From the earth Ethics Action Team & the WES Teen Group

Our WES SEEK participants, in collaboration with members of the Teen group and the Earth Ethics Action Team will be leading a multi-generational earth day platform. This platform will explore issues impacting our environment as we look to live in a more authentic and accountable relationship with our earth and community.

Life without water is not optional. Still, many people on our planet struggle daily to acquire this life source. Water privatization is on the rise in El Salvador and elsewhere, yet people are demanding that water be recognized as a human right rather than a commodity.

Please join Elvis Zavala, the President of the Village Council in El Rodeo, to learn more about the fight for water rights in El Salvador and what WES is doing to support our sister community in their quest to make clean water a reality for every person.

As the saying goes, “I love you, you’re perfect, now change!” Many of us struggle with experiences of self-doubt, and our tradition counters this with an assertion of our inherent worth. At the same time, we are committed to our continual growth…suggesting that we may not be, in fact, perfect. How do we hold these two realities in our personal lives and in our community? Amanda will be joined by members of the Community Relations Committee who will share a draft of our community relations pact. Music from the WES Chorus.

Join WES staff and members as we celebrate our annual tradition of planting dreams, dedicating babies, and sharing brunch! This platform will be full of story and song, and is sure to leave you feeling hopeful about the coming of spring. Music from the WES Music Program, including WES Youth Voices chorus.

"My Journey to and in Humanism"

Christian Hayden, Leika Lewis-Cornwell, Rev. Jim Foti, Rev. Patrice Curtis

Join an incredible group of clergy and clergy in training as they reflect on what brought them to humanism, and how they hope to change and grow humanism from the inside out. These speakers are participants and organizers of the Humanist Clergy and Organizer Collaboratory happening at WES on March 25 and 26! Music from jazz singer Nicole Rumeau.

"The Road Less Traveled: All Music Sunday"

with Bailey Whiteman, Elise Gould, Vincent Tyler, WES Music Program

WES Music Program, with members Elise Gould and Vincent Tyler.

If life is a journey, who is with us as we travel, and what paths did we take not even realizing they were there? Join the WES Music Program as we see where the roads may lead and expect to be surprised and moved along the way.

So often we imagine that life is like a straight line. But in reality our lives are much more like a spiral, including those lessons that repeat over and over again when we think we should get a break from them already! Using the image of a labyrinth as a starting place, Amanda will explore the constancy of change, and how we can find ourselves transformed…even when we feel like we are facing the same darn thing. Music from singer and guitarist Vladimir Fridman.

Join Amanda as she reflects on the values that have guided WES since its founding, and how she sees those values serving WES now and in its future. What is next for us as a community? What skills do we need to learn as we become increasingly multicultural and multigenerational? Amanda will share the view from the balcony–and reflect back the vision that she hears articulated by all of you. Music from the Greater U Street Jazz Collective

You may be thinking the answer to this question is–at least right now–a definite no. And you may be right! Amanda will explore what trust looks like in society as a whole, from the social safety net to traffic laws, and how we can respond when we feel that trust has been broken. Music from the WES Music Program.

“Conflict is Inevitable, but Combat is Optional”: Faith leader Rev. Max Lucado penned these wise words that emphasize how our external engagement is often framed, shaped and fueled by our internal orientation. In our relationships and ways of being in the world, what is our role in conflicts? When we get mired in the drudgery of verbal collisions, how can we navigate a way through? Music from Maureen Andary.