Wisconsin Life

If you ever stroll past Redeemer Lutheran Church in downtown Milwaukee, you can't help but feel an atmosphere swarming with activity.

Charlie Koenen

We keep making "bee-lievers" out of people.

Angela

But it's not the congregation inside that's drawing attention. It's what's congregating above on the roof that's making a buzz.

buzzing

Charlie Koenen

I've always tried to connect my practices with places where communities come together, and faith communities are kind of examples of the bees.

Angela

Charlie Koenen is the founder and creator of the non-profit group "Beevangelist." We say that we spread the gospel of abundance according to the bees through our practice and our product, and our education and our advocacy. The "Beevangelists" have helped raise awareness for the plight of pollinators all across Wisconsin......holding seminars, maintaining hives, and even marching in parades. We're able to engage people, inform people, enlighten people as to the importance and to the innocence of the bee. And that they can "bee-leave" l-e-a-v-e leave the bees be. And then, we get some "bee-ciples" who, you know, practice our methods of beekeeping, and then, some of them want to be "bee-vangelists." It just fit. It's like the perfect metaphor.

buzzing

Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland

Please stand.

Angela

For Pastor Lisa Bates-Froiland, the organization's mission felt like an ideal connector between the church and the surrounding community, with a name that's just as "bee-fitting."

Pastor Lisa

So, I also, on his own behalf, was like, "Are you sure you want to go with 'Beevangelist'?" And he said, "Yeah, because we need to "spread the good news of the abundance that bees offer us "and the potential for doing so in the city, "as well as in our outlying areas. "Urban beekeeping will help strengthen the bees and, thus, help strengthen us, too." The bees have now become a symbol for the church, both metaphorically... and literally. You'll see that there are bees coming in and out through the shape of a cross that looks like honeycomb and there's honey dripping to symbolize the abundance of the place, as well. That's not only a description of what is, but it's also a prescription of what always needs to be happening here. We are a hive where things are abundant here, and we're growing. To bee or not to bee? For Charlie, that was no question. He's devoted the last 20 years of his life raising bees. It's a job that's kept him busy as a... well, you know.

Charlie Koenen

It's always a lot of work. It's always a blast. I'm a bee. Just like a bee, I work really hard. I don't know what the end product is like. I get enough to get by, and I know that, you know, I've changed the world. I've made it more abundant, more plentiful, Helping Wisconsin become a land flowing with milk and honey.

Pastor Lisa

Charlie's a special guy, and he's got a lot to share with the world. He is abundance. He is a little out of the box, but that fits really well here. And any time he comes, there's, there's joy.

Charlie

I'm just driven by the passion of the bees and what I see inside of the hive to do what I can and like the bees. When I do this, things fall into place. Stuff starts to happen. If you're passionate about what you have and what you believe in, things align.