Today's America: On the Road to Cultural Understanding Are we doing enough to shape a multicultural community? Are we inclusive? Is that the goal? How do different cultural and ethnic groups use power? These are questions many people grapple with regularly, especially in today's America. Acclaimed author and Episcopal priest, Reverend Eric H. F. Law, will begin to tackle these and other question during "Shaping Inclusive Multi-Cultural Communities," an all day workshop sponsored by the Archdiocese of Newark. The workshop will be from 9am to 3pm, Saturday, September 26, 1998 at the Catholic Youth Organization Gymnasium, 499 Belgrove Drive, Kearny. The Saturday workshop is open to the public and people of all denominations are invited to attend. There is a $5 registration fee. Rev. Law is the author of "The Wolf Shall Dwell With the Lamb - a Spirituality for Leadership in a Multicultural Community" and "The Bush Was Burning But Not Consumed." He is a consultant and trainer in multicultural organization development. He has assisted educational, health care and religious institutions in dealing with issues of cultural diversity for more than nine years. He is currently the Ministry and Congregational Development Officer of the Diocese of New Westminster of the Anglican Church in Canada. Vicar for Pastoral Life for the Archdiocese of Newark and one of the workshop sponsors, Msgr. Louis Fimiani, said he is honored to have Law conduct this workshop for the people of the Archdiocese of Newark. "Eric, who is of Asian ancestry, speaks from his own personal experience," Msgr. Fimiani said. "People didn't mean to be hurtful, but they certainly did not understand him when he was growing up." Director of Research and Planning and the other workshop sponsor, Joseph A. Vancio, hopes the parishes of the archdiocese can learn from those experiences. He points out that the workshop builds on other multicultural events held by the archdiocese, such as the Multicultural Pentecost Celebration held at Liberty State Park this year. "It is wonderful to share the food and the dances of different cultures, to celebrate," Vancio said. "However, we need to go deeper to get to the heart of the matter." Vancio explains that the changing demographics in the United States have created different dynamics in parishes and communities in Northern Jersey. "Where a generation ago most new immigrants came from Europe, today the largest groups come from Asia and Latin America." Msgr. Fimiani, said American society has been greatly influenced by European Culture. "We paint people with the same brush and expect them to react a certain way," Fimiani said, "when they don't react that way we don't know what to do." "This workshop will address what skills are necessary to understand and appreciate different cultural values," he added. Law will explore the dynamics of multicultural misunderstandings and how different cultures perceive and use power. He will provide participants with practical guidelines to build multicultural communities in which everyone can thrive. Vancio explains that Northern New Jersey has extremely diverse cultural and ethnic groups. "These issues go beyond the parish community, beyond Catholicism," he said, "these issues touch everyone's lives on a daily basis by virtue of the area we live and work in." Law will also meet with Archdiocesan leadership Friday, September 25 to explore their role in multicultural communities. Bishops, university presidents, heads of Catholic agencies, and Episcopal Vicars are expected to attend the Friday session. For more information and to register contact the Office of Research and Planning at (973) 497-4025.
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