Wisconsin, like most states, is host to a wide variety of cultures, faiths, and beliefs. Whether you worship in a church, synagogue, temple, or mosque, or any other place of worship, the people of Wisconsin are a spiritual people.
From Appleton to Oak Creek, Wisconsin is host to eight megachurches, churches with average attendance from 1600 to 6000 with the Elmbrook Church in Brookfield having the largest attendance.
Temple Beth El (Reform), in Madison, is the largest synagogue in the state’s capital city with almost 700 membership units.
Do you attend religious services regularly? Where is your place of worship?
I am non denominational, i simply consider myself Christian, however i was born & raised Catholic.
I am not a member of any church here, though i have attended a few in the Madison area, over the past few years of living here. The church i was a member of, before moving here, is now an hour away.
I was raised Catholic myself.. even went to Catholic military school.
Here where I live we have a Catholic retreat/seminary that hosts an annual American -Vietnamese retreat with as many as 50,000 people attending the several day event.
I consider myself spiritual but haven't attended church in years..
I was raised Catholic myself.. even went to Catholic military school.
Here where I live we have a Catholic retreat/seminary that hosts an annual American -Vietnamese retreat with as many as 50,000 people attending the several day event.
I consider myself spiritual but haven't attended church in years..
I went to Catholic elementary school, as did my siblings, but my brother was so bad that they ended up kicking out my sister & 2 brothers because the other two would always get involved in his messes. They were all a year apart in age & when i started school several years later my mom also enrolled me in catholic school, i made it through the first couple years, but apparently my brother guided me through getting myself kicked out... of course i don't remember that, as i was very young.
I to was raised a Catholic, I attended seminary for a year after high school, but decided I didn't belong there. Naturally, during that era(the 60's) I was drafted into the US Army,
I am an extremely spiritual person. But I do not attend church on a regular basis, normally Petunia cons me into it because she takes the grandchildren to a Lutheran Church, (her family has been Lutheran since the Reformation).
Growing up we stayed in WI 3-5 months a year, starting when i was maybe 10 or 11, We were members of Saint Josephs Catholic church in Wautoma WI, which is where i did my communion & baptized my children. I attended church for several years there, until i started questioning the beliefs. My family was NOT happy with my choice to no longer attend Catholic services.
While growing up, my family never attended church. When I got married, my husband was Methodist so we were married at the Methodist church in Ithaca but never attended regular services. When we moved to Elkhorn, we attended a non-denominational church there because our oldest son said he wanted to start going to church. When we moved back to this area we joined the Methodist church in Gotham just down the road. It was a very small church with only about 30 regulars. We were all baptized there, my oldest son got married there and my youngest son played piano every Sunday during service. The minister was the best and most entertaining one we have ever heard! He had quit his high paying job working in the World Trade Center in NY City to become a minister just a few years before 911. His sermons were always funny and the songs we sang were a mix between old time religion and modern which was nice for the different age groups. He played the guitar and sang at least once during the service, too. We were really sad when they decided to close the church due to low attendance and he had to move on to minister at a Methodist church in Altoona. After that, we started going to the Methodist church in Ithaca where we were married. Several of our friends attended there and the church did a lot of things in conjunction with the school which was next to the church. We attended there until after my youngest graduated from high school two years ago. We quit going mainly because we didn't care for the way the woman minister gave her sermons and at least once a month she would preach the whole hour about giving money to the church. I heard she retired recently and they have a new young minister now, so maybe some day we will start going there again.
While growing up, my family never attended church. When I got married, my husband was Methodist so we were married at the Methodist church in Ithaca but never attended regular services. When we moved to Elkhorn, we attended a non-denominational church there because our oldest son said he wanted to start going to church. When we moved back to this area we joined the Methodist church in Gotham just down the road. It was a very small church with only about 30 regulars. We were all baptized there, my oldest son got married there and my youngest son played piano every Sunday during service. The minister was the best and most entertaining one we have ever heard! He had quit his high paying job working in the World Trade Center in NY City to become a minister just a few years before 911. His sermons were always funny and the songs we sang were a mix between old time religion and modern which was nice for the different age groups. He played the guitar and sang at least once during the service, too. We were really sad when they decided to close the church due to low attendance and he had to move on to minister at a Methodist church in Altoona. After that, we started going to the Methodist church in Ithaca where we were married. Several of our friends attended there and the church did a lot of things in conjunction with the school which was next to the church. We attended there until after my youngest graduated from high school two years ago. We quit going mainly because we didn't care for the way the woman minister gave her sermons and at least once a month she would preach the whole hour about giving money to the church. I heard she retired recently and they have a new young minister now, so maybe some day we will start going there again.
