And while students meet new or reconnect with old friends, they will be joined in celebration by the UWGB Chancellor Thomas Harden, the UWGB faculty and staff and members of the local community.

The event is free and open to the public. Local professional band(s) will perform cover songs. And the media is invited to include this event in calendar announcements and report on it (before and after.)

This event is co-sponsored by the Ecumenical Center, a not-for-profit organization, and the UWGB Alumni Association.

Rain site will be inside the Ecumenical Center.

Argall has a Ph. D. in Christian Origins from the University of Iowa.  Prior to coming to Green Bay in 2008, he served on the faculty at Jamestown College in Jamestown, ND.

“I look forward to working with my fellow Board members and the Center’s staff in building the Center’s sustainable future,” said Argall.

Both Argall and Nguyen also shared their appreciation for Jan Malchow, an outgoing Board President. Malchow will continue to serve on the Board.

“Jan has done an excellent job in his role as President and we’ll be delighted to have him continue to serve on the Board,” said Argall.

A place on the move, the Ecumenical Center hosted over 800 programs, activities, and meetings this past academic year serving about 1,000 UWGB students and another 300 community members. And the best is yet to come. To find out more, visit the Center’s website at www.ecuwgb.org.

Read more about the camp here: http://www.uwgb.edu/camplloyd/

A BRIEF MID­-YEAR REPORT
May­-December 2009

Since May 15 to the end of December 2009, much activity took place at the Ecumenical
Center. This is a summary of some of the major accomplishments during these six months.

We have…

• Hosted over 250 activities, programs and meetings
• Engaged over 600 students and another 200 community members
• Re-engaged with over 850 friends of the Ecumenical Center
• Held a retreat with all of the Center’s stakeholders to better define various components of our mission, vision and brand
• De-cluttered the building and moved the furniture around in order to create a new lounge, 3 small study rooms, entrance lounge, a prayer area and a reflection space
• Engaged about 30 volunteers who helped us paint the exterior of the building
• Launched a new website that has brought over 800 unique visitors and 40,000 hits between August and December 2009 (www.ecuwgb.org)
• Developed an active social media presence with hundreds of people as our connections
• Launched an internal Goolge-based website to help us track all of our activities
• Begun developing a new, consistent and cohesive brand identity for the Center and produced a series of promotional materials to reflect the change and new energy, including:
  • New logo, business cards, letterhead, thank you cards;
  • Individual program promotional materials: posters, postcards, invitations;
  • The Ecumenical Center self-guided tour materials – to better introduce the space;
  • The Ecumenical Center Overview Packet
  • Published an 8 page, full color newsletter
  • Wrote new policies
  • Developed an employee handbook
  • Developed a Board of Directors Binder
  • Recruited new member to the Board of Directors
  • Secured a Protestant Chaplain for the academic year
  • Established a solid working relationship with the Catholic Campus Minister
  • Recruited a number of new interns and conducted staff retreat & trainings
  • Conducted a student survey that resulted in the unprecedented 400 responses—a significant increase from last year’s 63
  • Produced a short video/commercial that can be viewed at www.ecuwgb.org

In terms of programming, we have modified some old and launched a number of new programs and we have collaborated with dozens of organizations to host hundreds of others. Many of these programs take place weekly; some are held monthly and some are only a one-time program or held annually:

• Backyard Bash
• Food for Thought
• In the Path of the Buddha
• International Peace Day
• Make it So: Personal Values and the Star-Trek Universe
• International Student Potluck
• Midweek Moment of Prayer
• Catholic Mass
• Small Catholic Communities
• Bible Studies
• Dinner for a Dollar
• Faculty & Staff Ecumenical Dialouge Meeting
• Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) Pastors Meeting
• 350: Ringing in Change Rally on creation care
• Celebrating a New Day
• Tuesdays with Mauthe
• Trick ‘n’ Treat, from students to kids
• Unity Hospice Services
• Southeast Asian Student Union
• Traditional Oneida Social
• Finals Week Cookies and Cram
• Weddings took place at the Center
• Learning in Retirement

Additionally, the following organizations consider the Ecumenical Center their home:

• Alcoholics Anonymous
• Interfaith Men
• Alpha Omega
• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship (IV)
• Ballroom Club
• Latter-day Saints Student Association
• Choir
• Lena Mennonites
• Christ Living Among Students (CLAS)
• Lutheran Church – Missouri Synod
• College Crafters
• open office hours
• Dance Team
• Newman Catholic Student Community
• Eckankar
• Philosophy Forum
• Fox Valley Friends (Quakers)Resident Assistants
• Habitat for Humanity

Why?
To encourage understanding and respect among the Jews and Christians in Northeastern Wisconsin through study of our common origins and through conversation and interaction.

