Our Sunday School kids have really stepped up over the last
month, to demonstrate their wonderful spirit of giving.Take Nathan David, age 7 (below).He donated the “Share” portion of his
savings – more than $40! -- to the campaign to bring water to our sister
community of El Rodeo. Grayson Kaufman was one of many other WES children who were inspired to give to El Rodeo--Grayson gave $5 in gift money he'd received. And Elizabeth Schofield-Leca, 11, is selling her American Girl doll collection and donating the money she raises to WES. Thanks to all of our generous children. You make us proud!
We are down to the final days of our campaign to raise money for a solar-powered water system in El Rodeo, our sister community in El Salvador. Clean, running water has long been the top goal of our friends there, and thanks to much effort on the part of many people, we are close to the finish line.
We have received major funding from the government of Japan and Rotarians International. The people in El Rodeo are donating labor for the project. WES's final financial contribution is just $7,000--and at last count we had raised over $5,000. We hope for 100% participation in the campaign. If you've already given--THANK YOU! And if you haven't yet, please consider donating by going here --all gifts are appreciated, large and small. Or bring your donation to WES on Sunday, Nov. 29. The campaign ends on Monday, November 30, so please act now!
We hope you can come to our annual Stone Soup Celebration, hosted by our Sunday School children and parents. Stone Soup symbolizes how we all come together as a community to help each other create something from seemingly nothing. It's also a time for us to pause and reflect on the abundance in our lives as we host the soup feast, and host families of Montgomery Co. Infant/Toddler Program (children with special needs) and Family and Families of Incarcerated People (FFOIP) through our Giving Tree. This year, for the first time, we'll be trying a mini-Stone Soup, from 10:00-10:30, followed by the opportunity to do a service project during the main platform. All will then gather for lunch. Please contribute the following, based on your last name (choose the first alphabetically in the family if there is more than one last name):
A-D: Pre-sliced bread/rolls, homemade or store bought, somehow tied to your family ancestry (like a family favorite recipe for a bread);
E-H: small tub of butter for spreading on the bread
I-L: Apple Cider in jugs
M-P: pre-sliced cheese for the bread
Q-Z: Pre-cut family recipe dessert that reminds you of your ancestry, homemade or store bought
Every child should bring: one raw, whole vegetable to put in the pot during the story and one fist-sized, washed stone to put in the pot during the story. For more information, please contact Melissa Sinclair.
Join us for our most fun event of the year. The talented auction team always produces an extravaganza of entertaining auctioneers, fabulous food, and a vast array of events and items to bid on. Whether it's a vacation week in Quebec, an afternoon of board games, theater tickets, cool gift baskets, or an overnight babysitter, you'll find plenty to entice you. The entry donation of $25 gets you wonderful food and drink, a lot of laughs, and the chance to raise your paddle or to bid in the silent auction. By pre-registering you'll not only help the food-planners prepare enough good eats, you'll also get $10 off your purchases. Open to all.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Film Festival at WES in the news.
The Washington Ethical Society hosted two events for the Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival. The film shown at the Society on Friday night got an interesting review on-line from Karren LaLonde Alenier, writing as The Dresser. Even before the festival kicked off last Thursday, WES members working on the festival were interviewed by Mark Lieberman for the NorthWest Current. His interview was published Wednesday on page 3 of the Current.
Have a container of spare change at home? Why not bring it to platform this Sunday!
This Sunday as part of our Sunday platform, children will collect for Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF before heading down to Sunday School classes. Children can come to platform in costume (not scary please), and can collect among the congregants with their bags and boxes.
Thursday, October 15, 2015
2nd Annual Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival kicks off at WES with the East Coast premiere of On the
Bride’s Side (Io Sto Con La Sposa) on Friday, October 23. This
documentary follows the nail-biting journey through Europe of five Syrians and
Palestinians fleeing the war. In the Milan train station the group discovers
there is no train that will take them to safety in Stockholm. Concerned
Italians wanting to help propose dressing the group as members of a wedding
party. Will the ruse get them safely across borders and into Sweden? The
resulting journey is suspenseful, funny and heartrending. Viewers are invited
to discuss the film and the current situation in with the Italian director,
Gabriele del Grande, a journalist specializing in immigration issues, who is flying in for the event! The
evening is co-hosted by Georgetown’s Institute for German and European Studies. The Film Festival was conceived of last year by WES members, and now boasts an organizing committee with members from many other congregations and non-profits. The Festival runs all weekend (October 22-25) at locations throughout the DC metro area, including a gala performance at UDC on Saturday night. For more information, check out their Facebook page and their website.
