Wisconsin Council of Churches

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Events and programs

• Feed the Hungry, Care for the Sick, Welcome the Neighbor: How Federal Budget Changes are Impacting Wisconsin Communities

  Wednesday, July 29, 2026

  The news has been filled with stories of federal cuts in HR 1 (sometimes called the “Big Beautiful Bill”), shifting policies around grants, executive orders, and a myriad of other changes in how our government operates. Amid the chaos and rapid pace of change, many are left wondering how people in our local communities are affected, especially the most vulnerable.

• Preparing for July 4th Worship: A Workshop to Resist Christian Nationalism

  Tuesday, June 9, 2026

  Join the Clergy Emergency League and the Wisconsin Council of Churches for a 90-minute workshop to help clergy and congregational leaders prepare faithful, grounded worship and preaching for the July 4th weekend.

• Wear Orange Weekend 2026

  Fri, Jun 5, 2026 to Sun, Jun 7, 2026

  Although it may seem far away, June will be here before we know it. As we approach Wear Orange Weekend 2026, the Wisconsin Council of Churches invites you to join us in standing together for a cause that deeply matters to our communities and to God’s call for peace.

• Beyond Protesting: Working Together FOR Something

  Tuesday, May 12, 2026

  As people of faith continue to show up in public actions across the state, many are asking how to build towards change. Join us for May’s Taking a Faithful Stand webinar to learn about concrete actions you can take on the local level to feed the hungry, care for the sick, and welcome the neighbor.

• What Works: Findings from Wisconsin's Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) Pilot

  Wednesday, April 8, 2026

  Holland Dvorak, Housing Initiatives Coordinator with End Domestic Abuse of Wisconsin, will discuss the Domestic Violence Housing First (DVHF) model – the theory and history, how the 9 DVHF pilot sites in Wisconsin have implemented the model, and how you can incorporate its successes into your own community.

• Songs of Hope, Songs of Resistance - Community Singing Gathering

  Friday, March 13, 2026

  We gather in community to sing together songs of peace, justice, protest, solidarity, empowerment and more. This gathering is to help us prepare for action on Palm Sunday. We will take time for a potluck dinner after our singing, so please bring food to share if you like. Water will be provided.

• Road to April 7: Preparing for Wisconsin’s Supreme Court Election

  Tuesday, March 10, 2026

  The next presentation in our Taking a Faithful Stand series will be Tuesday, March 10th at 6:30 pm, and will feature Rev. Mark Richards, hospice chaplain and President of the Wisconsin Unitarian Universalist State Action Network (WUUSAN). We will be discussing the upcoming Wisconsin State Supreme Court election.

• Workplace and Community Rights

  Wednesday, March 4, 2026

  With federal immigration and customs actions occurring in new ways, it is important to be prepared, know the right questions to ask, and have all documents available if you have an encounter with federal agents. Everybody has rights under the U.S. constitution that you may exercise in such a situation. There are also a number of steps you can take ahead of any encounter to minimize panic, family separation, and loss of financial assets. In this webinar, speakers will cover helpful information on preparing as well as responding to ICE presence in your home, workplace, or in a public space.

• Civil vs Criminal Infractions and How 287g Blurs the Line

  Wednesday, February 25, 2026

  Statewide, 17 counties and one municipality, have 287(g) agreements with ICE. This webinar, featuring ACLU WI’s Senior Staff Attorney Tim Muth, will give an overview of what 278g agreements are (how they work, who signs them) and the implications these agreements have toward communities.

• Know Your Rights: Faith Leaders & Law Enforcement

  Thursday, February 19, 2026

  Faith leaders are increasingly finding themselves navigating interactions with law enforcement—at houses of worship, during pastoral care, at public witness events, or in moments of crisis. This training will equip clergy and faith leaders with a clear understanding of their legal rights and responsibilities when engaging with federal agents.

