Today is October 6th. Four weeks from today, the United States will hold its Presidential Election determining who will run the vast Federal Government, who will control Congress, and who will hold thousands of state legislative seats all over the country. As we move through the upcoming month showing that activism for justice is love turned outward (thanks for sharing Dr. West’s quote, Lyn!), WES will be starting its own process of selecting a new Leader. 

The process of searching for and selecting a new leader begins during our Fall Membership Meeting on November 1 when the congregation will vote to fill two seats on the Lay Leadership Development Committee (LLDC). The LLDC that emerges from that election – with two new members, Josh Blinder (Board of Trustees representative), Lyn, and I – will work with the WES Community to build a slate for the Leadership Search Committee. 

The members of the Leader Search Committee will be chosen from that slate sometime in the Spring and then begin its work during the Spring and Summer of 2021. Next Autumn, the Leader Search Committee will gather input from the community to help them in the Leader selection process. Finally, they will come back to the membership with a final candidate in late Spring 2022.

So, this year’s LLDC election carries particular importance. We ask that the WES community pay careful attention over the next few weeks as the current LLDC completes its work. See below for the important upcoming milestones:

• October 11: Deadline to self-nominate to the LLDC slate
• October 15: LLDC will introduce the slate  and send out the electronic ballots for the upcoming election
• October 18: LLDC holds a candidate forum!
• November 1: WES holds its Fall Membership Meeting and the LLDC election concludes – access to ballots closes one hour after the start of the meeting. 

If you have any questions at all about the upcoming LLDC election or the subsequent Leader Search Committee election, please reach out to the LLDC at LLDC@ethicalsociety.org. 

With solidarity and hope during this difficult season,

Adam Briskin-Limehouse and the other members of the LLDC