Washington Ethical Society

Finding Our Center Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader & Laura Solomon, Clergy Intern How do we feel grounded in a time of uncertainty? Is it even possible to feel joyful when surrounded by challenge? Join Amanda and Laura as they explore several ways to find our center in this moment. Special music that will help us in our centering from singer/songwriter Lea Morris.

Keeping Your Head in Troubling Times Sunday, March 29, 9:30 & 11:30am Rev. Dr. David Breeden Rev. Dr. David Breeden, Senior Minister, First Unitarian Society of Minneapolis. We usually think forward: what am I doing next? We also think backwards: the location of both memory and reason. And then there is thinking in the moment itself, considered contemplation or meditation. Then there are those moments that our minds “wander.” The struggle is keeping all these modes in mind when the times are troubling.

"A Global Movement: Humanism Across Borders" Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader & Christian Hayden. What does humanism look like in countries and cultures different from our own? What wisdom can we find, and how does it inform our own practice. Join Amanda and guest Christian Hayden, an Ethical Culture Leader in Training with a special interest in pan-African humanism, as they invite us to notice the differences and similarities of our humanist values. Music from the WES Band. *This platform was created from a recording of the Zoom Webinar-style platform.

Many of us are leaders in different ways–our families, our work places, here at WES. What is it that best prepares us for leadership? Are there skills to learn? Ways to be? Join Amanda as she explores leadership and what wisdom we most need to acquire. Music from singer/songwriter Maureen Andary.

What exactly does collective wisdom mean? Are two heads really better than one? And how about two hearts? Amanda will explore how “group think” can be both challenging and beautifully productive. Music from singer/songwriter Lilo Gonzalez.

Resilient Relationships: Facing Facts and Making Meaning Laura Solomon, Rajesh Vidyasagar How do we demonstrate resilience in relationships? For some relationships, resilience means staying and making it work. For other relationships, resilience means leaving for the sake of self or others. Is there a recipe for resilience that can help us make the right decision? Join Laura and Rajesh for thoughts about resilient relationships. Music by Josh Blinder.

Determination. Perseverance. Resilience. Whatever that indefinable quality is, we all need it to make it through the day. At the same time, we have to recharge–and cut ourselves some slack–now and again. Amanda will explore the balance between grit and rest (heard of the nap ministry?) in this multimedia platform. Music from the U Street Jazz Collective.

"Pay Attention to Love Day: Loving Your Very Own Self'" Amanda Poppei, Laura Solomon Author Sonya Renee Taylor asserts that radical self-love is a powerful antidote to both personal and societal pain. She believes that powerful self-love can change us personally, change our relationships, and change the world. Mr. Rogers says he likes us, just the way we are. For our annual celebration of love, join Amanda and Laura to consider what self-love looks, sounds, and feels like – and how it can change us and our world! Music from Maírí Breen Rothman and Susan Alexander.

"The Ongoing Journey of Recovery…and Resilience" Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader Addiction can be surrounded by shame and secrecy–but there is power in knowing that we are not alone in our experiences. Amanda will share member stories about recovery, sobriety, and resilience, and consider what lessons there might be for all of us in these stories. Whether or not addiction has ever touched your life (and chances are, it has), join us for this thought-provoking and connecting platform. Music from singer/songwriter Maureen Andary, who will share several pieces including one of her own.

Special guest Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton reflects on the historic and future call to a life of integrity. What does it mean to choose to do the right, hard things?

Sunday, Jan 26, 2020. 9:30am "A Life of Integrity," Amanda Poppei by affirming the worth of every person since 1944.

"The Lonely Life of a Hero: MLK Sunday" Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader. We often think of prophets as living their values, sure of their own convictions, alone on a mountaintop. But even the most amazing leader must be sure there is a community with them to lead. Amanda will explore this idea through the life of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and imagine how it might apply to our own lives, as well. Music from the WES Chorus.

It’s one of our favorite traditions here at WES! Bring a vegetable, a stone, and a heart open to old and new stories and music as we look at the Stone Soup story together. How do we pay attention to what is good in our lives? How do we remember the abundance, especially when we seem surrounded by scarcity? And most importantly…how much pie will there be? Music from the WES Chorus and Youth Voices Chorus.

What does it feel like in your body when you believe you’ve found a congregational home? It’s a feeling that can nourish growth and transformation. It keeps us coming back and we often want to share it with others. How can we, in turn, use those feelings in our own bodies to become more welcoming in our communities? Join guest speaker, Christin Green, to explore embodiment practices that build beloved community. Christin Green is a recent graduate Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, DC (May 2019). She is the adopted daughter of two women who raised her in a suburb of Kansas City, MO. Christin transplanted to Washington, DC in 2008 to earn a Master of Arts in Women’s Studies from The George Washington University. After completing her Masters, she decided to stay in the area and pursue nonprofit work. The continuing search for purpose led her to attend seminary. Christin intends to spend this first year post-graduation working toward preliminary fellowship and ordination. She looks forward to sharing h

"Compassion Fatigue and Not Looking Away: Paying Attention to the Whole World," Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader. How do we balance the need to be informed–and to act–with the need to remain centered and grounded? Join Amanda as she explores the very real experience of overwhelm that we can feel in today’s world, and offers some ways to avoid the burnout…without disconnecting entirely from our role as ethical agents in the world. Music from Mauren Andary.

Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader, with Gayle Danley, poet. Join us for our annual honoring of those we have lost, as we pay attention to their memories and share gratitude for their lives. Poet Gayle Danley will join us again this year to share her beautiful reflections, and music will be offered by Mairi Breen Rothman and friends.

At its best, community affirms and reaffirms that we belong to one another. John O’Donohue reminds us that belonging is comprised of both being and longing. What does it look like to belong and to make space inviting others’ belonging? Join Laura to consider both the being and the longing of community, and the ways we draw the circle of belonging together.

The butterfly has become a symbol for migrants--flying around the world, across borders, as part of its natural engagement in the world. And indeed, movement around the world has been a part of human history for as long as there have been humans! How do we understand immigration in America in the larger context of human migration? What does it mean to be an immigrant to this country? Music from singer/songwriter Lilo Gonzalez.

The Buddhist tradition teaches us that suffering comes from attachment--from our hopes and expectations. Join Amanda to consider what it would be like to live without expectations, and how that practice (even when done imperfectly!) can be a core technique for more satisfying relationships.

Join WES Members Scott Aschbrenner, Vickie Fang, and Rajesh Vidyasagar. Ethical Culture founder Felix Adler said that we were a movement for “diversity in creed, unanimity in deed.” But how far does that diversity stretch? Join three WES members with very different religious viewpoints–Christian, spiritual, and totally secular–as they reflect on how their beliefs informs their action.