OCTOBER 2019 BACC NEWSLETTER
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The Bay Area Community Council is the leading organization in engaging community leaders in understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area.
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President's Message, Rev. Paul Demuth
Stepping back from daily practice can be the best way to see “home” more
clearly.
I recently embarked on a 22 day road trip to the southwestern United States. I flew to Denver and travelled by car to the Pacific Coast, San Diego, across the border to El Paso, and then north to Albuquerque and Denver. Besides rediscovering the beauty and vastness of our country and the parched West (it could use some of our excess rain!), I was most impressed with the normality of diversity throughout that part of the country.
In northeastern Wisconsin, many of us see ourselves and our history through the lens of our European background. People of color are somehow seen as “newcomers” (with, of course, the exception of our Native American brothers and sisters). The opposite seems to be the rule in the Southwest. There it was “normal” to witness people of color to be in the majority in government, business, restaurants, churches, and among tourists and social circles. It was Caucasians who were sprinkled in, just the opposite of most people’s experience here. It was most refreshing!
Upon my return, I was privileged to be part of the open house at the refurbished Casa ALBA Melanie, the Hispanic resource center on South Madison Street in Green Bay. This drop in center provides a safe, open place for Latinos to receive social services and matched with other providers for other services. It is also a venue for Anglos to learn about and mix with our expanding Hispanic population.
When we look closely at our community, we discover that we are already diverse in so many ways. We have significant populations populations of color who are African American, Somali, Native American, Hmong, Vietnamese, and Latino. Native Americans have been here for centuries; some of the other groups are late 20
th or 21
st century newcomers.
We all need to take the time to see one another, to get to know one another, and to realize how our interaction with one another need not be frightening; it’s enriching. I look forward to the day when it is “normal” for us to see people of color on our City Council and County Board and when we see leaders continue to emerge in business, nonprofits, education, church leadership and social circles who represent each of these groups. It’s already happening in some areas; individuals from different cultural, socio-economic, age, and gender groups are already sharing their multiple skills and traits with our entire community. Acknowledging the responsibility of all of us, the Bay Area Community Council invites you to join us to foster this dialogue and cross pollination. We still have a long way to go; but let's build on the variety of people and talents we have in our community. Then we can celebrate diversity, not fear it.
Thank you, people of the Southwest. You have shown me that diversity is already a reality
among you. You are a great model for us in northeastern Wisconsin.
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OCTOBER 10 BACC Board meeting
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The Board considered important movements in BACC committees. A grant application to the Greater Green Bay Community Foundation to enhance BACC communication strategy will be submitted later this month. The organization has benefited from a generous financial contribution from Bellin Health. The fall 2019 foresight analysis cohort has advanced beyond its second meeting this semester.
The Board approved a change in bylaws that strikes term limits for Board members.
Board members Phil Hauck and Nan Nelson shared how their economic transformation signal team has progressed by narrowing its focus and effectively using resource tools Diigo and Twitter.
Board members invited each other to key community events, many which have BACC board members on their staff or Board, including the ribbon cutting for the enhanced Casa ALBA, tours of STEM Center, and Wello's Feb. 12, 2020 report to the community.
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Pew Research and a local religious figure/communication strategist sound off on changing status of religion in US culture
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Steve Herro, Executive Assistant of Bay Areas Community Council
Pew staff write:
....In Pew Research Center telephone surveys conducted in 2018 and 2019, 65% of American adults describe themselves as Christians when asked about their religion, down 12 percentage points over the past decade. Meanwhile, the religiously unaffiliated share of the population, consisting of people who describe their religious identity as atheist, agnostic or “nothing in particular,” now stands at 26%, up from 17% in 2009....
If effective practitioners of foresight analysis study trends, events, and choices in order to strategically plan for the betterment of their organizations and communities, was someone asleep at the wheel before Americans began to leave established religious groups in our country?
Scott Thumma, a sociologist of religion at Hartford Seminary notes, “This rapid shift is about generational replacement. The most religious folks are the ones who are dying and the least religious folks are the ones coming in.” Cultural reasons include decreasing social pressure to attend religious services, the clergy sexual abuse scandal, and shifting attitudes on sexuality and gender that clash with some religious teachings.
Steve Meyer, a Catholic deacon and Executive Creative Director of
the Karma Group, took a slightly different approach when he addressed the BACC Board in fall 2018. According to Meyer, "Rather than assuming the faith of our ancestors, we are increasingly drawing on the broader faiths from around the world...."
Meyer answers what this might mean for the future of religion:
- Expect adaptation – religions that don’t evolve will diminish
- Spiritual depth with an integrated moral code
- More inclusive – converging people and practices
- More verb/less noun – religion as an action rather than as a place
- Less structured and compartmental
- Expect transitional tension – increase before dissipating
- A return to contemplation – as millennials age, they’ll search for meaning
If religion is to remain relevant in our local community, its leaders and strategists might benefit from understanding and responding to preferences, choices, and trends in our local population. As a long time Green Bay activist once exclaimed at a meeting of community advocates, "We have got to stop expecting them to come to us; we have to meet others where they are at."
Favorite resources and news you can use
Recent news stories, articles, books, videos, Websites or venues of interest to the BACC supporters and newsletter readers, recommend by the BACC staff and directors. Also community events of interest to the BACC supporters
Neville Public Museum receives awards for "Delay of Game" exhibit
Our Neville Public Museum was recently awarded the 2019 Award of Excellence winner by the Leadership in History awards committee of the American Association for State and Local History
and the 2019 Museum Exhibit Award from the Wisconsin Historical Society for its display "Delay of Game: Experiences of African-American Players in Titletown." The Neville is directed by Beth Kowalski, BACC Board member.
Presented by Devon Christianson, BACC Board of Directors and Executive Director of the Aging and Disability Resource Center
Sat., Nov. 2, 2019
9:15 am-11:15 am
Norbertine Center for Spirituality, 1016 N. Broadway, De Pere
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