I been in that situation... Mountain Faith Church in Wi Dells, i loved everything except for them always asking for money money money & MORE money to help the church (and the minister, his wife & their 8 children i'm sure).
If you didnt turn in an envelope with your name & at least $40 each week they sent you a letter & even sometimes called asking why you were not able to help out more & how if you donated at least that much they would send up a million prayers & you will have good luck... i seriously told them one day that they sound like spam in my inbox & walked out to never return. That was 5 yrs ago & to this day i still get a monthly donation packet with an envelope with my name & stuff on the front of each one & each sundays date... each envelope has an option to check on it $50, $75 $100 or OTHER...
Had i known this would be the case, i wouldn't have given them all my info in their welcome packet on my first day there... i've moved twice since then & it just follows me, we now get the envelopes & just toss them.
I been in that situation... Mountain Faith Church in Wi Dells, i loved everything except for them always asking for money money money & MORE money to help the church (and the minister, his wife & their 8 children i'm sure).
If you didnt turn in an envelope with your name & at least $40 each week they sent you a letter & even sometimes called asking why you were not able to help out more & how if you donated at least that much they would send up a million prayers & you will have good luck... i seriously told them one day that they sound like spam in my inbox & walked out to never return. That was 5 yrs ago & to this day i still get a monthly donation packet with an envelope with my name & stuff on the front of each one & each sundays date... each envelope has an option to check on it $50, $75 $100 or OTHER...
Had i known this would be the case, i wouldn't have given them all my info in their welcome packet on my first day there... i've moved twice since then & it just follows me, we now get the envelopes & just toss them.
God and the Post Office work in mysterious ways!!!
Especially when it comes to donation envelopes.
Wow 50,75, and a hundred, they thought allot of themselves,
I wasn't aware Religions wore a price tag!
God and the Post Office work in mysterious ways!!!
Especially when it comes to donation envelopes.
Wow 50,75, and a hundred, they thought allot of themselves,
I wasn't aware Religions wore a price tag!
Kid you not, majority of the preaching was about money & more money. It got old quick... In the welcome packet you were asked your annual gross income & i didn't fill that part in, they then called & asked me how much i made & i asked why they needed that, they said it was how they determine my 10% donation for each week. I informed them that 10% is less than i had to live on after paying rent & bills being a single mom of 2. Of course i then got the "but god will watch over you & help you to succeed if you give at least 10%, therefore it would benefit you, though it may be a struggle at first". Personally i do not believe the good lord works that way, a money hungry bunch of people using the lords name to rip you off do.
I liked the people & the womans group was great, but sadly the demanding of money became too much.
Kid you not, majority of the preaching was about money & more money. It got old quick... In the welcome packet you were asked your annual gross income & i didn't fill that part in, they then called & asked me how much i made & i asked why they needed that, they said it was how they determine my 10% donation for each week. I informed them that 10% is less than i had to live on after paying rent & bills being a single mom of 2. Of course i then got the "but god will watch over you & help you to succeed if you give at least 10%, therefore it would benefit you, though it may be a struggle at first". Personally i do not believe the good lord works that way, a money hungry bunch of people using the lords name to rip you off do.
I liked the people & the womans group was great, but sadly the demanding of money became too much.
Exactly why my "Place Of Worship" is in my mind and on my porch watching the beauty of nature unfold.
And...it's free.
(of course, I AM socially responsible and have particular organizations I donate/volunteer to)
__________________
.....just another day in Paradise
Kid you not, majority of the preaching was about money & more money. It got old quick... In the welcome packet you were asked your annual gross income & i didn't fill that part in, they then called & asked me how much i made & i asked why they needed that, they said it was how they determine my 10% donation for each week. I informed them that 10% is less than i had to live on after paying rent & bills being a single mom of 2. Of course i then got the "but god will watch over you & help you to succeed if you give at least 10%, therefore it would benefit you, though it may be a struggle at first". Personally i do not believe the good lord works that way, a money hungry bunch of people using the lords name to rip you off do.
I liked the people & the womans group was great, but sadly the demanding of money became too much.
