Sunday Platform 2001-2002 Archive
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This Season's Sunday Platform theme is Foundations of Ethical Living: Vision, Action, Practice, and Reflection. The question of the year is "What is the Good Life?" How do we balance our outward and inward lives, and shape them into a coherent and ethical whole?
- September 23
- The Good Life and its Relation to Local and Global Develoment
- A special platform with Professor Wangari Maathai, Kenya's foremost environmentalist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and democracy advocate, arrested for her beliefs, leader of over 150,000 women. She has worked to ensure the planting of over twenty million trees. To be followed by a workshop led by Professor Maathai, 2-4pm.
Click here for more information. - A special platform with Professor Wangari Maathai, Kenya's foremost environmentalist, founder of the Green Belt Movement, and democracy advocate, arrested for her beliefs, leader of over 150,000 women. She has worked to ensure the planting of over twenty million trees. To be followed by a workshop led by Professor Maathai, 2-4pm.
- September 30
- What is the Good Life? Balancing Action, Practice, and Reflection
- It is in choosing a practice that we bring action and reflection together. Sharing examples of personal and group pactices that allow this delicate balance to be maintained. With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns.
- It is in choosing a practice that we bring action and reflection together. Sharing examples of personal and group pactices that allow this delicate balance to be maintained. With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns.
- October 7
- The Good Life: Raising the Quality of Our Relationships
- BSEC Leader Lisel Burns will review styles of communication, decisionmaking, and inquiry. Communication tools, including the Meyers Briggs Inventory, will be discussed. A workshop will follow where you will get a chance apply the ideas of the talk to building practical skills.
- BSEC Leader Lisel Burns will review styles of communication, decisionmaking, and inquiry. Communication tools, including the Meyers Briggs Inventory, will be discussed. A workshop will follow where you will get a chance apply the ideas of the talk to building practical skills.
- October 14
- Social Identity and Heritage: Values and Practices
- Each of us has a social heritage, a set of identities with their own experience of history, place, and culture. Members will share how they carry their heritage forward, using core values and practices which they learned growing up within their social framework.
- Each of us has a social heritage, a set of identities with their own experience of history, place, and culture. Members will share how they carry their heritage forward, using core values and practices which they learned growing up within their social framework.
- October 21
- Community Partnerships in Ethical Living
- Where did we get the idea that where and how we engage in our local neighborhoods doesn't matter? Should we hold ourselves accountable to communities of place, when so many people seem to ignore the communities where they live? Join representatives of several projects organized by our community partner in local development, the Fifth Avenue Committee, in a discussion of alternative approaches to preserving the affordability, quality of life, and precious diversity of our neighborhoods, and how people like us can get involved.
- Where did we get the idea that where and how we engage in our local neighborhoods doesn't matter? Should we hold ourselves accountable to communities of place, when so many people seem to ignore the communities where they live? Join representatives of several projects organized by our community partner in local development, the Fifth Avenue Committee, in a discussion of alternative approaches to preserving the affordability, quality of life, and precious diversity of our neighborhoods, and how people like us can get involved.
- October 28
- New Dreams for Ethical Culture
- What steps can Ethical Culture take to clarify our identity and purpose? With Jim Pomerico, former AEU board member, current chair of the AEU Growth and Development Committee, and member of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County in Maplewood, NJ.
- What steps can Ethical Culture take to clarify our identity and purpose? With Jim Pomerico, former AEU board member, current chair of the AEU Growth and Development Committee, and member of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County in Maplewood, NJ.
- November 4
- Reforming Our Democracy: Some Ethical Considerations
- What do we really mean by Democracy as a social ideal? What forms of social organization do we actually use in our daily lives? What difference do elections make? With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns.
- What do we really mean by Democracy as a social ideal? What forms of social organization do we actually use in our daily lives? What difference do elections make? With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns.
- November 11
- Witness for Peace
- Guests at this Sunday's Platform will include Witness for Peace volunteers who went to Colombia this year and risked their lives to witness the civil war, plus an exiled indigenous leader and human rights leader.
- Guests at this Sunday's Platform will include Witness for Peace volunteers who went to Colombia this year and risked their lives to witness the civil war, plus an exiled indigenous leader and human rights leader.
