In collaboration with the 92nd Street Y Community Center (92Y) in New York City, the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska will welcome six visitors from across the country to Chadron, Nebraska for a one-of-a-kind domestic cultural exchange. This exchange is a pilot project within the 92Y’s “Share Our America” initiative, born from the belief that we must bridge our divides to address the challenges of our time. Share Our America is aimed at bringing Americans of different backgrounds together to foster understanding, respect, and empathy. It is founded on the idea that change can happen person by person, and community by community.

These first visitors will spend four days and three nights hosted by six families in the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, from Grace Church, Chadron and St. Mary’s – Holly, Rushville. Visitors and hosts will participate in facilitated conversations, a Shabbat dinner, a ranch tour, and a worship service on Sunday. They will experience new insights about our country and its rich diversity of perspectives, creating new friendships with people they otherwise would not have met.

The exchange will be the last stop for Bishop J. Scott Barker and Canon to the Ordinary Elizabeth Easton during their Western Residency, occurring on May 18-22. “It is our hope that, in collaborating with the 92Y’s initiative, the people of our diocese can help show our country how to move from place of fear into a place of understanding,” says Canon Easton, “It is through loving our neighbors, especially those who differ from us, that we live most fully into Christ’s call on our lives.”

For 147 years, the 92Y has served its communities and the world by bringing people together and providing programs in the performing and visual arts, literature and culture, adult and children’s education, health and fitness, and Jewish life. The Share Our America initiative was created in their Belfer Center for Innovation & Social Impact, supporting the 92Y’s mission to reach beyond its core constituency of American Jews to serve people of diverse racial, religious, ethnic, and economic backgrounds.

To the people across the Diocese of Nebraska, Bishop Barker says, “We invite your prayers for our visitors, for our hosts, and for the spread of love and compassion in our country.”

To learn more about the Share Our America initiative, visit www.92y.org/shareouramerica

To learn more about the Episcopal Diocese of Nebraska, visit www.dioneb.org

To learn more about the 92nd Street Y, visit www.92y.org