Living Ethical Culture in Our World: A Colloquy Facilitated by Meredith Sue Willis and Alice Robinson-Gilman

Join us for the second event in “Living Ethical Culture in Our World,” the theme for the 2019-20 season’s platforms and educational experiences. This one is specifically a colloquy-style follow-up to Calvin Chatlos’s September 8 platform.

We expect to have approximately one event per month, either a presentation or workshop by a leader, a member panel or colloquy about issues raised in platforms and formal or informal conversations and workshops.

The format of a colloquy provides an opportunity to respond to a selected topic in a non-judgmental environment. There may be a very short reading provided to focus the discussion. There will be no debating, no correcting, and no negative arguments. Rather, quiet listening allows the participants to take in and reflect on one another’s statements. A period of group reflection follows with another go-around of individual responses.
In the spirit of hope that we come together as a congregation in an understanding of Ethical Culture and what living it in our daily lives means, please join us for the first of these colloquies on October 6, 2019.

We are open to other ideas for events and programs for this year’s venture into “Living Ethical Culture in Our World.” For further information or suggestions, please contact Meredith Sue Willis (meredithsuewillis@gmail.com), Alice Robinson-Gilman (alicergilman@gmail.com) or Elaine Durbach (durbachelaine@gmail.com) or leave a message with the office (973-763-1905).

Meredith Sue Willis and Alice Robinson-Gilman are both long-term members of the Essex Society. Both have served as trustees on the Board and Sue is a past-president of the Board. They have chosen this year’s theme for exploration, especially since we are currently a leaderless society.

In 1995 they created the Family Issues Platforms that served for over 10 years to provide a forum for members and friends to participate in panel discussions ranging over a wide variety of issues involving families. Later, Alice and Sue continued the panel series with discussions on books dealing with, among others, genocide in Rwanda, mountaintop removal in Appalachia, “The Known World” by Edward P. Jones, and “How Race is Lived in America”.

Sue is a professional writer who has published 22 books, most recently, “Their Houses”. She teaches novel writing at New York University’s School of Professional Studies.

Alice is a retired social worker and office manager. She participated in the first AEU Summer School in 1996.

Sue’s son, Joel Weinberger, and Alice’s daughter, Molly Gilman, both attended the Ethical Culture Sunday School and YES group.