- November 18
- Wampanoag Festival
- An annual BSEC tradition, based on the Native American tradition of reciprocity. Students of the Children's Sunday Assembly and BSEC Platformgoers will join together in a powerful reminder of the abundance of our lives and all the things we have to be grateful for. Followed at 12:30pm by the 2-3-4 Oxfam Luncheon. Bring 2 cans of food for the CHIPS food bank, 3 dollars (or more) for Oxfam, and food to share for 4.
- An annual BSEC tradition, based on the Native American tradition of reciprocity. Students of the Children's Sunday Assembly and BSEC Platformgoers will join together in a powerful reminder of the abundance of our lives and all the things we have to be grateful for. Followed at 12:30pm by the 2-3-4 Oxfam Luncheon. Bring 2 cans of food for the CHIPS food bank, 3 dollars (or more) for Oxfam, and food to share for 4.
- November 25
- Thanksgiving Colloquy
- A more meditative Ethical Culture ceremony, with sharing, music, and reflections.
- A more meditative Ethical Culture ceremony, with sharing, music, and reflections.
- December 2
- Auditing Our Lives for Ethical Living: Practices and Projects
- How do we measure the extent to which Ethical Ideals permeate our lives and influence the groups we call community? With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns and new member Frank Bottino.
- How do we measure the extent to which Ethical Ideals permeate our lives and influence the groups we call community? With BSEC Leader Lisel Burns and new member Frank Bottino.
- December 9
- The Healing Power of Theater
- Religion and theater derive a vital energy from shared roots. BSEC Member Bob Strock describes his work with the experimental theater group Dzieci, which explores this energy through theatrical performances involving ritual and transformation, and in healing interactions with marginalized populations in hospitals and other institutions. Music provided Dzieci. (See Dzieci on Friday 12/14 as they perform A Fool's Mass at The Good Coffeehouse.)
- Religion and theater derive a vital energy from shared roots. BSEC Member Bob Strock describes his work with the experimental theater group Dzieci, which explores this energy through theatrical performances involving ritual and transformation, and in healing interactions with marginalized populations in hospitals and other institutions. Music provided Dzieci. (See Dzieci on Friday 12/14 as they perform A Fool's Mass at The Good Coffeehouse.)
- December 16
- Winter Festival
- Join the students of the Children’s Sunday Assembly for an annual BSEC tradition. An intergenerational, festive, and thoughtful exploration of the December holiday season, as we share our traditions, stories, creativity, and other gifts.
- Join the students of the Children’s Sunday Assembly for an annual BSEC tradition. An intergenerational, festive, and thoughtful exploration of the December holiday season, as we share our traditions, stories, creativity, and other gifts.
- December 23
- Holiday Colloquy
- A more meditative Ethical Culture ceremony, with sharing, music, and reflections.
- A more meditative Ethical Culture ceremony, with sharing, music, and reflections.
- December 30
- No Platform
- January 6
- Balancing Our Inner and Outer Worlds
- What balance of attention to our inner and outer worlds makes for a unified and unifying life? Is it possible to take our inner depths seriously while still paying heed to the predominant value of external achievements in our culture? With Lisel Burns and Kurt Johnson.
- What balance of attention to our inner and outer worlds makes for a unified and unifying life? Is it possible to take our inner depths seriously while still paying heed to the predominant value of external achievements in our culture? With Lisel Burns and Kurt Johnson.
- January 13
- Tools for Ethical Relationships
- With Margo Steinfeld, from the Institute for Relational Therapy, who works as a therapist in the Imago approach to couples communication. An introduction to the principles of transformational communication, within the context of Ethical Culture practice. A workshop on couples communication will be held after lunch from 1-2:30pm.
- With Margo Steinfeld, from the Institute for Relational Therapy, who works as a therapist in the Imago approach to couples communication. An introduction to the principles of transformational communication, within the context of Ethical Culture practice. A workshop on couples communication will be held after lunch from 1-2:30pm.
- January 20
- Martin Luther King Legacy Platform: Songs of Freedom and Transformation
- Every year in honor of his birthday, BSEC devotes a platform to the continuing legacy of the great civil rights leader. This year will be a musical tribute, including music from the Brooklyn Women's Chorus, and inspirational offerings from BSEC Members.
