giving to the poor (alms) and following Christ’s teachings more faithfully. In following these teachings, we moved the monetary collection for Thanksgiving baskets to the season of Lent. 

Our goal for 2024 and 2025 was to provide ALL 4,000 pans and Messiah met that goal and more! 

Please consider donating to this cause during Lent so we can reach our goal and be ready to purchase the pans at the best price we can find (roughly $5500). If using a check, please put “Thanksgiving basket” in the memo line so it is put in the correct account. Online, please use the Thanksgiving basket button. This collection will end at Easter. Your donations are greatly appreciated!

For more information about this collection, please visit the Community Outreach Team Webpage.

Hippity, Hoppity, Easter’s On Its Way! Easter Collection February 14 - March 1st.

We are asking the Messiah community to donate chocolate eggs, jellybeans, individually wrapped nut-free candies, fruit snacks, lollipops, crayons, gum, pens, small notebooks, deodorant and lotion, decks of cards, adult word searches and coloring books.

In order to ensure we have what we need, please visit the easel outside the office and choose the items you will purchase. You can also reach Elizabeth at   volunteer@messiahchurch.com   or call the office to get added to the list, or make a donation by bringing cash or bringing/mailing a check to the office and writing “Easter Baskets” on the envelope and/or in the memo line. 

Please bring all cash/checks to the office and donations to the Easter-themed box in the gathering space by March 1st. We will be packing and delivering that week.

For more information about this collection, please visit the Community Outreach Team Webpage.

Thank you for supporting our Lenten Outreach project.

Thank you for a successful first-ever Mardi Gras party. We estimate that we served pizza and king’s cake to about 150 people and we had about 40 people stay for the concert.

Please send any feedback about the event to Elizabeth at volunteer@messiahchurch.com. We continue to evaluate and improve our family events and welcome your opinion!

Ladies Lunch Bunch - March 11th - at Olive Garden

  4320 East Towne Blvd, Madison, WI

Please sign up on the Kiosk.

Please be there by 11:15 am     Orders will be taken at 11:30.

 For questions call Claire at 920-319-6731 or Mary at 608-716-4600

The Ladies Lunch Bunch February Gathering collected $130.00 for Goodman Center foil pan collection.

Our next dates for preparing meals for Healing House are to be determined.

Our next dates for preparing/serving meals for Triangle Community Ministry are:

April 6, 2026

 July 6, 2026 

October 5, 2026

Check the Kiosk for Sign Ups.

For more specific information about preparing meals, check out the Community Outreach Team Webpage under Community Meals.

Jennifer Ginsburg, Director of Safe Harbor spoke between the services on February 1 about human trafficking awareness at Safe Harbor. They have seen deep impacts because of the work they do in helping victims and their families, along with continued counseling support. We had a great conversation. Learning is always educational and opens up our eyes and hearts.

Victims and their families are referred to Safe Harbor from law enforcement and the courts and each year they help 400 families from over a dozen counties.  As they work with children and teenagers who have been victims of abuse and crimes, they go through lots of snacks and art supplies. We asked Jennifer to compile a list of these needs-stay tuned for an opportunity to help fill those needs.

Thank you to Messiah member Steve Lyons for sharing information about recent legislation related to human trafficking.

On February 4th there was a PUBLIC - SENATE HEARING at the State Capitol from the Committee on Judiciary and Public Safety on bills related to Human Trafficking. The bills listed below are bipartisan–it is so great to have our politicians agreeing to these. Nancy Battist went to these hearings and found it quite an educational experience. 

See the Human Trafficking Awareness Webpage for more details.

The Road Home-items should be new and full-sized when possible.

Cleaning supplies

Diapers &· Baby wipes

Laundry and dish detergent

Feminine hygiene products

Toilet paper and paper towels 

Gift cards for gas and groceries

Save Your Aluminum Pull Tabs

Aluminum pull tab collection to benefit The Ronald McDonald House. This includes soup, beverage, canned veggies, fruit, pet food and any other can with a ring pull tab.

St. Stephen’s Food Pantry

In addition to food and household items, they especially need:

Clear SODA  Bottles Only (no water, green or Gatorade bottles)

bottles should be rinsed clean in order to hold liquid laundrydetergent

condiments

baking items

laundry detergent

Dignity Project – Calling for Flannel!

In 2025 we provided 4,000 pads and 946 pairs of underwear. We were off to a good start in January with 492 pads and 88 pairs of underwear.

The price of everything is going up-even the price of flannel which we use to make the pads. If you have any leads on places to purchase it economically or have any at home to donate, please let us know!

Adult Education

Join us from 9:20 am to 10:20 am, between the services, for Adult Education Forums happening this month! 

More information on the Adult Education webpage.

Wednesday Morning Bible Study - Book of Daniel

Wednesdays, January 21 - March 11 at 7:00 am

Ray Robinson is leading a new study on the book of Daniel.

The study-guides are in the church office and available for pick-up. 

We will begin our first session on Wednesday, January 21st at 7 am in the Meeting Room downstairs.  All are welcome!

More information on the Adult Education webpage.