WES raised the visibility of our support for the Black Lives Matter movement by hanging a banner on the front of our building. This prominent display builds on our months-long Thursday vigils, where WES members and friends hold Roadside Remembrances for those who have lost their lives to police violence. WES also recently distributed Black Lives Matter buttons to members, as a way to invite conversation about this important issue.
Many WES members have expressed interest in how our community might "adopt" a refugee family fleeing their home in Syria. WES member Shelby French, who works for the International Rescue Committee (IRC) here in DC, has offered to hold an informational presentation on September 27, from 10:00-10:45 a.m., before platform. IRC's primary mission is working with refugees and all people displaced by conflict or natural disaster around the world and the organization is now engaged with the crisis in and around Syria. We hope you can join us. Photo by Tyler Jump/IRC
WES members Patti Absher and Julie Campbell, along with
other organizers, were featured in a 10+-minute video, filmed at the Washington
Post Building in partnership with El Tiempo Latino, on the second annual Greater Washington Immigration Film Festival.The film festival was launched last year by Patti and WES
member Judith Johnson.Be sure to
mark your calendars for October 22-25 to see a wonderful array of films.A special gala event will be held on Oct. 24 at University of the District of
Columbia.Tickets now
available. See you at the movies!
Join us for a post-platform picnic at 1:00 on September 13, at the Takoma-Piney Branch Park, 2 Darwin Avenue. The park has a new picnic pavilion and tons of space to play or relax. WES will provide burgers (including veggie of course), buns and drinks. Please bring a side dish or dessert to share. Everyone is welcome!
Inspired by the Little Free Library movement, our WES Global
Connections committee organized a free book depository in our sister community
of El Rodeo, El Salvador.When the
WES delegation visited El Rodeo in July, it brought books to donate, purchased building
materials, and hired a local carpenter to construct the little library.Community leader Elvis Zavala, who
visited WES last February, had seen the Little Free Libraries in Takoma Park
and was excited to have one in El Rodeo.Thanks to Pam Williams for first suggesting the idea and making it
happen.
This Sunday, August 2, WES Senior Leader Amanda Poppei will return from a three-month sabbatical--tanned, rested, and ready to deliver a platform on her experience. Music will be provided by LEA, one of WES's favorite musicians. This is a Sunday you won't want to miss!
Join us for what promises to be a very fun platform, with music and program offered by our Sunday School children, with a little help from Tony Nam. A great time to show your support and love for the WES kids, parents, and teachers.
Ethical Culture Leader Hugh Taft-Morales will explore that question this Sunday, July 5. Hugh is a long-time WES member who now leads the Ethical Societies in both Philadelphia and Baltimore.
With music by our very own Doris Justis, this is a platform you won't want to miss.
Safe travels and good wishes to our delegation who will be traveling tomorrow to El Rodeo, our sister community in El Salvador. A special shout-out to Justin Taft-Morales, who grew up in the WES Sunday School, went through our Coming of Age program, and is now in El Rodeo, doing the advance work for the delegation. He's been doing an incredible job. In addition to Justin, 10 people are going, including 3 other teens. They will return on July 5th. Vaya bien!
On this very difficult week of such loss at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC, we took the time this morning to honor and remember and celebrate those lost. Downstairs with the children, though small in numbers this Father's Day and first full weekend of summer, we continued to explore the theme of Joy and Humor.
The preschool class spent time exploring nature. The Kindergarten through 2nd grade class made cards for the children of El Rodeo and for their fathers or grandfathers.
The 3rd through 6th grade theme exploration class flew the mini kites they made last week in class. I held my breath to see if these homemade tiny kites would fly, but fly they did!
I asked the class if they felt joyous and had fun with this project and they said, "Yes it was a lot of fun - and sweaty!" Ah yes, sweaty it was!
And to all the fathers out there or to anyone who has taken on a parenting role in a child's life, wishing you a great day!
