There is an abundance of incivility, hostility and polarization in our community, our country and the world. IACO
iaco@iaco.org PROJECT WAS TO host four specific Central Ohio events designed to explore ways to address this negativity from an interfaith perspective. Specific goals were:
- To create a common discussion thread across all Faith Traditions
- To encourage complete count for 2020 Census
- To identify 100 potential new members for IACO
- To secure the participation of all 9 IACO Faith Tradition in a follow up sessio
The first activity was to be a “Faith Leaders” breakfast in partnership with AARP to be held on March 19, 2020 in an effort to create an environment for cooperation around an important aspect of our democracy – the decennial Census; and to introduce or reinforce how both AARP and IACO bring value to the community. This event was designed to enlist the coordination of Faith Leaders and Faith Traditions in the successful completion of a complete count for the 2020 Census in Ohio. The decennial Census is mandated by Article 1, Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution, which requires the federal government to conduct a census every 10 years. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, population growth in Ohio has slowed over the past three decades. With 2020 Census, Ohio must take the count seriously.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic the Faith Leaders breakfast was cancelled and plans began immediately on how best to involve Faith Leaders and the community in the complete count.
“We are now aware that funding for this aspect of our four prong initiative may not be possible from Puffin. We have successfully secured funding through the United Way/City of Columbus and know that the majority of the financial outlay for the breakfast will be borne by AARP. It is our hope that funding from Puffin can add to funding from the City of Columbus for supporting individual faith traditions in their efforts to inform and educate their constituencies about the purpose of the Census and its importance to each community. Materials will be made available to each participating faith tradition for dissemination.” Two training session were planned and delivered via Zoom in an attempt to onboard others to assist in communicating the importance of the 2020 Census. Lawn signs were purchased and installed in many locations throughout the Central Ohio counties (Franklin, Delaware, Union, Pickaway, and Fairfield). At each event hosted by IACO and AARP, an announcement regarding the importance of the Census and encouragement for citizens to cooperate with the Count was given.
The second activity was to be a colloquial designed for more intense discussion of how to engage in civil discourse with some focus on immigrants, refugees, and those that fall in the “hard to count” category. We had hoped the event on March 19, 2020 would help in identifying new interest in interfaith work of this nature in Central Ohio.
IACO did not established a colloquial, again due to the pandemic. Instead all activities moved to Zoom. As noted above, several sessions via Zoom were held in an effort to encourage focus on securing a complete count for the 2020 Census. The actual second activity was IACO’s 28th Annual Main Event, held on August 23, 2020. The theme of the event was “From the Broken Community to the Beloved Community: The Subversive Promise of Other-Centered Faith. The event was via Zoom and Facebook Live from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. Keynote Speaker was Rev. Dr. Jack Sullivan, Jr., Executive Director of Ohio Council of Churches. The Respondent was Mark Ferenchik, Columbus Dispatch Newspaper.
What actually happened: The final activity is the IACO Annual Prayer Gathering scheduled for December 13, 2020 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., to be live streamed via Facebook and YouTube. The program is a collections of videos prepared by each faith tradition that comprises IACO.
PROJECT GOALS Our project goals were to have a greater community presence; to expand the organization’s membership base; and address initiatives that concern persons of faith from an interfaith and realistic perspective. Due to Covid-19 our community presence was all virtual. However, the virtual presence expanded our audience if not our paid membership.
