The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County

516 Prospect Street, Maplewood, New Jersey 07040  Phone 973-763-1905     Email: e

csec.nj@gmail.com
Board of Trustees:Tom Cunningham, President; Alice Robinson-Gilman, Vice-President; Jill Farrer;
Lisa Novemsky;Jeanine Rosh; Terri Suess; Andy Weinberger. Leader Emeriti: Martha Gallahue, Boe Meyerson, Jim White
Liz Cunningham, Office Manager


We're on Facebook -- Snapshots -- Past Newsletters   -- Society By Laws

  Join our email list!  Write to:  ecsec.nj@gmail.com

 

 

Recent Programs

For last year's programs, see Schedule 2022-2023




Sunday, Feb. 18, 11 am


Chuck Carter: Environmental Theology
 

This is a hybrid program, in-person at ECS and online via Zoom . 


"I use the term Environmental Theology broadly to refer to biblical and theological reflections on the care for our physical world. This is more than theoretical but must move us to work directly to establish social, economic and racial justice in environmental contexts. Because I am primarily a biblical scholar rather than a systematic theologian my theological reflections emerge from biblical texts. In doing theology, I also explore medieval and mystical traditions, Catholic Social Teaching on the environment (including Pope Francis’s 2015 encyclical and his more recent pastoral letter) and reflect on a variety of other religious traditions. Among the key areas of agreement across religious communities are the inherent dignity of humankind, the inherent goodness of ‘creation’ (the universe), and our responsibility to love, live in harmony with, care for, defend and protect the world in which we live."

Charles (Chuck) Carter is a Professor of Religion at Seton Hall University where he has taught for 31 years. He grew up in Bath, Maine, holds a BA in Biblical Studies from Barrington College, a Certificate in Urban Ministry from New York Theological Seminary, an MDiv from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, and a PhD in Hebrew Bible and Archaeology from Duke University. He has taught at Bethlehem Bible College in Palestine, Duke University, Drew Theological School, Union Theological Seminary, and in 2003-2004 he was the Catholic Biblical Society Visiting Professor at the Pontifical Biblical Seminary in Rome and the École Biblique et archéologique française in Jerusalem. Among the courses Chuck has taught are Intro to Bible, Contemporary Moral Issues, Faith and Justice, The Prophets, Women in the Biblical Tradition, Jesus in Film and Theatre, The Bible, Film and Popular Culture, and Environmental Theology. He has served as chair of the Department of Religion, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, and Director of the University Teaching Fellows Program. He is a member of the Seton Hall University Choir and of the Solidarity Singers. He is involved with the Poor People’s Campaign and regularly participates in SOMA Coalition for Palestine’s Cease Fire Sundays. Chuck is also an ordained American Baptist Minister. He lives in South Orange with his partner, Karen Roche. Together they have four adult children who live in the New York-New Jersey area. 
 







Tracy Carluccio:

The Greenwashing of Hydrogen Fuel
 

Sunday, February 11, 2024
11:00 a.m.





Greenwashing is misinformation disguised to sound environmentally beneficial. With several "clean energy" bills up for consideration in our State legislature, our speaker will shed light on what is really "clean and green" and what is not. Learn the facts about renewable natural gas and hydrogen fuel from an environment.

 

Tracy Carluccio is Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN), where she has worked as an environmental advocate since 1989, working throughout the Delaware River Watershed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. Carluccio focuses on opposing fracking, oil and gas developments such Liquefied Natural Gas exports, fossil fuel and shale gas infrastructure and related “false energy solutions” issues such as hydrogen and “renewable natural gas”; promoting clean and renewable energy and action on the climate crisis, and addressing PFAS and other toxic contamination. She works for the Watershed’s protection addressing water quality, healthy habitats, streams, and communities, defending its exceptional values, and working to restore the Watershed where needed. 


