A century of service to Utah by the Community Services Council was recognized Wednesday, and the late Lowell L. Bennion, past executive director of CSC, was honored for his loving kindness and charity toward the poor while the keynote speaker warned those in attendance to turn away from practices that divide people.

In a luncheon at Little America Hotel, the four programs of the Community Services Council — Utah Food Bank, The Ability Bank, Life Care Bank and 211 Info Bank — were celebrated along with the thousands of volunteers who give their time to help the programs.

Elder Alexander B. Morrison, emeritus general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, in his keynote address said individuals reach their full potential only in association with family, friends and neighbors who make up an individual's community.

He lauded the council for helping Utahns meet basic human needs throughout its longevity. He quoted pioneer Erastus Snow: "What man, however good be his desires, can control himself and his family in their habits and manners of life and fashions, without the aid of the surrounding community? What sensible man can hold me or my brethren responsible, in all respects, either for ourselves or our households, unaided by the community. . . ? But when the community learn to work together, and are agreed in a common purpose, what is it that they cannot accomplish?"

Many communities, including the majority of those in Utah, have in the past tended to be remarkably homogeneous in terms of ethnicity, culture and religion, Elder Morrison said. "But in a world characterized by increasing globalization, with its inexorable integration of financial capital, information and technology, a global market and to some degree a global village is emerging, with all its intrinsic diversity.

"But closer to home it seems certain that here in Utah the homogeneity of the past is likely to be a decreasingly significant characteristic of the vast majority of communities of the future," he said.

A factor that militates against the development and maintenance of strong communities, he said, is the increasing incivility that characterizes far too much public debate. "Incivility polarizes society, demonizes those with opinions contrary to one's own and drives many honorable men and women away from participation in public life," Elder Morrison said.

"We must turn away from and resolutely reject the zero-sum game which too many play. A game which requires that if I win you must lose. What is needed are scenarios that ensure there are no losers, only winners, in major disputes between honorable and honest community members. We must seek for and cultivate the common ground which unites us, not the differences that divide us."