• Immigration and Dairy: People, Policy, and the Future of Farm Labor

  Wednesday, February 18, 2026

  In Wisconsin, where dairy is the state’s largest agricultural sector, migrants make up an estimated 40% of the workforce, and UMOS reports that at least 90% of migrant dairy workers are undocumented. Drawing on decades of relationships, John will share how current immigration systems, including the limits of the H-2A program for year-round dairy, shape daily realities, while bringing a human lens to a topic often discussed only in policy terms. He will be joined by Layla who will highlight how NFU is advocating for practical immigration reforms that support family farmers, protect workers, and strengthen the future of U.S. agriculture. Together, the session connects lived experience with policy solutions in a complex, deeply interdependent issue.

• Wisconsin Farmers Union Immigration Series

  Wed, Feb 18, 2026 to Wed, Mar 11, 2026

  Learn about immigration through a rural Wisconsin lens in the WI Farmers Union Immigration Webinar Series! Presentations are subject to change (details released the Tuesday before each session) - topics include historical information on immigration, immigration processes & citizenship pathways, H2A visas & workplace perspective, 287g agreements, community readiness & mutual aid.

• How Local Municipality Budget Shortfalls Impact Vulnerable Communities

  Tuesday, February 10, 2026

  In February, we continue our conversation about the impact of HR 1 in Wisconsin. Join Linda Ketcham, Executive Director of Just Dane, to hear about the impact of local municipality budget shortfalls and how federal and state policy exacerbate them. Linda has a long history of advocacy and will bring her knowledge to help us understand how these changes impact vulnerable communities and how we can play a role in the shifting ecosystem of city, county, state, and federal government.

• When ICE Comes to your Community: What Pastors Need to Know

  Wednesday, January 28, 2026

  Clergy: Join us for a two hour training session on preparing for immigration enforcement in your community. Topics include situational awareness and risk assessment, emotional and spiritual preparedness, getting connected to local organizers, Know Your Rights and anticipating legal situations you may encounter, an introduction to nonviolence, and security. Speakers include Wisconsin organizers, Minnesota clergy, and legal professionals.

• Palm Sunday Path - Congregational Training

  Tuesday, January 27, 2026

  The Palm Sunday Path is a growing movement of church leaders who have decided that now is the time for Christians to stand up to rising authoritarianism and white Christian nationalism in a new way. Palm Sunday places before us a lasting contrast. Jesus enters Jerusalem not through force or spectacle, but in humility and mercy—exposing the limits of power built on fear and domination. Matthew tells us that when Jesus entered the city, the whole city was shaken. Not by an army, but by truth. The Palm Sunday Path is anchored by the Matthew 25 values of feeding the hungry, healing the sick, and welcoming the stranger, and envisions actions of tens of thousands of Christians across multiple states on Palm Sunday afternoon.

• Making Change by Organizing at County Boards

  Tuesday, January 13, 2026

  County Boards are where many of our social services are funded and administered; as social service programs continue to be cut, they provide a space to organize and advocate for change. Join Bill Hogseth, Co-Executive Director of GROWW (GrassRoots Organizing Western Wisconsin), to learn about the work they are doing in western Wisconsin and what we can learn to organize and advocate in our own communities across the state.

• Hopes, Fears, and Realities: Religious Leadership and AI Wisconsin Council of Churches Annual Meeting 2025

  Tuesday, December 9, 2025

  HOPES, FEARS, AND REALITIES: RELIGIOUS LEADERSHIP AND AI Wisconsin Council of Churches Annual Meeting 2025 December 9, 2025 | Appleton Keynote Speaker: Dr. Kate Ott

• Building The Bridge to Communities: Flipping the Script on Outreach

  Wednesday, December 3, 2025

  For generations, faith communities have asked, “How do we get people to come to church?” This session explores a flipped script: what do we need to do to prepare and enter communities authentically and with intention?