This is a hybrid program, in-person
at ECS and online via Zoom








February 4, 2024

Update on Everything
You Ever Wanted to Know
About Electric-Cars

Andy Weinberger

Andy Weinberger will update some of the issues surrounding electric vehicles  (not hybrids) that he addressed in an earlier talk.  He will speak about electric vehicles and their positive and negative points as well as some general thoughts on why to choose one and what things to consider in selecting one.

He will discuss some specifics of the vehicles and some of the myths about them. He will answer questions at the end and notes that, although he is familiar with electric vehicles, he does not maintain he is an expert in all aspects of them!

Andy, a resident of Orange, is also a current ECS Board member and past president, husband of Meredith Sue Willis, father of ex-youth member Joel, and a grandfather of three.





Sunday, January 28, 2024


Zoom with Bergen Society:

Prof William Heffernan:

"Amazing Grace" (from Cordelia to Spongebob and Nelson Mandela).



We will be joining the Bergen Ethical Society for their platform: Amazing Grace. From the Bergen Society:  "We tag along with Cordelia of “King Lear,” Jane Bennet of “Pride and Prejudice,” and Sponge Bob Square Pants in their Adventures Beyond the Justice Zone, with our guide William Heffernan, professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. Professor Heffernan will conclude his talk with ruminations on Nelson Mandela’s fusion of justice and personal grace."
 



Coming Up:

Sunday, Feb. 4, 11am - Andy Weinberger: The Electric Car, Part II - Our longtime member, past president and current Board member, Dr. Andy Weinberger, the happy I went if an electric car, will help us understand the what/what and /how of these new-fangled vehicles. (This is a hybrid program; in person at ECS and online via Zoom.)

Sunday, Feb. 11 - Tracy Carlucci: The Greening of Hydrogen Fuel - 
Tracy Carluccio is Deputy Director of the Delaware Riverkeeper Network (DRN), where she works as an environmental advocate since 1989, working throughout the Delaware River Watershed in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York, and Delaware. Carluccio focuses on opposing fracking, oil and gas development such Liquefied Natural Gas exports, fossil fuel and shale gas infrastructure and related “false energy solutions” issues such as hydrogen and “renewable natural gas”; promoting clean and renewable energy and action on the climate crisis; and addressing PFAS and other toxic contamination. She works for the Watershed’s protection addressing water quality, healthy habitats, streams, and communities, defending its exceptional values, and working to restore the Watershed where needed.   
 


 

 

Sunday, Jan. 21, 11 am




Alan Richter: Ethics in Business & Government


This is a hybrid program, in-person at ECS  (with the speaker appearing via Zoom) and online via Zoom (email ecsec.nj@gmail.com for link)

Dr. Alan Richter will provide an overview of the US view of ethics vs the global view, and an exploration of ethics, values, culture and leadership in business and government. Time allowing, we will be able to explore some specific ethics cases with him. 

Dr. Richter is the founder and president of QED Consulting. He has consulted to corporations and organizations for many years in multiple capacities, primarily in the areas of leadership, ethics and values, diversity, inclusion, culture and change. He has provided strategic consulting and facilitation and program design and delivery for varied organizations globally and has been involved in innovative instructional product design. He is a recognized pioneer in both the diversity & inclusion and business ethics fields.
 
Alan is the co-creator of the Global Diversity Survey -- a self-assessment tool which measures how we deal with difference, the Global Gender Intelligence Assessment – a gender intelligence self-assessment, the Global Leadership Survey – a leadership style self-assessment tool, The Global Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Benchmarks  and The Global Ethics & Integrity Benchmarks -- which help organizations measure their Diversity and Ethics initiatives, respectively, against global best practices. He also co-produced Global Words for Global Leaders -- an inspirational leadership video, and co-authored Lost in Cyberspace -- a team-decision based tool that explores the nature of global virtual teams. 
 
