Washington Ethical Society

We often find that grief, anger, even just annoyance come up when our expectations are unmet–when we had hopes for one thing and find that life turns out differently. It can be tempting to rush on to the next possibility, without giving space for ourselves to truly feel the loss, whether in our own lives or in the world around us. Amanda explores the importance of sitting with the experience of disappointment.

As we mark our 75th anniversary, Amanda looks back at what the founders of WES might have expected–not just of our congregation, but of the world around them. Have we met those expectations? What might we expect in the next 75 years? And what does Ethical Culture offer to help us navigate the changes ahead?

Christian Hayden's is a community educator who works in teen dating violence prevention. See how Ethical Culture, his own experience, and the challenges of the future call for us to learn, and model, the courage that intimacy requires.

Amanda will take your ethical and philosophical questions and answer…as best she can! Will this be the year she finally knows the meaning of life? (Spoiler alert: nope). Music – Kweku Owusu

A classic theater game invites us to say YES to whatever is presented within the imaginative bounds of the game. “Hey, you’re on a spaceship!” “Yes, I am!” In real life, we can’t, and shouldn’t, always say an unqualified yes. At the same time, there is wisdom to be found in the practice of “yes…and,” and how different that can feel from “yes…but.” Join Amanda as she returns from sabbatical to share what she is saying yes to right now. Music from Josh Blinder.

Both the great power and the great conflict of the human condition is to crave belonging while finding ways to be separate and creating an “other”. As the politics of identity become central in how we navigate these rapidly changing times, how do we navigate belonging and community? What does it mean – as individuals, families, communities, and institutions – to find joy in our diversity while celebrating the collective? How can we embrace our identities to be agents of justice and change?

Learning to be Joyful Sunday, August 4, 10:30am James Croft James Croft, Leader, Ethical Society of St. Louis It’s tempting to think that joy is something that happens to us: an emotion that infects us at special moments, but not something we can actively pursue. In this platform, James Croft suggests that this is not the whole story: we can learn to live life more joyfully, and take more control of our emotions. Music from Elena Locayo.

It’s unbelievable isn’t it, that any child ever goes to bed hungry? In this world where this is so much abundance, how can any child, anywhere, ever go hungry? Join Kären as she talks about the challenges of childhood hunger and how we can solve it together- one child and one meal at a time. Music from Nicole Rumeau.

It can be the morning song of the Carolina wren, the purr of a nearby kitten or the sheer joy of watching your dog swim in a lake. Critters of all shapes and sizes can both warm our hearts and make us laugh. Join us for this WES animal blessing. Your pets, safely contained or leashed, are very welcome. If bringing your pet just isn’t in the cards (one of ours is very shy) feel free to bring a picture of your pet to be blessed. And yes, stuffed animals are also welcome! Music from Lilo Gonzalez.

Hugh Taft-Morales, Leader, Baltimore Ethical Society and Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia. There’s a lot of anger in America these days, from the anger that fueled Trump’s election to the anger of the #MeToo movement to the anger of street protests. Where does this anger come from? Where will take us? What do you do with it? Reflecting on Rebecca Traister’s new book, Good and Mad: The Revolutionary Power of Women’s Anger, Hugh Taft-Morales explores the history of anger and how it is manifesting in women, men, and himself. Music from Greater U Street Jazz Collective.

Over the last ten months, we have explored ten themes together as a community. What lessons did each teach us? What have we learned about ourselves and our world? And which theme song do we miss the most?! Join Vincent as he explores the wisdom of our 2018-19 themes.

As Amanda prepares to take her seven-week sabbatical, join her for a reflection on the moments in our life when we really need community…and the importance of sometimes taking time away, to be with ourselves. How do we bring the wisdom of each experience to the other? Music from Josh Blinder.

Birds are often figuratively used to represent freedom, risk tasking, and soaring to a new horizon. They are also symbols of joy as seen in their singing. The annual teen platform will be celebrate our graduating teens with a Moving Forward ceremony, and welcome our newest high schoolers with a Moving Up ceremony. We invite the WES community to celebrate with us as our teens becoming more like the bird as they take flight to new heights. Music from the WES music program.

As we celebrate Pride in DC, join us as we explore the evolving meaning of the concept of queerness. How is everyone's world made more beautiful by the boundary-breakers who are expanding our understanding of gender identity and sexuality? And what's up with those pronouns? Music from the WES Chorus.

Music is one of the most hotly contested parts of any congregation’s life–just think of all the churches with a “traditional” service and a “contemporary” service…so no one has to sing a hymn they don’t like! At WES, we sometimes say that if you liked *every* piece of music on a given Sunday, then we didn’t include enough musical diversity. But how diverse can we get? Join us as we explore the many kind of beauty that WES members listen to. Music from many sources!

At WES, we pride ourselves on not beginning conversations with “what do you do?,” unlike much of career-oriented DC. Instead, we want to know each other more deeply, to know about our passions, our stories, our values. Join your fellow members to hear about their perhaps unexpected histories–and to build our relationships with each other.

What are the stories we tell about ourselves? What if they were reimagined into vintage films, with a liberal dose of imagination? Join us this Founder’s Day to find out the answers to BOTH these questions…and to celebrate, with a little fun and a lot of love, our 75 years of history. Music from the WES Music Program, including WES Chorus and WES Youth Voices Chorus.

Life offers us the opportunity to be in relationship with all kinds of people–beginning with those who raise us. How do we approach our family relationships with curiosity, seeking to learn about people even when they challenge us? And what does the practice of curiosity offer us as we interact with the wider world, particularly with those whose identities or experiences seem dramatically different than our own? Join Amanda to explore the value of beginning with curiosity. Music from singer/songwriter Lea Morris.

Part of curiosity is being brave enough not to look away from the hard parts of life, and, in particular, finding the courage to bear witness. This Sunday, join WES member and internationally-recognized scholar Cayo Gamber as she honors Holocaust Remembrance Week by examining our capacity for evil as well as our desire for repair. Music from flutist Sarah Frisof.

As the saying goes, “I love you, you’re perfect, now change!” Many of us struggle with experiences of self-doubt, and our tradition counters this with an assertion of our inherent worth. At the same time, we are committed to our continual growth…suggesting that we may not be, in fact, perfect. How do we hold these two realities in our personal lives and in our community? Amanda will be joined by members of the Community Relations Committee who will share a draft of our community relations pact. Music from the WES Chorus.