Dialogue Summer 2015 You Spoke, We Listened! In This Issue Laura Steele, Chair of AEU Membership Committee You Spoke, We Listened! 1 Our 100th Anniversary Assembly was inspiring indeed. In response to speakers’ community organizing experience, the AEU Membership Letter from Executive Dir. 2 Committee put together an impromptu “listening tree” and invited attendees to share their thoughts on what their own Society needs in order to grow. Christian Hayden in Ghana! 3 On various colored post-it notes you wrote your thoughts and comments. The AEU Membership Committee extends huge appreciation and thanks to Dr. Sandra Steingraber Honored all of you who participated. with Elliott-Black Award 3 What we found after all the notes were collated was that an overwhelming number of you wrote about Outreach as being what was needed most, as Letter from AEU President 4 well as attracting young adults. 100th Assembly a Triumph! 5 Your timing couldn’t be better. Mark your calendars now for the annual Membership Growth Conference October 23-24 at the Ethical Society Notes from Your Board 6 of Bergen County in Teaneck, New Jersey. We will focus on Outreach (including using social media and websites), address attracting young adults, Growing & Sustaining an Ethical and discuss best practices. Education Program 7 We hope those who attended Assembly this year are as enthused as we are Interested in a Social Media and those who didn’t get there will hear about it from friends and colleagues Webinar? 7 around the country. There will be more details about the conference by end of summer so check Ethical Action Feature: People, your e-mail and the AEU website. We’d love to see representation from each Planet, and Prosperity—Historic and every Society. “We are, each of us, the AEU!” Year for United Nations 8 From the United Nations: Food— Safety, Availability, and Politics 10 FES Explored Oppression, Relationships, and Service at 2015 Conference 11 Wall of Remembrance 13 Humanism Behind Prison Walls 14 Dedicated Volunteers Receive Anna Garlin Spencer Award at 2015 Assembly 16 2 Summer 2015 Dialogue The timing could hardly be better—in Letter from Executive Director recent years there has been a significant Bart Worden shift in our culture. There has been a surge of interest in Humanism in the United States along with a significant reduction in people’s participation in mainstream organized religion. And while people’s behavior may have changed, many of their basic human needs—for community, meaning, and The 100th Assembly of the American facilitation materials for Colloquies, purpose—remain. And these needs Ethical Union, held in Stamford, Community Circles, and Story Salons are what Ethical Societies have been Connecticut, was a wonderful to humanist groups to use and will addressing since our beginning days opportunity for Ethical Culture people be augmented individualized support in 1876. We have much to offer and from across the country to gather from our new Mossler Fellow, Sandi our offerings are pretty much free together and plan for our future. In Sacks, who will be working out of of the downsides associated with many ways our union is doing quite the American Ethical Union office. traditional religious movements. We well: our core committees are staffed Another initiative will make it easier for are aspirational, we evolve, and we and operating well, we have held Societies to schedule visits from Ethical strive to prioritize the personal over the conferences for ethical education, Culture Leaders through a scheduling institutional. membership, and lay leadership system managed by the national training, and our Board has initiated office—and a companion database of There are hundreds of existing campaigns to put us on much firmer individuals who have been identified by humanist groups across the country financial footing. Our new website our membership as excellent presenters that are looking to address their continues to be simply gorgeous and is also in the works. members’ needs for community and now is augmented with connections meaningfulness. There are many more to social media and a “press kit” to A third initiative is a consultation individuals who would be a part of facilitate media inquiries. And have you program for Societies who are such a group if only one was readily checked out the newest feature, the interested in organizing for the future. available. That is where the American Timeline? You can see it at aeu.org/ A pre-visit survey, a day-long workshop, Ethical Union comes in. Over our who-we-are/history. We have renewed and follow-up video-conferences or history we have developed tools and ties with other humanist organizations in-person consultations provide an programs that have made our Ethical and have stepped up the level of our opportunity for the leadership of Societies places where people have communications both within our Societies to explore organizational profound and life-altering experiences. community and with