He has worked closely with many leading organizations worldwide, including CERN, NASA and the UN, many Fortune 500 Global companies, such as American Express, AXA, BP, BDO, ConEdison, Deloitte, GE, LockheedMartin, Nokia, RBS, UBS, Unilever, etc., and in the academic world has worked with Columbia University, Wharton, Ohio State University, and UC Berkeley among others. Within the UN system he has worked with FAO, ICAO, ICC, ICTY, IMF, ITU, OPCW, UNAIDS, UNDP, UNICEF, UNSSC, WFP, WHO, WIPO, WMO and WTO, as well as with CGIAR, GAVI, The International Rescue Committee, OXFAM, and The Global Fund. He has facilitated workshops across Africa, Asia and Europe, in addition to the Americas. He has also been a presenter at many conferences across the globe. He has been recognized as a Diversity Pioneer (2007) and was listed on the Economist’s Global Diversity List (2015).
 
Prior to founding QED, he consulted extensively in the emergence of on-line services, taught philosophy, psychology, and interdisciplinary courses at the Open University in the UK and worked as a lexicographer and writer. He is the author of several book chapters and articles, covering aspects of business ethics, diversity and globalization. He is the co-editor of a recent book on global values seen through the lens of comparative jurisprudence.  Dr. Richter has an M.A. and a B.A.B.Sc. from the University of Cape Town, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy from Birkbeck College, London University.







 






Sunday, Jan. 14, 11 am - MLK Colloquy:
We will explore how Dr. King's life and legacy have impacted us and how our views of him have changed in the decades since his death.




January 7, 2024

11:00 a.m.
By Zoom Only!





“The Sweetest Man
Who Ever Lived:”

A reading and discussion
with Meredith Sue Willis


Things to read:

 "The Sweetest Man Who Ever Lived   (scroll down)

An essay on Writing and Cultural Appropriation


Have you ever been shocked by a skeleton in the family closet?  What were your reactions?  Do we have any responsibility for the actions of our ancestors?

Writer (and long time Essex Ethical member) Meredith Sue Willis will read portions of her short story “The Sweetest Man Who Ever Lived” and lead a discussion about issues raised in it.   It is recommended that you take a look for yourself at the story online in Cold Mountain Review at https://coldmountainreview.appstate.edu/submission/the-sweetest-man-who-ever-lived/ .

Meredith Sue Willis, who grew up the Appalachian Mountains, is a novelist and teacher.  For more about her and her publications, see her website at www.meredithsuewillis.com.  She has been a  Distinguished Teaching Artist of the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, leading workshops for children and young people from Newark to Mountain Lakes and many points beyond and between.  She is presently an  Adjunct Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at  New York University, School of Professional Studies, where she teaches novel writing.  

Locally, she is a founding member of the South Orange/Maplewood Community Coalition on Race and the chair of our Essex Ethical Culture Society Social Action Committee.

She lives in Orange with her husband Andy Weinberger, a retired rheumatologist.  Their son Joel, a graduate of the Ethical Culture Sunday School, is a software engineer for Snap, Inc. in Los Angeles, where he and his wife Sarah, Director of Quality Consulting at Kaiser Permanente, are raising three terrific kids, Shira (7), Eli (4), and Lev (2).





Sunday, Dec. 31, 11 am


Arbor TimeLapse photo by Richard Velasco

Human-I-Tree

 

AEU All-Societies Platform

This is an online program. Please RSVP using the link below.

December is a month that moves us toward Winter’s balance of light and dark with short days and full nights. For many, it’s a time to mark the rhythm of our days, years, and seasons.

December is also a time to turn toward each other and gather together in celebration and remembrance of our interconnection. Our All-Societies Platforms have become one place we connect with each other as an Ethical movement.

Join Audrey Kindred, the American Ethical Union, and Societies from across the country on December 31 at 11:00 AM ET for the next All-Societies Platform: Human-I-Tree.