As a member congregation of the Unitarian Universalist Social Justice National Capital Region, WES is being asked to stand in solidarity with those coming to DC to fast for an end to deportations. Especially needed are dishes for a light break-the-fast supper this Thursday. Dishes may be brought to WES. For details, please visit the UUSJ site.
This Saturday, June 13th, is the 40th annual Capitol Pride Parade, and WES will once again have a contingent, along with the Unitarian Universalist congregations. The parade begins at 22nd and P Streets, NW at 4:30. To get all the details about time and meeting place for our contingent, please contact Melissa Sinclair, melissas@ethicalsociety.org, by Friday and she will fill you in. We hope for a big turnout!
This past Sunday we started our new theme for the month, Joy and Humor. Oh, what a glorious theme to work with as we head into summer after a very harsh winter! And, what better way to show joy and humor than in photos! I'm pretty sure most people won't be able to suppress a smile after viewing these shots! (You can click on any photo to make them bigger.)
For Sunday School we took the theme quite literally with making it a fun day for the Kindergarten through 2nd graders. We went out to play in the playground which was especially nice after experiencing a very wet, cold and miserable school week. We had hula hoops, bubbles, bean bag tosses, giant frisbees, sandbox play, and sidewalk chalk. I would say it was a joyous time had by all!
We hope you can join us this Sunday, June 7 at 6:00, for our annual potluck and business meeting. We'll be electing a Board of Trustees, approving the budget, considering an Ends Statement, and taking care of other important issues. Come enjoy the camaraderie and good food, and do your part to contribute to our community's decision making. Along with a dish to share, we appreciate if folks can bring their own plates and cutlery. See you there!
What: The UUSJ Immigration Task Group (WES is a member) invites you to a DACA training by CASA. You will learn how to assist undocumented youth who may qualify. We could even hold clinics at WES!
Why: The UUSJ Immigration Steering Committee believes that empowering member congregations to assist youth applying for DACA or renewing their DACA deferrals (they were granted for two years) is an excellent action during this difficult period of policy advocacy.
When: June 6. DACA Training 1-4 pm. O.k. to come only for the training, or also come for the UUSJ Immigration Task Force Meeting 10am - noon. Noon to 1 pm, bring your own lunch and beverages will be provided.
Where: The Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville, 100 Welsh Park Drive, Rockville in the Founders Hall.
Who: People with the passion to help young people eager to live normal lives. This training is not aimed at attorneys, (although they are most welcome). CASA conducts are typically operated by lay volunteers, backed up by legal experts. Spanish is not required.
This year the camping trip was 80 people strong over the weekend at Three Otters Eco Retreat and we had a fabulous time!
We had a lot of fun kayaking, canoeing, biking, hiking, kite flying, and playing all sorts of field games during the day for active games. We had a few board games and crafts too, but with such a gorgeous weekend, much of the time was spent outdoors.
At this Sunday's platform we'll hear from young adult members of the Future of Ethical Societies (FES). They'll be talking about social justice through the lens of activists, artists and humanists, in an effort "to critically examine what it means to serve, create and transform communities."
Leader-in-Training Paulo Ribeiro will speak on a fascinating part of our history--the founding of the Free Kindergarden movement by Ethical Culture founder Felix Adler in 1877. Adler was part of a movement deeply tied to the ideas of free thought and pluralism challenging the conservative values of the time. The efforts of the kindergarten stood in stark contrast to similar charitable efforts by New York City's traditional religious communities while being set against the backdrop of a wider national and international drama over the education of the country's youngest citizens. Music from the WES Chorus.
Also on Sunday--join other WES members in our monthly Schmoozapaloosa lunch gathering. Contact Molly Beiting to help out. Or, you can take part in the WES Bookgroup's discussion of Tesla: Inventor of the Electrical Age, by W. Bernard Carlson. Contact Tony Nam for more info.
The beginning of the month we started a new theme, Transformation.Two of our classes for children follows the monthly themes and for this week I would like to highlight one of those classes. For the Kindergarten through 3rd grade Theme Explorations class we thought we would start with how a seed transforms into a seedling. Then, at the end of the month, we would observe how our garden transformed.