When we lived in southeastern Wisconsin, I was a member of the local genealogy society and I volunteered a couple of nights a week at a nearby Family History Research Center in the newly built Mormon Church. They talked us into attending a couple of services and we really liked the people there. When we found out that they required members to give 20% of their earnings as tithing, we said no way. They actually had the members bring in their check stubs once a month to make sure they were paying the right amount to the church. The problem I had with this was that half the congregation was dressing in very worn and tattered clothing and there was even a member who was homeless and living in her car because she gave most off her money to the church every week! I can understand making sacrifices to help the church but when I saw that, I thought how can they knowingly let her do that? They must have thought having a new church building was more important to them and I didn't agree with that at all. They sent the missionaries to our house several times trying to talk us into joining and we got to where we just wouldn't answer the door any more when they came around.
Exactly why my "Place Of Worship" is in my mind and on my porch watching the beauty of nature unfold.
And...it's free.
(of course, I AM socially responsible and have particular organizations I donate/volunteer to)
I agree, i believe & i pray daily, no need to pay someone to let me do it there. I did donate though, it wasn't like i didn't want to help at all, i just couldn't afford a price tag on it, i did what i could when i could & that was usually $10 or so a week... i was a single mom on a single income & they didn't understand that.
When we lived in southeastern Wisconsin, I was a member of the local genealogy society and I volunteered a couple of nights a week at a nearby Family History Research Center in the newly built Mormon Church. They talked us into attending a couple of services and we really liked the people there. When we found out that they required members to give 20% of their earnings as tithing, we said no way. They actually had the members bring in their check stubs once a month to make sure they were paying the right amount to the church. The problem I had with this was that half the congregation was dressing in very worn and tattered clothing and there was even a member who was homeless and living in her car because she gave most off her money to the church every week! I can understand making sacrifices to help the church but when I saw that, I thought how can they knowingly let her do that? They must have thought having a new church building was more important to them and I didn't agree with that at all. They sent the missionaries to our house several times trying to talk us into joining and we got to where we just wouldn't answer the door any more when they came around.
I believe this to be true with Mountain Faith as well... They were in the process of building a new church that year... have you see it in the Dells? it was built on a hill & was a big deal in the town for some time... i never went to see it & really don't think of it when in the Dells, i do hear that the building itself is worth well over a couple million $$ and when the minister & his wife (along with 8 children) would show videos during service, of themselves & their children in all these other countries preaching & what not on a reg basis, talking about how the donations help to spread the word etc... I was disgusted that we had people right here struggling to help them fund those trips & i cant imagine it's cheap to fund a 10 person trip around the world each year. Needless to say it was all of these things combined that turned me off to the place.
I attended a Lutheran church and grade school growing up. It wasn't bad at all. We used to go to church almost every Sunday. In high school it was a little less since you know how teens are. Now I only go a few times a year, but I still pray daily.
Our church is always asking for money, too. But I know they are hurting. They can barely pay their heating bills and the teacher's salaries. I understand their situation, but they need to understand mine. I know they aren't singling me out, since the congregation all gets the same letter. They just know how to make me feel guilty. They never request a certain amount. It's all up the individual. I know that when I'm back on my feet again, I can afford more than the $5 I throw in the basket when I go.
I think the 10% was originally the recommended amount that churches told you to give. These days most people can't afford that with the price of things.
We had our graduation for WCTC at Elmbrook Church. That place is huge. It even has a Starbucks inside of it. I've heard that certain people out there don't want to have the grad ceremony at the church anymore because it might offend people that have different religions or the athiests. Give me a break! No prayer or religion talk ever entered the ceremony. It's just that the church is big enough to hold us all and it's not too far out of the way.
I attended a Lutheran church and grade school growing up. It wasn't bad at all. We used to go to church almost every Sunday. In high school it was a little less since you know how teens are. Now I only go a few times a year, but I still pray daily.
Our church is always asking for money, too. But I know they are hurting. They can barely pay their heating bills and the teacher's salaries. I understand their situation, but they need to understand mine. I know they aren't singling me out, since the congregation all gets the same letter. They just know how to make me feel guilty. They never request a certain amount. It's all up the individual. I know that when I'm back on my feet again, I can afford more than the $5 I throw in the basket when I go.
I think the 10% was originally the recommended amount that churches told you to give. These days most people can't afford that with the price of things.
We had our graduation for WCTC at Elmbrook Church. That place is huge. It even has a Starbucks inside of it. I've heard that certain people out there don't want to have the grad ceremony at the church anymore because it might offend people that have different religions or the athiests. Give me a break! No prayer or religion talk ever entered the ceremony. It's just that the church is big enough to hold us all and it's not too far out of the way.
