"Collective Liberation or Bust, Voting Rights is a Must"

Pablo DeJesus

Pablo DeJesus, Executive Director for UU’s for Social Justice, will invite us to re-commit to the shared work of creating a just and sustainable democracy for all.

Principles of Community Building

Lyn Cox, Interim Leader.

Forming communities to bring out the best in each other and to help shape the world toward liberation is not only an Ethical Culture ideal, it was something Paolo Friere spoke about in his educational work in Brazil and Chile. As we embrace the possibilities for 21st-century community, ideas about groups who learn and humanize each other through dialogue, ideas about resisting paternalism, and ideas about creatively and actively meeting a changing and fluid world all have renewed significance.

Re-Imagining Community

Lyn Cox, Interim Leader.

We are in an era of hurry up and wait. We have begun the journey to a post-COVID world, discovering what the new normal looks like in different parts of our lives, little by little. We are caught up in the urgent social justice concerns and life changes that have never left us. We struggle with frustration and a sense of urgency, yet the deeper waters of wisdom lead us to build community in ways that are collaborative, imaginative, and sustainable.

The Book of Life

Lyn Cox

In this season when our Jewish neighbors are celebrating the High Holidays, we seek a Humanist frame for renewal. By returning to sources of strength and resilience, maintaining a practice of reflection, and connecting with the best in each other, we find the energy to turn the page into another chapter of our community life.

Many Stones Can Form an Arch

Lyn Cox, Interim Leader.

Practicing a philosophy that focuses on human solutions to human problems, we look for inspiration in stories about people coming together to achieve important things, despite obstacles like racism or anti-immigrant sentiment or economic disparities. The labor movement can provide a few such examples.

"Seven Gates"

Lyn Cox

The ancient story of Inanna’s descent to and return from the underworld has common threads with other myths, including the importance of collaboration. Even in a heroic epic story, people need each other.

"This Refulgent Summer"

Lyn Cox, Interim Leader.

Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Divinity School Address urges listeners to heed direct experience and creative spontaneity. The Transcendentalists tried to balance savoring the world with changing the world. Though some like Felix Adler rightly criticized the Transcendentalists for doing too much of one and not enough of the other, there might yet be inspiration available to help us do both.

"Finding Our Way Through: WES’s Path to Dual Affiliation with the UUA & AEU"

Sunday, August 15, 10:30am

John Daken, Lyn Cox, Perry Beider

Perry Beider and John Daken look back on the discernment process that led to WES’s decision to affiliate with both the UUA and the AEU. Interim Leader Lyn Cox adds thoughts on how our institutional relationships have deepened since 2008.

Question Box

Lyn Cox

Bring your questions about philosophy, theology, dinosaurs, and what connects us to this spontaneous, collaborative Platform with Interim Leader Lyn Cox.

Where Love and Justice Cross All Borders

Sunday, July 25, 10:30am

Immigration Justice Team, Patti Absher, Refugee Resettlement Team, Ross Wells, Sue Smith

WES members who have volunteered in immigration justice, refugee resettlement, and similar movements of solidarity will reflect on putting their values into action and on what WES members might do together next.