This part was actually quite fun to see. The children of this class had planted seeds of several plant varieties in March. The children had taken some plants home to grow, but several trays of plants had been set aside for the garden at WES. They hadn't seen the plant trays since planting the seeds. For this Sunday they saw their "seeds" again. This time as fully sprouted plants. One boy exclaimed upon seeing the trays, "I know what these are! These are the seeds we planted!" Another boy, upon closely examining a tray of marigolds, "Hey, I planted this tray! I know it has to be my tray because I accidentally planted two tomato seeds and now I see there are two tomato plants with all these marigolds!" It was so wonderful to see their excitement and ownership of these plants.
Join WES social justice advocates on Thursdays, 5:30-6:30 p.m., for Roadside Remembrance. We will gather in front of WES, holding signs of people who have been killed by the police. This action builds on last fall's Sidewalk Solidarity Actions. Each week, an individual victim will be highlighted and remembered.
This past Sunday was our annual Spring Festival. Weather leading up to it was definitely un-springlike with a few of our more northern members seeing snowflakes on Saturday, April 25th. However, the weather on Sunday was sunny and definitely spring like.
We had a near full house for platform which included friends of our two families having the baby naming ceremony. The festival play was centered around the theme of the month, Imperfection. The story was acted out by children and narrated by Senior Leader, Amanda Poppei and Officiant Tony Nam. This was a story of a flower named Rowan who wanted to grow - despite the cold, long winter, despite not knowing what kind of flower it would turn out to be, despite weeds and wind. This was a story of the imperfect path of a seed growing into its own flowerhood. It had some curly leaves and twisted petals by the end, yet it was still beautiful and glorious.
After the play and after a couple stories from members who had imperfect dreams come true, we got to the touching double baby naming ceremony of Jack and Walter. Not many dry eyes in the room as we all promised to watch over them and care for them as a community.
See this all unfold in the slideshow seen above.
Following platform, there was the salad and dessert potluck which was abundant and scrumptious. The weather cooperated so nicely that it was pleasant enough to eat outside. And the children were happily entertained with a beanbag toss and sidewalk chalk.
Special thanks goes out to Molly Beiting for making the gorgeous (definitely not imperfect!) headpieces for the play, to Susan Runner, Becky Klabunde Tomer, and Tony Nam for decorating the stage, to Becky and Jonathan Klabunde Tomer for fixing the flower arch and making the flower display, to Trang Duong and Robyn Kravitz for sharing great photos for this album and video, and to the Sunday School actors, the WES chorus, and to staff for stepping up to create a wonderful and beautiful Spring Festival.
The quotation for May comes from a list compiled by Tony Hileman, who is a former Senior Leader of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, a former
Executive Director of the American Humanist Association, a former member of WES
and always engaging humanistic religious speaker. Read all about it at: http://felixadlerandfriends.blogspot.com
On April 22 at 11:00, there will be a groundbreaking
ceremony at Concord Apartments, 5807 14th Street, NW, to recognize
the successful effort to develop affordable housing at three apartment
buildings—the Concord, Valencia and Vizcaya (shown here).Our
very own Amanda Poppei will be the M.C., along with Rev. Joseph Daniels of
Emory United Methodist Church who will give a blessing of the ground, and Mayor
Muriel Bowser, among other dignitaries.
The property had been under contract with a market-rate
buyer with no affordability restrictions in place.The Tenants Association organized and successfully exercised
their rights to acquire the property.
As the Washington Interfaith Network (WIN) explains,
rehabilitation is underway on 130 existing apartments.There will also be 10 new apartments
and rooms for community gatherings, a computer center, and exercise. The Latin
American Youth Center and the Latino Economic Development Center will provide
on-site supportive services, including after school tutoring, financial
literacy courses, and health and wellness training.
Celebrate our Differences and the Difference We Make!
Saturday, March 14—5:30 for hors d’oeuvres, 6:00 catered
dinner
Join other WES members for our annual gathering.Together we’ll enjoy a night of fun,
music, food, and camaraderie, while renewing our financial commitment to
WES.Non-member partners are
welcome!
RSVP immediately
to juliecampbell@aol.com or
202-244-0206.Let her know of you
have particular dietary needs, or if you need childcare.
Long time Senior Leader Don Montagna will give his first platform at WES since retiring in 2006. Don is currently the Director of Project Development and the President of the Board of International Partners. He writes, "Since departing WES leadership 9 years ago, my experiences working in El Salvador with people who live in extreme poverty have validated humanistic spirituality as a guide for creating a more satisfying life and a better world."
