As your Congregational Administrator, most of you know my name, or at least that I’m the one that processes the checks and tracks the budget. But you may not know much more about me or why WES is important to me. I was born a Methodist preacher’s kid in central Illinois, and we moved a … Continue reading WES Blog — The Other Side of the Tracks
From the American Ethical Union: We’re pleased to announce that Edward L. Ericson will receive the Felix Adler Lifetime Achievement Award at the 104th American Ethical Union Assembly. This award officially recognizes our members who have stimulated the growth of the Ethical Culture Movement during their many years of active participation in the AEU and its member Societies. Ericson led … Continue reading The AEU to Honoring Edward L. Ericson with Lifetime Achievement Award
It’s spring! P is for purple-pinky red buds bursting out against neon-green, just-emerging tree leaves. And spring comes with a bunch of other P words…peeps, phlox, planting, plawn mowing, and pledging. Yep, spring is WES’s pledge cycle time and we are in the middle of it. The classic MasterCard® ad, which poses the costs of … Continue reading WES Blog — P Is for Pondering on Pledging
“They were my friends. I knew them.” These were words uttered by a young Angela Yvonne Davis as she remarked on the church bombing at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. Racists had targeted this church and planted a bomb in the basement of the church to intentionally impact and affect the most … Continue reading WES Blog — Building a Safer Future for All!
Wondering why I haven’t responded to your email in a timely manner? Hey, at least this time I have an excuse! Last week I spent several days hosting the Humanist Clergy & Organizer Collaboratory, the second iteration of an international gathering of humanists that I co-founded in 2017. For our first Collaboratory, we focused on … Continue reading WES Blog — Humanists, humanists, everywhere!
Dear WES community, We are excited to share this photo of our new history panels! You will see the real thing the next time you enter the WES building, whether tonight for Wednesdays@WES or this Sunday for Spring Festival. These panels are the culmination of about two years of work, beginning with a conversation between … Continue reading Coming soon to a lobby near you…
In keeping with the March theme of “Journey” (and shamelessly mimicking the title of last Sunday’s platform), the three of us who currently serve on the Lay Leadership Development Committee (LLDC)–Lydia Fettig, Perry Beider, and Julie Grimes–are sharing some reflections about our experiences in serving in leadership roles at WES. To keep the blog focused, … Continue reading WES Blog — Journeys to and In Leadership at WES
Thanks to WES members, Ann Baker, John Campbell, Julie Campbell, Justine Johnson, Katherine O’Kester and Ross Wells who helped Mayor Bowser make the right decision to fully fund the $2.5 million budget request for immigrant legal defense. The following is from DC Values #FamiliesBelongTogether We are thrilled to share that last night Mayor Bowser announced that she … Continue reading An Update from DC Values #FamiliesBelongTogether
Sometimes, clergy will talk about the fact that once we head down this path, we can never go back to being “just congregants.” In part because we have a special role to fulfill, which comes with clear boundaries and responsibilities… but also because now we have seen the sausage made! Lay leaders sometimes experience that … Continue reading WES Blog — What I get to see…
Dear WES community, We are excited to share the just-created, hot-off-the-presses, brand new Focus Goals for the 2019-20 programming year. Consistent with our annual planning schedule, these Focus Goals were created at the Strategy Saturday that happens at the end of January each year. In the next five months, the staff will create a work … Continue reading WES Blog — 2019-2020 Focus Goals Announcement
