Last month was the annual AEU Assembly. With a variety of fascinating workshops to choose from, there is a lot of great content.

Society Growth & Development – Pre-Assembly Book Discussion

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This book discussion introduced the work of Alice Mann and suggested ways that people in our tradition can “translate” her language in order to apply her insights to our communities (July 12, 2022).

Membership Committee: What Ethical Culture Movement Can Learn from the Quakers

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Since its founding, our movement has drawn ideas from secular and religious sources. One such source is the Religious Society of Friends & most members of this faith, also known as Quakers, are theists but — because they consider every person to possess a spark of the divine — pursue practices that can inform our own/ethical culturists’/ethical humanists’ approach to recognizing the inherent worth and dignity of every person. Longstanding ethical humanists Sue and Scott Walton have participated in Quaker meetings and conferences for many years and shared their observations and insights. (July 21, 2022)

Membership Committee: Society Membership/Vitality Metrics – Drawing Insights from Ten Years of F&S Data

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In a collaborative workshop led by Ken Novak, we visualized the recent membership histories of all Ethical communities and discussed what we might learn from them. (July 21, 2022)

Membership Committee: New Society Development – A Capacity-Building Approach

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In the past, efforts to establish new Societies have emphasized an early introduction of full-featured platforms led by experienced, often professional, representatives of the AEU. This assembly presentation introduced a new consultative approach that empowered each local organizer to lead their group’s own formation process. This in turn entails a sustained cultivation of personal connections at the local level, grounded in our ethical culture philosophy. (July 21, 2022)

Ethical Education Committee: Ethics for Children Workshop with Special Guest, Author Joseph Becker

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For parents, kids, those involved with Ethical Education, and other interested folks! Come hear Joseph’s story about how he developed his Humanist children’s book series and the challenges he’s faced. (July 22, 2022)

Leadership Committee: Leader Perspectives Workshop

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This panel presentation solicited Leaders views on topics such as:

• How to bring Ethical Culture to the world
• Contemporary challenges to humanist values
• What we learned from Felix Adler.

(July 22, 2022)

Ethical Action Committee Workshop: Ethicals and Policy Makers: Building Working Relationships

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As Ethicals, we can stir thought, ground our position in clear terms relative to particular issues or concerns, serve the Movement and allied organizations as a resource, and inform our community by focusing our energy and time on issues and problems at the local level, even when the issues and problems seem to be national and global. People at all levels of government make policy–including elected officials, appointed officials, and professional staff. As citizens, we can become involved in policy-making in formal and informal ways. We need to learn how the policy-making system works–officially and unofficially–so that we can participate and impact it effectively. (July 22, 2022)

Communications Committee Workshop: Best Marketing Practices for Ethical Culture Societies

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This workshop had panelists from both the AEU and Ethical Societies who play an active role in spearheading marketing efforts for their organizations share their best practices. This was an opportunity to hear from those who have established successful communications’ strategies and pick their brains on how you can do the same for your own Society. (July 22, 2022)