RSVP for Human-I-Tree

About Human-I-Tree

Human-I-Tree

Human-I-Tree Concept 3

Human-I-Tree is an original vision grown through community engagement at the New York Society for Ethical Culture by Audrey Kindred‘s collaboration with artists, activists, and children of all ages. It honors how every breath we take as humans is integral to the life of trees.

Audrey brings Felix Adler into dialogue with ecological hero and 2004 Nobel Prize for Peace recipient Wangari Matthai by proposing that “bringing out the best in one another and thereby ourselves” is not truly peace unless we honor our interconnectedness by respecting the earth together. Human-I-Tree branches into a whole family of tree concepts that can inspire our human community building processes.

This tree-inspired platform includes gifts from several artists with whom Audrey has collaborated for Human-I-Tree. Among them are our own ECSEC member, Daniela Gioseffi, as well as Simba Yangala, Jody Sperling, Alexa Babakhanian, Annie Lanzillotto, and Bonita Oliver.

About Audrey Kindred

Audrey Kindred

Audrey Kindred

Audrey has led Ethical intergenerational programming for 25 years and currently serves the New York Society for Ethical Culture. She is the co-author, with Dr. Anne Klaeysen, of a brand new course published by the American Humanist Association called “Humanist Family Life Ceremonies.”

She is currently completing a master’s degree that centers mindful Climate Justice education. Audrey is focused on how creativity and embodiment impact our ethical development. She honors retired Ethical Leaders Lisel Burns and Martha Gallahue as her Ethical roots.

 

 

 

 


Sunday, December 31, 2023
    6:00 p.m. - 9:00 p.m.

New Year's Eve
Fund-Raiser
and FUN!

Suggested donation, bring a dish,
RSVP jeaniner2@verizon.net


 


 

 

Sunday December 24, 2023
11:00 a.m.
This Little Light of Mine!

  Joining forces with Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
via Zoom, for a solstice celebration:
“This little light of mine: how we make it shine”

 

 

 

 

December 17, 2023    11:00 a.m.

Lenape: Their Culture & History

Dan Kaslow



Dan Kaslow will focus on two aspects of the Lenape Indians. The first is their influence and cultural impact on not only early European settlers, but also our current society.

The second focus will be on tracing the history of the Lenape from their earliest ancestors who arrived in New Jersey towards the end of the last Ice Age into the 21st century.

Dan’s discussion is based on more than a year of serious research into the history and culture of the Lenape people and discussions with leading Lenape scholars.


Dan is a long-time resident of Maplewood who has been active in a variety of roles with many local and civic organizations. He is the author of the highly popular Maplewood Compendium, a collection of information about notable people, places, organizations and events in the 350-year history of Maplewood.






12-10-23

History Behind the Israel-Hamas War

Paul Rabinowitz


Paul Rabinowitz is an author, screenwriter, photographer and founder of ARTS By The People. He is the author of 5 books including

Confluence; The Clay Urn; Limited Light; and Grand Street, Revisited.

 

Rabinowitz co-writes screenplays with Brittney Bertier including the TV pilot called Bungalow.  

 

Rabinowitz’s poems and fiction are the inspiration for 8 award winning experimental films, including Best Experimental Short at Cannes, Venice Independent Film Festival, Oregon Short Film Festival, Florence Indie Film Festival and Paris Film Festival.

 

In the 1980s, Paul lived in Israel. He served in an infantry unit in the Israel Defense Forces and an elite reconnaissance unit in the reserves. He completed his post graduate work at The Hebrew University and worked for the Ministry of Tourism guiding Muslim, Christian and Jewish groups from overseas and lecturing on the Arab-Israeli Conflict. He returns to Israel twice a year to work on film and musical composition projects with a diverse group that includes Arab and Jewish Israelis.



