The following information is a summarized overview of the nearly-four-years-long process of establishing and opening the Joan S. Beren Wichita Jewish Community Campus (or JSBWJCC or WJCC). The campus is home to both of Wichita’s established, traditional Jewish congregations as well as their shared Jewish Community School and will serve as the home of Judaism in Southcentral Kansas moving forward.
WHY FORM A WICHITA JEWISH COMMUNITY CAMPUS?
For more than a century, Congregation Emanuel ((the) Temple or C-E) and Hebrew Congregation ((the) Synagogue or H-C) have provided services, faith and education for the Jewish families in Wichita, inspiring community engagement and supporting Jewish life and learning.
Separately, our congregations have helped build families that connect and engage Jewishly throughout the years. The Temple and Synagogue have been proud to represent the Jewish people to build bridges to the Wichita community at large for many years. Together, we have built a Jewish family. Unfortunately, since 2009, our numbers for both congregations have dropped significantly, and therefore in order to build on our past strength we must come together to build a strong foundation for our future.
The Joint Campus Committee has, since late-2017, looked at all the challenges and opportunities facing each congregation and our Jewish family and fully supported moving toward a common campus in Wichita, Kansas with two congregations under one roof. Through committee conversations - discussing and finding solutions to myriad issues - we verified that working together paves the way for a healthier, more satisfying, and stronger future for each congregation and our Wichita Jewish community.
While sharing a “community” campus will certainly present challenges, the joint committee believes these concerns are outweighed by the benefits - improved financial outlooks for each congregation and a more hopeful, spiritual, energetic, and rewarding Jewish life in Wichita - of being together on a single campus. We, collaboratively, intend for a Joint Campus to be the hub of Wichita’s Jewish community on which we, collaboratively, will build and sustain a strong, vibrant, local Jewish community.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE GRAND OPENING OF THE
JOAN S. BEREN WICHITA JEWISH COMMUNITY CAMPUS
December 4, 2021