About our speaker:

Amy-Jill Levine is E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Professor of New Testament Studies at Vanderbilt University’s Divinity School, Graduate Department of Religion, and Program in Jewish Studies. Holding a B.A. from Smith College, an M.A. and Ph.D. from Duke University, and several honorary doctorates, Professor Levine is an internationally renowned speaker and consultant on issues in Jewish-Christian relations. Along with numerous publications, including the award-winning The Misunderstood Jew: The Church and the Scandal of the Jewish Jesus, Professor Levine has also done several taped series for the Teaching Company. She describes herself as a “Yankee Jewish Feminist who teaches New Testament in the buckle of the Bible belt.”

The Coalition Sponsoring the Scholar-in-Residence Weekend:

• Catholic Diocese of Green Bay
• Congregation Cnesses Israel
• Ecumenical Center of the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay
• Elaine Milson Special Birthday Fund
• First United Church of Christ
• First United Methodist Church
• Grace Lutheran Church
• Moses Montefiore Synagogue, Appleton
• Norman Miller Family Foundation
• Religious Studies Department of St. Norbert College
• St. Anne’s Episcopal Church
• Union Congregational UCC
• West Side Moravian Church
• Winnebago Presbytery

Come join us to support Freedom House. BYOD – Bring Your Own Donation (a nonperishable food item, gently used clothes, a couple of bucks, etc.) to get in.

In return, get tons of food (hamburgers, hot dogs, soda, veggie options…), outdoor games and great entertainment by Sara Zacek and Friends!

Let us know if you have any questions. Otherwise, come on over. Bring your friends, family, your dog, whoever. The event is open to the public!

Let’s party for a cause!

The Ecumenical Center, a non-profit organization that serves the UWGB population, in collaboration with the University’s Office of Student Life, has sponsored a service immersion trip to the Pine Ridge reservation of the Lakota Native Americans in South Dakota. After a 15 hour ride, 12 students and a staff member arrived to Custer, SD this past Sunday, and for 6 days they will be contributing to this unique community while transforming the way they see and understand their own lives, consequently growing their leadership capacity.

The service trip has two main objectives according to Hung Nguyen, executive director of the Ecumenical Center. “One is to get people out of their comfort zone and learn a little bit about who they are and how they relate to the rest of the world,” he said, “The second reason is to give a selected few an opportunity to apply what they learn in their textbooks to day-to-day reality.”

Eager to learn from the Lakota people — about their life, culture, history and traditions, this group of volunteers will be working on renovating a home, splitting wood to provide fuel to heat people’s homes, and will be working with school kids.

According to Katie Kilsdonk, a junior business administration major and one of two trip leaders, this trip gives her an opportunity to “gain a better appreciation for the things I take for granted in my life.” Jenny Kuehl, another trip participant, joins in this feeling and adds her appreciation to the Ecumenical Center for providing an opportunity for students to learn about Native Americans.

“I think opportunities like this help an individual to grow into a better person, one who appreciates and values life and diversity of all people,” Kuehl said.

Since the Ecumenical Center is a nonprofit organization that operates independently from the University of Wisconsin system, students have worked hard to raise money for the supplies needed to do the various service projects while in South Dakota. They organized a bake sale, spaghetti dinner, and have written letters to their friends and family asking them to support their Spring Break endeavor.

“It is important that people support us and know what we are all about,” said Nguyen.

The trip is a partnership between the Ecumenical Center and the University’s Office of Student Life, “a great partnership,” according to Nguyen. “I think with any project, you have to have partners to pull it off,” he continued.