See Paul Rabinowitz's new novel:  The Clay Urn


The Clay Urn is a gripping story of humanity, love, and finding beauty in a war-torn life. Rabinowitz has an eye for delicate sensory details, which he sets brilliantly amongst a jagged landscape of fighting, destruction, and pain. The Clay Urn is a must read. ~Erin Jones, author of Tinfoil Crowns



Folk Friday
at Ethical
Sing-along & jam

December 8, 2023
Ethical Culture Society
516 Prospect St
Maplewood, NJ 07040
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM
lnovemsky@comcast.net
bring acoustic string and rhythm instruments
join in playing, singing, or listening with us

Everyone is invited!






Sunday December 3, 2023 11:00 a.m.

Ian Grodman: Redeveloping Homes and Thereby Improving Neighborhoods


 

 

 

 

 

Ian is an attorney and mediator, and four years ago, founded Good Home Property Solutions as a side business. The business has redeveloped ten distressed properties in Maplewood, South Orange, Orange and Iselin, New Jersey. Ian prefers the term "residential redeveloper" to the term "flipper," which often has negative connotations. Ian would like to believe that the work the business does improves not only the houses that they work on, providing updated homes in great condition for new owners, but the surrounding community and neighborhood as well. The business has also helped distressed property owners avoid foreclosure and bankruptcy and on two occassions to get a fresh start after overcoming difficult circumstances.

He has lived in Maplewood now for 28 years, having moved here from Jersey City with his wife, Lisa Mainardi. They have raised their sons Max and Carlos here, where they went to Seth Boyden Elementary, Maplewood Middle and Columbia High Schools. He has served on a number of non-profit boards, including the Community Coalition on Race and the Achieve Foundation locally, as well as serving twice on the Maplewood Township Committee, and the Chair of the Maplewood Democratic Committee.

 


 

 

 

Sunday, Nov. 26, 11 am


 

Member Profile: Jie Saczi: Bridging Health Traditions of East and West 


This is a HYBRID event:

 in person at the ECS building in Maplewood and

online via Zoom (link is below)

Jeanine Rosh will interview Jie Saczi about her life, as a healer, an immigrant, and a teacher. Jie and her husband, scientist Ali Saczi, joined ECS in 2022. Building on a lifetime of study, Jie received her doctorate in Acupuncture from the Pacific College of Health and Science earlier this year. Together they run the Chess Academy at the Millburn Library, as a means to promote creativity, self-awareness, and social wellbeing for children, teens and adults.

 

 

 

 


Pre-Thanksgiving Music Treat


This is a HYBRID event:

 performers live at the ECS building in Maplewood and

online via Zoom

Come join us on Sunday morning to hear a showcase of local high school musicians! Two Columbia High School a cappella groups will be performing, The Unaccompanied Minors and Noteworthy, as well as four student pianists - Jasper Cunningham, Leo Somerheil, Parker Howell, and Gabriel Tarrow, performing Beethoven, Debussy, and Mendelssohn.






Sunday, November 12, 2023

Jesse Ribot Oppression and Justice in Africa (Migration and more)

 Climate Refugees? Why Senegal's
Farmers are Crossing the Sahara Toward Europe


While called Climate Refugees, Sahelian youth leave to Europe for many reasons. In this talk, through the case of farmers in Eastern Senegal, I will explore why youth are emigrating and will discuss the ways in which climate change narratives are clouding out the real reasons for their plight. The talk will outline how a focus on climate change, while important, is hiding these farmers' true struggles and concerns.


Jesse Ribot's current research is on the social and political-economic causes of precarity and social suffering in natural-resource-dependent communities. He explores these problems through case studies of struggles over natural resource access, attempts to establish local democracy, and communities at risk in the face of climate stress. His fieldwork has been in the West African Sahel – mostly in Eastern Senegal -- and he has conducted comparative studies across Africa and in Asia and Latin America. Ribot has a background in physics and linguistics, followed by training in energy and environmental policy, and then in human geography. He served on faculties of planning, geography, anthropology and environmental studies at MIT and University of Illinois. He is currently on the faculty in the School of International Service at American University in DC. 

