Into the Heartland: How AEU Assemblies Can Knit Ethical Communities Together

Before launching into the stories from my visits to Ethical Societies I’d like to call your attention to the upcoming annual Assembly of the American Ethical Union – our 107th. As with the past two years, this year we will be meeting virtually rather than in-person so you can easily join meetings from the comfort of your home or from just about anywhere there is an Internet connection if you have a smartphone.

And this year we have a very manageable collection of meetings in a condensed time frame. All of the Assembly events are open to everyone (including the Business Meeting ones) and include Educational Presentations, Business sessions, and an All-Society Platform.

Coming up this week:   

Tuesday, July 12, 8:00-9:30 ET – Society Growth & Development – Pre-Assembly Book Discussion

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Pre-Reading: excerpts and adapted content from Alice Mann, Can Our Church Live? Redeveloping Congregations In Decline. The Alban Institute, 1999.

Are you hoping to reverse concerning membership trends in your Society? Or perhaps to solidify recent positive trends? This book discussion will introduce the work of Alice Mann and suggest ways that people in our tradition can “translate” her language in order to apply her insights to our communities. Participants are invited to read the book ahead of time and/or review a “cliff notes” version that enrollees will receive ahead of time.

This book will serve as the foundation for a pair of interactive workshops to be held on July 21st as part of the 2022 AEU Assembly.

Facilitator John Daken has worked for many years extracting ideas for innovation from the congregational literature. He is a member of the Washington Ethical Society and Chair of the AEU’s Membership Committee.

Wednesday, July 13, 8:00 pm ET – AEU Budget and Finance Review for FY2023

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Where does the money come from and where will it go? These are questions you can ask of AEU Treasurer, Tom Castelnuovo when he presents the proposed budget for Fiscal Year 2023 (October 1, 2022 – September 30, 2023) and answers your questions. 

You can see the entire list by checking the Home Page of our website, aeu.org or by following this link to the events page: https://aeu.org/event/aeu-107th-annual-assembly/

AND your help with preparations for the July 24th All-Society Platform at noon ET. Our theme is “All Hands On Deck!” and will highlight the important work of the many volunteers across the Ethical Movement – including our Anna Garlin Spencer Volunteer Award recipients:  John Holmgren, Leigh Jenkins, Ken Novak, Patrick Savage, Janey Solwold, Vandra Thorburn, Ross Wells, and James Young.

We will also be remembering people who have died in the past year and will be asking Ethical Society Presidents to let us know of individuals their groups have lost.

The AEU Assembly is a time for gathering, for learning, and for recommitment to the work of bringing a more ethical culture to life. Let’s look forward to these opportunities to do that work together!

Bart Worden

This post originally appeared at AEU.org.