The Ecumenical Center hopes to continue to organize service trips in the future and is open to input. “Students should tell us where they want to go and what they want to do. We are always looking for input,” Nguyen concluded.

For more information, please visit: www.ecuwgb.org or contact Adi Redzic at 920.465.5133 or aredzic@ecuwgb.org.

Remembering a Peaceful Afghanistan is a story about Steve Weerts who joined the Peace Corps at the age of 19, and worked at the Parwan Province, enhancing the lives of the local population. During that time he saw a peaceful country – an image rarely talked about in today’s mainstream media.

On his first trip to Afghanistan, Steve worked with the citizens there to help build civil projects. Under the project title “Food for Work,” wheat was distributed to a famished population. In return, citizens helped work on civic projects that built roads, bridges, dams, irrigation canals and schools.

The country had created such a strong impression on Steve that he returned in 1990 to assist Afghan refugees that were in Peshawar, Pakistan. He and his family, over the course of one year, assisted some of the 3 million Afghan refugees that were displaced as a result of the Soviet invasion.

Steve Weerts and his family worked with USAID Narcotics Awareness and Control to educate Afghan farmers on crops that could provide an economic equivalent to that of the poppy plant.  This was in effort to reduce the poppy trade as well as educate about the dangers of Heroine and other narcotics.

Afghanistan had changed Steve Weerts life. He now is a Public Defender in Shawano, defending indigent people within the courtrooms. The country and the people of Afghanistan have touched Steve’s life, and as a way to give back, he will be giving a presentation on what peace was like before the Soviet invasion and what peace may look like in the years ahead.

For more information, contact Adi Redzic at 920.465.5133 or aredzic@ecuwgb.org.

College students have found that Dinner for a Dollar has allowed them to give back with the little that they have along with sharing a home-cooked meal with others, benefiting those in need at the Freedom House.

Without a place like the Freedom House in Green Bay, individuals of all ages would go to bed at night hungry, cold, and hopeless.  With the money profits collected at Dinner for a Dollar, the Freedom House can provide fifteen children with a pair of warm mittens and a hat or school supplies for ten children. Although their need is great, every little bit that is provided helps to give a fresh start and change the lives of children and families that have had a  rough patch in the road.

The Ecumenical Center has chosen the Freedom House to benefit from the profits of Dinner for a Dollar throughout the 2009-2010 academic year. The remaining dinners will take place on February 1st, March 1st, April 5th, and May 3rd and will be sponsored by the various organizations from the community.

Making a small impact in the community can make a large difference in the world.  By attending Dinner for a Dollar you can help keep the tradition of helping others alive.

For more information, please visit: www.ecuwgb.org or contact Adi Redzic at 920.465.5133 or aredzic@ecuwgb.org.

The event began as a way for poor college students to dig into their near empty wallets while providing for those in need and sharing a meal together and engaging in a conversation at the Ecumenical Center. On the other hand, this event that once was solely sponsored by the Center, is now an outreach opportunity for various local organizations and groups that prepare the meal and then tell the attendees a little bit about the work they do or their backgrounds.

At the Ecumenical Center anything is possible… including just a dollar or a canned food item in exchange for a delicious meal from around the world.

The Freedom House in Green Bay reaches out to the community by serving those who are
homeless, helpless, and hopeless in the Greater Green Bay area. Many of their programs assist families spiritually, emotionally, socially, physically, financially, and intellectually.

With over one hundred students attending Dinner for a Dollar, their small contribution helps make a difference in the lives of over 835 families and over 1807 children that the Freedom House helps throughout any given year.

Freedom House was chosen as the non-profit organization for Dinner for a Dollar during the 2009-2010 academic year with December 7th , February 1st , March 1st , April 5th , and May 3rd dates remaining.

From one non-profit organization to another, different groups provide a meal for Dinner for a Dollar in order to keep the tradition alive while supporting another local nonprofit organization.

Join in an effort to support those in need by attending Dinner for a Dollar.
For more information, please visit: www.ecuwgb.org or contact Adi Redzic at 920.465.5133 or aredzic@ecuwgb.org.