- Every year in honor of his birthday, BSEC devotes a platform to the continuing legacy of the great civil rights leader. This year will be a musical tribute, including music from the Brooklyn Women's Chorus, and inspirational offerings from BSEC Members.
- January 27
- Having Faith in People
- Calvin Chatlos of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County will speak on his "Human Faith Project" (HFP), which explores and clearly outlines methods and steps to strengthen our individual faith in people.
- Calvin Chatlos of the Ethical Culture Society of Essex County will speak on his "Human Faith Project" (HFP), which explores and clearly outlines methods and steps to strengthen our individual faith in people.
- February 3
- Inner Change to Outer Change
- Questioning our own intentions, deeds, and their consequences. What are your personal ethical challenges and what makes them important to you? We will hold a community conversation on volunteered examples of ethics in our everyday lives.
- Questioning our own intentions, deeds, and their consequences. What are your personal ethical challenges and what makes them important to you? We will hold a community conversation on volunteered examples of ethics in our everyday lives.
- February 10
- What Would Emerson Do? -- And What We Must Do
- The Ethical Culture movement is Felix Adler's response to Ralph Waldo Emerson's call for a religion of ethics. What would Emerson do today in response to the terrorism we have experienced? What can we learn from this great American thinker? This platform address explores these questions and suggests a contemporary response. With Anne Klaeysen, BSEC Member and currently Leader-in-Training at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
- The Ethical Culture movement is Felix Adler's response to Ralph Waldo Emerson's call for a religion of ethics. What would Emerson do today in response to the terrorism we have experienced? What can we learn from this great American thinker? This platform address explores these questions and suggests a contemporary response. With Anne Klaeysen, BSEC Member and currently Leader-in-Training at the New York Society for Ethical Culture.
- February 17
- Personal and Favorite Poetry
- In honor of National Poetry Month, BSEC devotes a platform each year to the expressive power of language, as Members share their own poetry, or poems that hold great meaning in their lives. The offering is sure to include at least a few international selections. Constance Pigozzi, Platform Committee Chair, will preside.
- In honor of National Poetry Month, BSEC devotes a platform each year to the expressive power of language, as Members share their own poetry, or poems that hold great meaning in their lives. The offering is sure to include at least a few international selections. Constance Pigozzi, Platform Committee Chair, will preside.
- February 24
- Annual Y.E.S. Platform
- Members of BSEC's youth group (Y.E.S. = Youth of the Ethical Society) present their annual platform, which always makes for a provocative and engaging Sunday morning.
- Members of BSEC's youth group (Y.E.S. = Youth of the Ethical Society) present their annual platform, which always makes for a provocative and engaging Sunday morning.
- March 3
- Street Children
- Robert Belenky is a dear Friend of the BSEC Haiti projects, who as a psychologist in Vermont worked extensively with youth and their families in that state. He now spends his retirement traveling annually to Haiti and to Russia, working with youth in those nations, largely street children and children in orphanages. His extraordinary photos and stories of this work offer a chance for us to see and feel the world through the eyes of these children, and come away with a sense their and his hopes, as well as hardships.
- Robert Belenky is a dear Friend of the BSEC Haiti projects, who as a psychologist in Vermont worked extensively with youth and their families in that state. He now spends his retirement traveling annually to Haiti and to Russia, working with youth in those nations, largely street children and children in orphanages. His extraordinary photos and stories of this work offer a chance for us to see and feel the world through the eyes of these children, and come away with a sense their and his hopes, as well as hardships.
- March 10
- The Equal Rights Amendment is Alive and Well
- Dr. Dorie Rothman has been a psychotherapist for more than 40 years. She is the co-founder of the ERA Campaign Network and has been the New Jersey ERA coordinator since its founding. This Network is dedicated to the work of seeing that the major flaw in our Constitution be corrected by the addition of the Equal Rights Amendment, which is now only three states away from being ratified.
- Dr. Dorie Rothman has been a psychotherapist for more than 40 years. She is the co-founder of the ERA Campaign Network and has been the New Jersey ERA coordinator since its founding. This Network is dedicated to the work of seeing that the major flaw in our Constitution be corrected by the addition of the Equal Rights Amendment, which is now only three states away from being ratified.