 

 

Sunday, November 5, 2023
11:00 a.m. In person and by Zoom

 

Daniela Gioseffi:
The Vital Role of Trees in This Time of Climate Crisis

 

 

 

Daniela Gioseffi

 

 

Daniela Gioseffi, ECS member and writer, educator and activist, will address how trees communicate scientifically and how essential they are to human and animal life on Planet Earth, especially now with the climate crisis facing us.

Daniela Gioseffi, a retired professor, is a trained climate leadership speaker, with certification, from Al Gore. She's given talks on climate concerns at colleges, universities, and public libraries, and recently at Columbia High School in Maplewood. She edits www.EcoPoetry.org, with editorials on Climate Crisis and links on what we can do to think globally and act locally.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunday, October 29, 2023

All-Society Program ( Zoom only)

Author and labor journalist
Sam Pizzigati on Felix Adler:

"Adler and Inequality"

 

All-Society Program (on Zoom Only) -
Author and Labor Journalist Sam Pizzigati on Felix Adler's Views on Equality

Registration for this event is required. After filling out the form, you will receive the link to the platform.


Felix Adler established America’s first free kindergarten for working families in the late 19th century. In the early 20th century, he led the first successful national campaign against child labor and came very close to achieving his egalitarian vision in the mid-20th century. Recently, we have moved in the completely opposite direction with the widening of the wealth gap making inequality in this country too obvious for anyone to ignore. How can we best turn things around? As Adler puts it, how can we tax away “pomp and pride and power”?

We are thrilled to have Sam Pizzigati, currently an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) and former Director of Publishing at the National Education Association, answer these questions as our special guest for this All-Societies Platform. Sam will explore some of the fascinating new approaches to addressing inequality both here and abroad by demonstrating how the best way to chip away at this issue is to start locally. 

We will also be joined by AEU Board President Khandra Sears, Vice President Jé Hooper, and Philadelphia Ethical Society and Baltimore Ethical Society Leader Hugh Taft-Morales who will be our MC! Khandra will kick off this event with opening remarks and Jé will lead us through an interactive libations ceremony. We are also asking for you to support the AEU’s All-Societies Platform and the IPS where Sam is an Associate Fellow. Please donate generously. Your contribution will go towards the artists who perform, our partners presenting, and the AEU. Click on the links below to RSVP for what will be an amazing event and to support the All-Societies Platform. See you there!

About Our Speaker:

Sam Pizzigati is currently an Associate Fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies and co-editor of Inequality.org, an online portal that has been tracking global inequality for over 20 years. He was the Director of Publishing at the National Education Association, our country’s largest union, for over ten years. Sam is also an esteemed labor journalist with his op-eds appearing in outlets across the globe from The New York Times to Le Monde Diplomatique. He has written multiple books on inequality as well, exploring Adler’s story in his 2012 book, The Rich Don’t Always Win. To read his latest work, check out The Case for a Maximum Wage.


Sunday, Oct. 22

(Hybrid: at the Society Building and by Zoom)

Weird Beliefs: A Pre-Halloween Discussion

With Jeanine Rosh

 

Exploring personal, societal and cultural superstitions.

 

 

Sunday, October 15, 2023

The Social Action Committee Presents its 2023 Local Hero Award to Paula Rogovin

 

 

 

Sunday October 8

 

 

An interactive look at being Sweet Sixteen - the celebration and the complication that comes with being that magical age, led by a group of Columbia High School students.

 

 

 


On Sunday, October 15, 2023 the Social Action Committee presented
its 2023 Local Hero Award to Paula Rogovin

 

 

Jackie Herships
Sunday, Sept. 24, 11 am


 Longtime Essex Ethical member and activist Jackie Herships, a coach and connector par excellence, will lead a discussion on how we can live up to our central tenet, to bring out the best in everyone, and thereby bring out the best in ourselves. She will explore the values of goal setting and lead an interactive exercise. (HYBRID).

