Member Check-In & Livestream

The member check-in and livestream will be available here on Sunday, June 7, at 5:45 PM.

2026 ELDER CANDIDATES

Elder candidates on the ballot are Matt Cranney, Ella Mae Matsumura, and Jenny Zimmermann. Additionally, John Smalley is on the ballot for Elder Chair. All are welcome at the meeting, but only members can vote.

Matt Cranney

Elder Candidate

Matt Cranneygrew up in Liverpool England, and moved with his family to Perth in Scotland, before heading back to Liverpool University to complete his degree in Political Science. He met his wife Amanda in Schladming, Austria while on a soccer-based mission trip where she was studying at the Taurenhoff Bible School. They married in April 2005 and began life together in Madison, where Amanda had studied and called Blackhawk Church home during that time. Since moving to Madison, Matt has served Blackhawk in many roles, including leading in College Ministry, Emerging Leaders, Welcome Team and BKids. He and Amanda attend Brader Way and lead a Community Group together. Professionally, Matt is an Executive Vice President at M3 Insurance, where he focuses on building and leading teams, developing client experiences and strategic planning. Matt is motivated by the opportunity to develop people to their fullest potential, and to see the ripple effects in the world from those people who have the chance to lead with care, kindness, and authenticity. Matt and Amanda have three children, Cole, Jude, and Macie.

Ella Mae Matsumura

Elder Candidate

Ella Mae Matsumura was born in San Francisco and completed her undergraduate degree at the University of California, Berkeley. Her husband, Kam-Wah (Kam) Tsui was born in Hong Kong. Ella Mae and Kam met in graduate school at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada and married in 1977. They have one adult son. Kam and Ella Mae moved to Madison in the fall of 1980 when Kam joined the faculty in the Statistics Department at UW-Madison, where he worked until his retirement. In 1985, Ella Mae joined the Accounting Faculty. in the UW-Madison School of Business, and served as the School of Business Senior Associate Dean of Academic Programs before retiring from the university in 2021. Ella Mae and Kam have been members of Blackhawk since 1982. Ella Mae has served as an elder at Blackhawk, and also served as a deaconess, member of the Finance Team, and member of the Audit Team. Kam and Ella Mae share a love of music and reading. Ella Mae also enjoys gardening.

Jenny Zimmermann

Elder Candidate

Jenny Zimmermann was born and taised in Marshfield, WI. She and her husband, Phil, met while volunteering together at a Christian camp in northern Wisconsin. Jenny went to the University of Minnesota, where she earned a dual degree in Global Studies and Spanish, and she earned her law degree from the UW. Phil and Jenny were married soon after college, in 2004, and moved to Madison less than a year later. Jenny currently works for a migrant justice non-profit that facilitates cross-border, cross-cultural collaborations with US lawyers and lawyers/other advocates in Mexico and northern Central America in order to tackle specific transnational barriers on legal cases. She previously worked in legal services representing migrant and immigrant farmworkers, and speaks fluent Spanish. Phil is an internal medicine physician and currently runs his own weight loss and diabetes consulting practice. Jenny and Phil have been a part of Blackhawk since late 2012. Jenny has served with Impact ministry, in various ways relating to immigration and on the Bolivia Go Team, and is planning to begin serving in BKids to help meet the need for bilingual volunteers. Phil played guitar with worship arts for several years. Jenny and Phil have two boys, Ryan and Cam, and they enjoy being active outdoors together, including hiking, biking and cross-country skiing, both in national parks across the country and in Wisconsin. Jenny also enjoys growing a vegetable garden and backyard composting.

John Smalley

Elder Chair Candidate

 John Smalley is a native of Evansville, WI, and a 1981 graduate of UW-La Crosse. He and his wife Barb met on a blind date in Mason City, Iowa, and were married in 1985. They have four adult children: Rachel (Mike) Lamps, Andrew, Emma (Erik) Olsen, and Abigail, and three grandchildren, Elizabeth and Brandon Lamps, and Joyce Olsen. After a 40-year career working at newspapers in the Midwest (Mason City, La Crosse, Carbondale, Ill. and Madison), John retired as editor of the Wisconsin State Journal in August 2020 and does some occasional freelance writing and editing. Barb, originally from Dayton, Iowa, has been very involved with BKids over the years, and John and Barb have enjoyed leading (now hosting) a Young Adult Community Group in their home in Verona on Sunday nights for nearly 10 years.

Membership

Affirming Your Commitment to this Local Church

We value participation in the life of the church. In some church traditions, membership is the first step into church life. At Blackhawk, membership isn’t an early step, and it’s not necessarily for everyone. It’s an option for you after becoming fully invested in the church through group involvement, serving, and giving. If you’ve been regularly attending Blackhawk for more than six months, have placed your faith in Christ, and are actively participating in any of our ministries – becoming a member might be the next step for you.

Our membership process is about affirming your commitment to current and future investment in Blackhawk Church. It involves an hour of homework and a one-hour class with other new members led by our staff and elders.

If you are highly invested with your time, talent, and resources you can complete the membership application online.

Contact Membership for more information.