New monthly forum to start in Manitowoc

Following the success of the Claude Allouez and Orville Janssen Forums in Green Bay and the Fox Cities, the Green Bay Diocese and Sacred Heart Parish, Manitowoc, are teaming up to sponsor the Bill Zimmer Forum.

The various forums seek to spiritually, intellectually and morally enrich the lives of Catholic lay and professional people through a monthly series of talks at breakfast, starting at 7:15 a.m.

The new forum is named for longtime Sacred Heart pastor, Fr. Bill Zimmer (1934-1999), who was best known as a friend to people in need. In 1995, the Interfaith Academy of Parish Clergy named Fr. Zimmer its National Pastor of the Year. He was an ecumenical leader, a champion for social justice and a catalyst for the Hmong and Hispanic ministries in the Manitowoc area.

Zimmer Forum speakers were asked to answer two questions: "In your personal journey of faith, what book played a major role in the shaping of your mind and heart? What themes, images and values of that work gave meaning and direction to your life?" They also were asked to recommend three or four books.

Organizers say it is not necessary to have read the books.

Sacred Heart Church is at 520 N. 7th St., Manitowoc. Here is the schedule:

• Sept. 25, Auxiliary Bp. Robert Morneau, The Country Parson and The Temple by George Herbert;

• Oct. 30, Sr. Ann Rehrauer, Landscapes of the Sacred by Belden Lane;

• Nov. 27, The Rev. William Plank, Reformed Spirituality: An Introduction for Believers by Howard Rice;

• Dec. 18, Dr. Robert Berchmans, Markings by Dag Hammarskjold;

• Jan. 29, Lee Nagel, Mr. Blue by Myles Connolly;

• Feb. 19, Sr. Mary Jo Kirt, The Holy Longing: The Search for a Christian Spirituality by Fr. Ron Rolheiser;

• March 26, Fr. Willard Van De Loo, To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee;

• April 30, Mary Piette, At Home in Mitford by Jan Karon;

• May 21, Sr. Mary Bride Grubbs, God Make Me Brave for Life by Allen Zimmer.

Both the Allouez Forum, which the diocese co-sponsors with St. Norbert College at the college in De Pere, and the Janssen Forum, which the diocese co-sponsors with the Mt. Tabor Center at the center in Menasha, feature speakers talking about books.

For more information on any of the three forums, contact Cindi Brawner at (920)437-7531 or toll-free, 1-877-500-3580, ext. 8173, by mail at P.O. Box 23825, Green Bay WI 54305, or by e-mail at cbrawner@gbdioc.org.