 

 

 

 

Sunday
September 17, 2023
11:00 a.m.

Jim White

Why Is Critical Race Theory So Threatening?
Focus on the 1619 Project

 

Jim White, following up on the presentation by Mia Charlene White last season, will explore how the 1619 Project evolved into the Right's favorite scare tactic. His talk will also serve as an introduction to a series of discussions Jim has offered to lead over the next few months starting Monday, Sept. 18th, via Zoom.

Jim White joyfully served as clergy leader of the Essex Society from 1989 to 1995 and has continued as a member since then.

He retired as a mental health lawyer in 2016 and shares retirement with his wife, the singer-nurse Eileen Karlson. They wonderfully enjoy life with their sons Jacob and Paul and four incredibly talented (and very nice) grandchildren!

 

 

 

Also, join Jim for a Monthly Book Group
on Critical Race Theory

Monday December 18
7:00 p.m.
By Zoom




 

Sunday, September 10, 2023
11:00 a.m.

Society President Tom Cunningham

 

Learning to Love and
To Be Loved

Join us at the Ethical Culture Society as we kick off the 2023-2024 season of programs and platforms.

President Tom Cunningham will share an inspiring reflection on what it means to learn to love each other and ourselves, exploring ideas of love in an ethical and humanist context. 
Enjoy refreshments afterwards at the ECS building. 
This is a HYBRID event--in person and via Zoom.

 

 

Snapshots

 

October 8, 2023

The Meaning of Sweet Sixteen:

 

 

 

Social Action Committee and other Society members
writing non partisan Get Out the Vote cards 10-16-22:

 

 

 

 

Local Hero Presentation 2022

9-25-22: Social Action Committee Gives Local Hero Award 2022
to Cecilia Zalkind (See Local Hero)

 

 

 

An Appeal

February 8, 2023

 

 
Dear Ethical Culture Members and Friends,

Thank you for your commitment to the Ethical Culture Movement that strives to bring ethics into all walks of life by "acting so as to bring out the best in others, and thereby in ourselves" and by working in community to positively impact our personal lives, our communities, as well as ethics in business, politics, education, and health care. By being a Member or Friend of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, you make this ongoing journey of analysis, inquiry and action for ethics possible.

As you know, our building at 516 Prospect Street, Maplewood, on the border of Maplewood and South Orange, has provided space for over 70 years for not only our Ethical Culture Sunday morning platform presentations, and our Family Sunday School Program, it has also hosted many important community programs and events including Chamber Music Workshops, AA Groups, Folk Fridays Music, The Human Faith Movement meetings, ethical summer study groups, personal goal setting and achievement workshops, philosophy groups, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reading groups, as well as a variety of musical recitals, concerts and art exhibits.

The Building also hosts The South Orange Maplewood Coalition on Race offices and events, and has welcomed SOMA Adult School Classes. We have also contributed to the Interfaith Hospitality Network, the Community Food Bank, Community Coat Drives and NJ Peace Action. And over the years we have raised funds for schools in Afghanistan, supported reform movements to end police brutality, and have dedicated ourselves to racial and sexual equality, an end to ageism and to support Labor Movements.

The Ethical Culture Society of Essex County is also the world's first Peace Site, dedicated to finding pathways to Peace. For these and many other reasons having our building as a base for our activities has made the work of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County possible. Together with our location and our dedicated and active members and friends, we have had positive impacts on our community, our county, state, nation and the world.

As you may have heard, we have large building expenses looming that require our stewardship. We are committed to taking care of one of our most valuable assets, our building. The roof will need replacement, and the exterior walls are desperately in need of maintenance. We also have had an immediate chimney repair required. In addition, our ramp, making the building accessible, has worn out and been removed, prompting research into replacement ramps or possibly a mechanical lift. Combined, these repairs are estimated to cost more than $100,000. This would more than deplete our modest savings, and remove our cushion on hand. It is important that we take action to raise funds now.

