In Not In Our Town’s 20 years of filmmaking and engagement, we have learned how one community can inspire another. This Spring, we premiered Waking in Oak Creek, which has already made its way to hundreds of towns and schools nationwide. After the film’s March premiere in Oak Creek, nearly 800 leaders have requested the film to bring together their communities, cadets, and classrooms in discussion around issues of hate and intolerance.
Today we kick off a series of stories featuring local leaders using this inspiring story of tragedy and triumph.
prays with officers at a swearing-in ceremony.
Source: Joe Imel / BG Daily News.
Waking in Oak Creek DVD.
Methodist pastor Michael Holian brought Waking in Oak Creek to his hometown, Bowling Green, KY.
Bowling Green is known for being the only place where America’s favorite sports car, the Corvette, is manufactured (and Holian has had a few). After the Vietnam War, the town had its first wave of Cambodian refugees. Since then, nearly 20 percent of the population have immigrated from Bosnia, Croatia, Burma, Russia, Latin America, and Africa. There are two mosques in the city of 61,000 residents.
Holian heard about the film through his wife, who attended the United Methodist Women Assembly earlier this year. He used the film at the Bowling Green-Warren County (KY) Ministerial Association, but also worked with the local police department’s training sergeant to show the film to 140 rookies.
While Holian doesn’t witness overt animosity in his hometown, he said that prejudices still exist. Oak Creek’s tragedy and response resonated with the group of clergy. Waking In Oak Creek profiles a suburban town rocked by hate after six worshipers at a Sikh Temple are killed by a white supremacist.
“It opened our eyes to a lot of other things. The clergy all realized it’s going to happen here, it’s just a question of when,” Holian said. “We’re going to be ready when it does happen here. We can react to it appropriately.”
In survey responses, the group of clergy felt the film would be a good fit for their own congregations, provide opportunities for interfaith dialogue or a special service to raise awareness with a youth group.
Holian is also one of three volunteer chaplains with the Bowling Green Police Department, and showing Waking in Oak Creek to the rookies, he said, was a “big step.” Many of the new recruits have yet to experience death, he said, and the chaplains spend time with the rookies discussing how the police and their chaplains can work together.
Bring Waking in Oak Creek to your town or school. Click here to request the DVD and get a discussion guide and lesson plan to pair with your screening.
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