• Christian Nationalism: Our Problem or “Not Our Christianity”

  Thursday, November 20, 2025

  One of the most prevalent concerns in our faith communities right now is the rise of Christian nationalism, a weaponized religious movement that seeks to declare that Christianity is intrinsically aligned with American values and that the United States was both founded as and should be a Christian nation.

• Resistance on the Ground in Evanston

  Tuesday, November 11, 2025

  The next presenter in our Taking a Faithful Stand series with be Rev. Jason W. Coulter. Pastor Jason is one of many pastor-activists in Evanston, IL, and will speak to us about what resistance looks like there in this era. The meeting will take place on Tuesday, November 11th, beginning at 6:30 pm, via Zoom.

• What to Do When ICE Comes to Your Community

  Tuesday, October 14, 2025

  As part of our Taking a Faithful Stand series, Aissa Olivarez from Community Immigration Law Center (CILC) will present on What to Do When ICE Comes to Your Community.

• End Digital Overwhelm

  Wednesday, October 1, 2025

  Feeling despair from the 24-hour news cycle? Overwhelmed by your inbox? Numbed out scrolling social media?

• Supreme Court Year-in-Review

  Tuesday, September 9, 2025

  The next meeting of Taking a Faithful Stand will be on Tuesday, September 9, 6:30 PM on Zoom. Jim Santelle, former United States attorney for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, will present on the impact of this year's US Supreme Court decisions.

• Immigration: Fiction, Facts & Faith

  Tuesday, June 10, 2025

  Darryl Morin will share a presentation on Immigration: Fiction, Facts & Faith on Tuesday, June 10th at 6:30 PM.

• Wear Orange Weekend

  Fri, Jun 6, 2025 to Sun, Jun 8, 2025

  Although it may seem far away, June will be here before we know it. As we approach Wear Orange Weekend 2025, the Wisconsin Council of Churches invites you to join us in standing together for a cause that deeply matters to our communities and to God’s call for peace.

• Chaplaining the Apocalypse: Community Care as Crisis Response

  Wednesday, May 21, 2025

  At the WCC, we often discuss the “big ball of yuck” and coach ourselves to focus on addressing one piece at a time. But how do you choose where to start responding to a chaotic world where crises seem like a daily occurrence? How does the Church respond?

• Immigration + Worker Justice

  Thursday, May 15, 2025

  Join the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Worker Justice Wisconsin to learn about the intersection of Worker Justice and Immigration and how your congregation can engage in both issues with Rebecca Meier-Rao, executive director of Worker Justice Wisconsin.

• Offering Testimony as a Tool of Public Witness

  Tuesday, May 13, 2025

  Many of us have heard the School House Rock song “I’m Just a Bill”, but do we actually understand how a bill becomes a law? And do we understand there are ways that we can engage in the process, especially for local and state laws? Join Rev. Breanna Illéné, Director of Ecumenical Innovation and Justice Initiatives at the Wisconsin Council of Churches, to learn about advocacy and engaging in legislative hearings. We will discuss how a bill becomes a law at the state level and the process of engaging in public testimony, along with why it’s important that we, as people of faith show up.

• Know Your Rights Training (English)

  Thursday, March 27, 2025

  Join the Wisconsin Council of Churches and Voces de la Frontera for a Know Your Rights Training in English on March 27th at 9:00am.

• Conversation Circle: LGBTQ+ Support Ministries

  Tuesday, March 18, 2025

  Many people in the WCC network have been asking how to care for our LGBTQ+ kin when there is so much legislation specifically targeting this community. We would like to invite you to a conversation circle to brainstorm what you and your congregation can do to support LGBTQ+ people in your community. This is an open, informal, conversation to brainstorm, share ideas, and know that you are not alone.

• Taking a Faithful Stand for Equity

  Tuesday, March 11, 2025

  Our next meeting of Taking a Faithful Stand for Equity speakers will be Omar Mohamed, Lutheran Social Services (LSS) Refugee Resettlement Program Manager, and Sarah Halstead, LSS Manager of Community and Faith Partnerships.