The Board has decided to embark on a Capital Campaign to raise funds to meet the costs of these building repairs and improvements. This will be a multi-pronged effort. As Phase One, we called on Board Members, Members last year to kick off the campaign. Phase Two of the campaign is this appeal to our Members and Friends, and Phase Three will be a series of fundraisers and grant requests, reaching out to the wider community for support.

Today, we are appealing to our Members and Friends to give generously to the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County 2023 Capital Campaign. If you have thought of leaving a bequest to the Society in your will, perhaps you would contribute now, as an alternative or in addition to your other plans.

Our first phase of the Capital Campaign has raised almost $20,000 in donations from our Ethical Culture Society of Essex County Board. We hope that with Member and Friends donations we can reach the halfway mark toward our $100,000 goal.

Please consider your own history with the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County and consider making a generous contribution to this capital campaign. Please send your donation now or write your pledge amount to me or Jeanine via email and we will assemble them by the end of February, 2023. We hope that pledges to the capital campaign will be donated via check to the office, by March 2023.

We will then know what we have raised internally, in the aggregate, and we will move forward to the wider community with our appeal. Planned, so far, is a spring on-line art auction, a grant request and a possible ad journal for a late spring event.

Thank you for your contributions to the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County over the years. We are honored to have worked alongside you and to have enjoyed your contributions to our community. As a Member or Friend, please carefully consider this appeal and give generously to bring our building back to good repair. We hope we can continue to offer a home for the next generation of those who will carry the banner of ethical study and action into the future.

 

Thank you.

Ethical Culture Society of Essex County, Capital Campaign, Co-Chairs,

 

Terri Suess

 

Jeanine Rosh

 

 

 

 

Please make donations payable to

Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
Include on the check "Capital Campaign 2023"
Send donations to
Ethical Culture Society of Essex County
516 Prospect St.
Maplewood, NJ 07040

 

 

 

Recent Events and Platforms
Programs from Past Years
Minutes of Board Meetings
Past Newsletters
Society By Laws
Notes about Members, Obituaries, etc,
Minutes of the last Social Action Committee Meeting

 

 

Interested in Joining the Ethical Society? Click here!

 

 


 

 

Next Social Action Committee

Friday, February 16, 2024  5:00 pm by Zoom.

Social Action Committee Minutes here.

  

 

 

 

Monthly Book Group
on Critical Race Theory/ The 1619 Project
Third Mondays by Zoom

Led by  Jim White


Reading Schedule:

Dates and Chapter(s) to Read:

9-18-23     Chapter 6    Capitalism
0-16-23    Chapter 1    Democracy
11-20       Chapter 2    Race   (rescheduled)
2-18-23    Chapter 3    Sugar

(from here, tentative dates, two chapters a month.  Third Mondays)

1-15-24    Chaps 4 & 5    Fear and Dispossession
2-19-24    Chaps 7 & 8    Politics & Citizenship
3-18-24    Chaps 9 & 10  Self-Defense & Punishment
4-15-24    Chaps 11 & 12 Inheritance & Medicine

We will tentatively finish chapters 13-18 during three fall sessions to be scheduled.


 

Minutes of the Board Meetings

3-9-22 Board meeting
2-9-22 Board meeting
1-12-22 Board meeting
11-10-21 Board Meeting
10-13-21 Board Meeting
9-8-21 Board Meeting
8-12-20 Board Meeting
8-23-20 Annual Meeting
9-9-20 Board Minutes
9-18-20 Board Meeting
10-14-20 Board Meeting
11-11-20 Board Meeting
12-9-20 Board Meeting
1-13-21 Board Meeting
2-10-21 Board Minutes

 

 

 

Past Newsletters

May 2020
April 2020
March 2020
February 2020
January 2020
December 2019
November 2019
October 2019
September 2019
June 2019
May 2019
April 2019
March 2019
February 2019
January 2019



A Selection of Past Years' Programs: