Community Partners
Parchment Community Library, Parchment Methodist Church, St. Ambrose Catholic Church, Lutheran Church of the Savior, Kalamazoo Islamic Center, Bilal Islamic Center, Welcoming Michigan, Shawarma King.
Advanced Planning
We started planning for two Meet Your Muslim Neighbors events in July 2017 bringing the representatives of each group together and meeting once a month until our first event, Introduction to Islam, on October 3. We didn't require registration for either event but from the interest on Facebook we felt we should move the venue from the Library, which holds about 100, to the Parchment Methodist Church which holds 250 in its sanctuary and several hundred in its community room. The committee toured the Methodist Church and worked out the flow and seating. We ended up having about 270 people attend.
Marketing
The Director of the Library created counter cards (4”x5” takeaway pieces) and posters. The Library posted the event on Facebook, in our print newsletter, and on our website. Churches and mosques printed the information in their bulletins. We left publicity in the high school library. We also listed the events in our local art and senior magazines. It really helped to have the buzz at the churches.
Budget
The major expense was food for the second event: A Celebration of Muslim Cultures. We provided samplings of mid-Eastern food for 300 at a cost of $500. All the organizations chipped in.
Program Execution
Our first event, Introduction to Islam, held on Tuesday, October 3, 2017, was led by the Imam of the Kalamazoo Islamic Center and the Emir of the Bilal Islamic Center. Joining them were the pastors of the Parchment Methodist Church and the Lutheran Church of the Savior. They shared the history of Islam and its challenges in today’s political and social climate. A children’s choir of Middle Eastern refugees and Orchestra Rouh, a local Kurdish musical group, performed before the discussions. The Director of the Library introduced the Meet Your Muslim Neighbor series, the musicians, and speakers. We had planned on breakout sessions during the two-hour event, but it took so long to give everyone a name tag (written in English and in Arabic) and settled into the sanctuary that we eliminated the breakout groups and had a longer Q&A session. Even then we didn’t get through all the questions.
Our second event was A Celebration of Muslim Cultures on Sunday, November 5, 2017, also held at the Parchment Methodist Church. This event included tables with information about Arabic and other predominantly Muslim countries, manned by representatives from the Muslim Student Association at Western Michigan University. The students demonstrated how to wrap a hijab, painted henna tattoos, and displayed and explained Muslim art and dress from the Middle East and Africa. Name tags were written in English and Arabic and were a big hit. We had food available from Shawarma King, a popular Mid-Eastern restaurant in Kalamazoo. We held these interactive activities in the church’s community room. Guests could move freely between the community room and the sanctuary, where short, informal discussions were held. Representatives from the Islamic community discussed the role of women in Muslim culture, and Christian and Islamic clergy explored common roots of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The pastor from the Parchment Methodist Church was the MC and a presenter. Our attendees topped 300 and included many Muslims who had never entered a Christian church and area residents who had never met a Muslim. Intercultural families tasted food together. Several Sisters of St. Joseph learned how to wrap a hijab. We used many volunteers to stand at each entrance, direct attendees, and hand out programs. Members of the committee made sure to mingle and ask people what they thought of the event.
Advice
For our first event we planned to do too much and didn’t plan on the large crowd attending or the time it would take to write the name tags in English and Arabic.
Registration is helpful, but there are always people who don’t show or don’t register which makes gauging the attendance difficult. Creating a Facebook Event allowed us to track the level of interest in the weeks leading up to the event (which far surpassed our expectations) and we were able to move to a larger venue with plenty of time to spare.
We highly recommend working closely with community organizations. Meeting and planning the events with church and mosque leaders proved to be the key to selecting the topics they felt important to discuss and to marketing the event to their communities. Word of mouth through congregations and organizations working with refugees was crucial in publicizing the event and creating a truly inclusive series of programs.
It also helps to have a few Muslims from the neighborhood involved. They are a close-knit community with great ideas and our Muslim neighbors really helped in spreading the word. Try to have as many people as possible feel invested in the project.
A Kalamazoo Township Public Safety officer was on hand at both events to provide security. We had no security issues at all, and the officer enjoyed mingling with the crowd. (My favorite memory is seeing a petite woman in full hijab walk by wearing his policeman's cap.)
Future Events
The happiest outcome was hearing so many people ask, "When will you have another event like this?" We're delighted that our Muslim neighbors are hosting a "Visit Your Muslim Neighbors" event at the Kalamazoo Islamic Center on April 13. Guests will be treated to a wonderful home-cooked feast and are welcome to attend evening prayers.
For more information, please see the library's events page at: http://www.parchmentlibrary.org/library-events?lightbox=dataItem-jeub9t0w1.