Washington Ethical Society

From the earth Ethics Action Team & the WES Teen Group Our WES SEEK participants, in collaboration with members of the Teen group and the Earth Ethics Action Team will be leading a multi-generational earth day platform. This platform will explore issues impacting our environment as we look to live in a more authentic and accountable relationship with our earth and community.

Life without water is not optional. Still, many people on our planet struggle daily to acquire this life source. Water privatization is on the rise in El Salvador and elsewhere, yet people are demanding that water be recognized as a human right rather than a commodity. Please join Elvis Zavala, the President of the Village Council in El Rodeo, to learn more about the fight for water rights in El Salvador and what WES is doing to support our sister community in their quest to make clean water a reality for every person.

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.

Join WES staff and members as we celebrate our annual tradition of planting dreams, dedicating babies, and sharing brunch! This platform will be full of story and song, and is sure to leave you feeling hopeful about the coming of spring. Music from the WES Music Program, including WES Youth Voices chorus.

"My Journey to and in Humanism" Christian Hayden, Leika Lewis-Cornwell, Rev. Jim Foti, Rev. Patrice Curtis Join an incredible group of clergy and clergy in training as they reflect on what brought them to humanism, and how they hope to change and grow humanism from the inside out. These speakers are participants and organizers of the Humanist Clergy and Organizer Collaboratory happening at WES on March 25 and 26! Music from jazz singer Nicole Rumeau.

"The Road Less Traveled: All Music Sunday" with Bailey Whiteman, Elise Gould, Vincent Tyler, WES Music Program WES Music Program, with members Elise Gould and Vincent Tyler. If life is a journey, who is with us as we travel, and what paths did we take not even realizing they were there? Join the WES Music Program as we see where the roads may lead and expect to be surprised and moved along the way.

So often we imagine that life is like a straight line. But in reality our lives are much more like a spiral, including those lessons that repeat over and over again when we think we should get a break from them already! Using the image of a labyrinth as a starting place, Amanda will explore the constancy of change, and how we can find ourselves transformed…even when we feel like we are facing the same darn thing. Music from singer and guitarist Vladimir Fridman.

Join Amanda as she reflects on the values that have guided WES since its founding, and how she sees those values serving WES now and in its future. What is next for us as a community? What skills do we need to learn as we become increasingly multicultural and multigenerational? Amanda will share the view from the balcony–and reflect back the vision that she hears articulated by all of you. Music from the Greater U Street Jazz Collective

You may be thinking the answer to this question is–at least right now–a definite no. And you may be right! Amanda will explore what trust looks like in society as a whole, from the social safety net to traffic laws, and how we can respond when we feel that trust has been broken. Music from the WES Music Program.

“Conflict is Inevitable, but Combat is Optional”: Faith leader Rev. Max Lucado penned these wise words that emphasize how our external engagement is often framed, shaped and fueled by our internal orientation. In our relationships and ways of being in the world, what is our role in conflicts? When we get mired in the drudgery of verbal collisions, how can we navigate a way through? Music from Maureen Andary.

In our annual celebration of love, Amanda will be joined by Ethical Culture colleagues and artists to explore the way many different kinds of relationships ask us to invest in each other in remarkably similar ways. How can deep listening and even tension help to build trust? What does it take to stick with a relationship when trust feels broken? Join us for this celebration of love in many forms. Music from the WES Chorus.

Ethical Culture defines itself as non-theistic--that is, we have "no official position" on whether God exists. Instead, we focus on how to live our lives and build a better world. But does that mean we don't have faith, trust, in anything? Join Amanda for an exploration of what we believe in as humanists, and where we place our trust. Music from Josh Blinder, Johnny Buzek, and Mairi Breen Rothman.

This Sunday, we’re going to take a moment to pause and reflect on our SEEK programming and hear from the newest member of our team. Join L.A. as we celebrate our Sunday programming with our young people (and hear from our young people and leaders) and explore the possibilities of what’s next. L.A. will share what they’ve experienced so far in our program, and what philosophical grounding they bring to our community as we work together to plan for the future.

Join April Renee Goggans, a lead organizer with Black Lives Matter DMV, as she reflects on how Dr. King’s message speaks to us today. Music from the WES Chorus.

Sure, anything might be possible--especially at the start of a fresh new year--but how do we move from possible to probable? Amanda will explore the challenge of finding your path when the range of possibilities feels more overwhelming than exciting. Avoiding decision fatigue, letting go of possibilities not followed, and concentrating on personal mission statements, this platform will invite you to start your year on the right note. Music from the WES Chorus.

Amanda Poppei, Senior Leader & Jason Lange, WES member How did religion begin? Why did so many cultures build pyramids? Where did language come from? Take a fascinating tour of human history–and the mysterious current that binds us together–with Amanda and our special guest, Dr. Kusimba, professor of anthropology at American University. Music from soloist Nicole Rumeau, with David Cole on guitar.

Rev. John Crestwell, On June 28 my worldview changed. Our congregation and city became the center of the universe when a beloved member of the congregation, Wendi Winters,  was killed at the Capital Gazette newspaper by a gunman, an all too common theme in America. Today guest minister the Rev. John Crestwell of the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis will tell his first-hand account of that terrible day and the good that came out of this evil.

Amanda will explore the concept of sanctuary--as in refuge, a place of safety--and how we do, and don't, experience these places of safety in our lives. This platform will address the effects of climate change on our earth's safety, the idea of safe space/brave space in our communities, and the experience of non-safety felt by so many women--an experience that has been particularly triggered in the past few weeks. Who gets to feel safe? Whose safety must those of us with privilege prioritize? Can we imagine a world with safety for all? Music from the Greater U Street Jazz Collective.

What is the point of sending your child to a humanist Sunday School? Why should we even have children and youth as part of a congregation like ours? Amanda will explore how a community like WES is different than anything else in our children’s lives.

Always a favorite, this platform features YOUR questions, and Amanda's attempts at an answer! Send them ahead of time to amandap@ethicalsociety.org, or be prepared to write them down that morning. Music from Bailey Whiteman.