That's something i've never heard of, coffee shop inside of a church hmmm
I agree that the church needs to pay their bills & i don't mind doing what i can, but like you said when i can do more i will & when i can't do at all, i still want to go to church without feeling pressured. I'll admit there were a couple Sundays i skipped service due to funds being low, not so much because of the $10 in gas to get there as the fact that i knew i'd be stopped on the way out to ask why my envelope wasn't in the box.
That's how huge Elmbrook is. They also have some wealthier people living in the area, so that helps. They have the money to support it.
My church doesn't question you if you don't put money in the basket. I've never tried it, but I know they wouldn't. They just send letters in the mail about what their expenses are and the total donated and what they would need to pay their bills. They've been borrowing money and they've gotten to the point where they can't keep borrowing. They even were worried about paying teacher salaries or having to make other cutbacks within the church or school. I can understand their situation. I just can't be of much help, so hopefully there are others that can be.
It's a shame when a chief complaint I hear regarding church usually boils down to money. I agree many churches can seem a bit "pushy" but to be fair, churches in general depend on donations and tithes to operate.
I just hate to see the church prosper while the congregation seems to suffer for it.
Allright, I have to lighten this up; besides I have to tell this story before all my witnesess die. As a young lad I live on the far northside of the city, if you were deemed out of order or got in a fight in the Catholic school I went to, you had to clean the church on Saturday night for the Sunday Masses. Anyway, I was cleaning the life size statue of St. Francis of Assisi(for you Non- Catholics, he is the patron Saint of animals).Just to let you know the majority of our congregation was First generation Italian and Hispanic people that made up our community.
While cleaning good old St. Francis I noticed the statue of the dove that was on his finger was like a ring, and it came off. I thought to myself, how cool would it be to replace the dove statue with a live pigeon from the bell tower. So up the tower I climbed, pretty easy to catch a pigeon in the dark; when I sat it on his finger the pigeon was not upset at all, with just the flickers of the candles and it being out of the cold wind it must've liked it. So I finshed my chores and home I went!
The little old ladies always went to seven oclock Mass(first Mass of the day) so they could get home and get thier cooking done. So here walks I to eight oclock Mass & low and behold, all the little old ladies were kneeling going up the stairs to good old St. Francis. From the story I heard, was when they opened the church doors in the morning the dove on his finger came to life, flew out the door and made a couple of laps over the congregation and flew off. To be honest I never fessed up, about a week later they found the dove statue behind good old St. Francis, but they never knew who cleaned him.
One thing I always enjoyed about church were the stained glass, statues, etc. My middle brother was baptized in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, a beautiful place.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hawkins
Allright, I have to lighten this up; besides I have to tell this story before all my witnesess die. As a young lad I live on the far northside of the city, if you were deemed out of order or got in a fight in the Catholic school I went to, you had to clean the church on Saturday night for the Sunday Masses. Anyway, I was cleaning the life size statue of St. Francis of Assisi(for you Non- Catholics, he is the patron Saint of animals).Just to let you know the majority of our congregation was First generation Italian and Hispanic people that made up our community.
While cleaning good old St. Francis I noticed the statue of the dove that was on his finger was like a ring, and it came off. I thought to myself, how cool would it be to replace the dove statue with a live pigeon from the bell tower. So up the tower I climbed, pretty easy to catch a pigeon in the dark; when I sat it on his finger the pigeon was not upset at all, with just the flickers of the candles and it being out of the cold wind it must've liked it. So I finshed my chores and home I went!
The little old ladies always went to seven oclock Mass(first Mass of the day) so they could get home and get thier cooking done. So here walks I to eight oclock Mass & low and behold, all the little old ladies were kneeling going up the stairs to good old St. Francis. From the story I heard, was when they opened the church doors in the morning the dove on his finger came to life, flew out the door and made a couple of laps over the congregation and flew off. To be honest I never fessed up, about a week later they found the dove statue behind good old St. Francis, but they never knew who cleaned him.
One thing I always enjoyed about church were the stained glass, statues, etc. My middle brother was baptized in St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC, a beautiful place.
Yes, Dave this was one of those old Catholic Churches, it burned down,(I had nothing to do with that!) Anyway the new one was ultra contemporary, gone was all the beautiful stained glass, most of the statuary, even the baptismal font was bland. Good thing there are a few of those old churches left around.
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Wisconsin: Where Is Your Place Of Worship?
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