the larger public tools, refine priorities, and develop a We will be working actively to connect arena. Our total membership as of the plan of action to make the best use with existing humanist groups and share end of 2014 was almost exactly the of available resources for moving the what we have to offer, starting with our same as it was at the end of 2013—so Society forward. newly developed facilitation materials we have held our own numbers-wise. for Colloquy, Community Circles, and We are preparing to do more than Story Salons. We are also revamping We continue to work to strengthen our simply strengthen our existing how we respond to individuals who existing communities. Our national membership. Our union currently express interest in finding an Ethical committees strive to make helpful comprises 22 member Ethical Societies Humanist community or starting a new resources available for membership in 11 states and in the District of one, and we are developing new start-up growth, ethical education, ethical Columbia with a total national guides to help new groups get off the action, and publicity, and new initiatives membership of fewer than 2000 ground. This is a great time to extend will greatly expand the availability individuals. Clearly there is room to our reach by making ourselves useful of high quality program materials grow and expand both by becoming and doing what we can to help Ethical for existing groups as well as newly established in more locations and by Humanist groups grow and flourish. forming ones. One of these initiatives, reaching larger numbers of people in all There is much to look forward to and I our outreach program, will provide locations—and we have a plan for that. expect there will be exciting days ahead! Summer 2015 Dialogue 3 Christian Hayden Goes to Ghana! Save These Dates Christian Hayden, an active member of the Ethical For details visit www.aeu.org Humanist Society of Philadelphia and Future of Ethical Societies, will participate in the first delegation of the Humanist Service Corps (HSC). This is a project AEU Board Meetings launched by Dale McGowan, our National Director Individual members of of Ethical Education and founder of the Foundation Societies are welcome to Beyond Belief (FBB). attend. (Usually held at New York Society for Ethical Culture) Christian will live in the town of Tamale (pronounced toh-moh-lee) in northern Sat. September 18 - Sun. Ghana for the next year. As Hugh Taft-Morales wrote in the June 2015 Ethical Action Report, “The long-range goal is to help women who have been ostracized September 19 -- TBD and isolated in refugee camps set up to contain women accused of witchcraft. Sat. November 21 -- NYSEC Oppression, fueled by widely accepted superstition, is the social justice target Sat. January 16 -- NYSEC for these representatives of humanism.” Conor Robinson, the director of HSC, Sat. March 19 -- NYSEC explains, “Humanist service focuses not only on what resources the community Sat. May 21 -- NYSEC lacks, but also on the emotional and psychological needs of the people involved. Thu. July 14 - Sun. July 17 -- Humanist service seeks neither to convert nor to de-convert. Instead, it aims to Assembly in St. Louis connect by focusing on shared values. Humanist service emphasizes the growth rather than the sacrifice of the volunteer.” Membership Growth Conference We look forward to hearing all about Christian’s trip and future projects run by the Fri. October 23 - Sat. Humanist Service Corps. October 24 -- Bergen Society “Growing the Movement Together“ Dr. Sandra Steingraber Honored with Ethical Education Weekend Elliott-Black Award at 100th Assembly Fri. November 6 - Sun. November 8 -- Stony Point The 2015 Elliott-Black Award went to Dr. Center, Stony Point, NY Sandra Steingraber, a biologist, writer, and climate activist who educates the public Youth of Ethical Societies on links between human health and the Conference environment. She is a translator between Fri. November 13 - Sun. scientists and activists and was a prime mover November 15 -- St. Louis, MO in the anti-fracking campaign in New York. She is the Distinguished Scholar in Future of Ethical Societies Residence in Department of Environmental Conference Studies and Sciences at Ithaca College and Fri. May 27 - Mon. May 30 has spent much of her off time attending environmental meetings, testifying -- Brooklyn, NY before governmental bodies, addressing anti-fracking rallies, and being jailed for acts of civil disobedience in defense of Seneca Lake. AEU 101st Annual Assembly Thu. July 14 - Sun. July 17 -- The Elliott-Black Award was established in 1971 to honor highly esteemed St. Louis, MO Leaders of the New York Society for Ethical Culture, the late John Lovejoy Elliott and Algernon D. Black. It is given by the American Ethical Union Lay Leadership Summer as a recognition and tribute to an individual or organization in the larger School community who has made a significant positive impact on society and the Sat.