- March 17
- What is a Family? Issues Facing Gay and Lesbian Parented Families Today
- Come to a community conversation with people who deal directly with the discrimination and legal restrictions that confront alternative families wishing to adopt and raise children. The panel will include Cheryl Perlman, a therapist on these issues, Ernesto Muestre, who is in the planning stages of adoption, and Rebecca Lurie, co-parent, with Ellie Spicer, of Tyler and Cameron of the BSEC Children's Sunday Assembly. Also invited will be Terry Bogis, from the Centerkids Program of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Manhattan.
- After lunch we will offer an entertaining 30-minute video That's a Family: A Film for Kids about Diversity by Deborah Chasoff, which reviewers say "breaks new ground on helping kids see and understand many of the different shapes that families take today."
- Come to a community conversation with people who deal directly with the discrimination and legal restrictions that confront alternative families wishing to adopt and raise children. The panel will include Cheryl Perlman, a therapist on these issues, Ernesto Muestre, who is in the planning stages of adoption, and Rebecca Lurie, co-parent, with Ellie Spicer, of Tyler and Cameron of the BSEC Children's Sunday Assembly. Also invited will be Terry Bogis, from the Centerkids Program of the Gay and Lesbian Community Center in Manhattan.
- March 24
- Where Exactly Will My Serenity Be Located? A Conversation About Place and Promise in Ethical Relationships
- Most of us have one or more special places in memory, where life balanced out, as in Churchill's "Home is wherever we spent our summers as a child." Come and share memories of places and times when the world softened and we found rest. Can those feelings be reclaimed through the promises of deliberate community today? Co-facilitated by Lisel Burns and Kurt Johnson.
- Most of us have one or more special places in memory, where life balanced out, as in Churchill's "Home is wherever we spent our summers as a child." Come and share memories of places and times when the world softened and we found rest. Can those feelings be reclaimed through the promises of deliberate community today? Co-facilitated by Lisel Burns and Kurt Johnson.
- March 31
- Spring Colloquy
- The Colloquy is a mediative, participatory Ethical Culture service, with music, sharing, and reflection on the themes of the season.
- The Colloquy is a mediative, participatory Ethical Culture service, with music, sharing, and reflection on the themes of the season.
- April 7
- Raising Moral Children: Philosophy for Children and Other Great Resources for Families and Communities
- What can we do to help children develop strong reasoning and moral judgment in an age of sound bytes and instant gratification? With David Kennedy, Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State University. After Lunch, Dr. Kennedy will lead a workshop in the techniques of Philosophy for Children for parents, educators, and interested others.
- What can we do to help children develop strong reasoning and moral judgment in an age of sound bytes and instant gratification? With David Kennedy, Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Philosophy for Children at Montclair State University. After Lunch, Dr. Kennedy will lead a workshop in the techniques of Philosophy for Children for parents, educators, and interested others.
- April 14
- Spring Festival
- An annual intergenerational celebration with the Children's Sunday Assembly. This year the festival will involve improvisational and participatory skits on the theme of bullying, led by BSEC Member and national schools consultant Allyson Kurker. Later, join the CSA and members of the Mideast Dialog Project at 1pm or 5pm for a video presentation of the Oscar-nominated documentary Promises, following the lives of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian children in Jerusalem, settlements, and refugee camps.
- An annual intergenerational celebration with the Children's Sunday Assembly. This year the festival will involve improvisational and participatory skits on the theme of bullying, led by BSEC Member and national schools consultant Allyson Kurker. Later, join the CSA and members of the Mideast Dialog Project at 1pm or 5pm for a video presentation of the Oscar-nominated documentary Promises, following the lives of Israeli Jewish and Palestinian children in Jerusalem, settlements, and refugee camps.
- April 21
- Morality and Unionism: An Insider's Perspective
- With Charles Ensley, President of the Social Service Employees Union, Local 371. While fighting for workers, Ensley also fights to expand and preserve services to the poor. Recently, he has fought for better conditions in homeless shelters, and has opposed the use of welfare recipients as unpaid workers doing the work of union labor. He continues to support progressive candidates for public office in New York and around the country.
- With Charles Ensley, President of the Social Service Employees Union, Local 371. While fighting for workers, Ensley also fights to expand and preserve services to the poor. Recently, he has fought for better conditions in homeless shelters, and has opposed the use of welfare recipients as unpaid workers doing the work of union labor. He continues to support progressive candidates for public office in New York and around the country.
- April 28
- Marriage from the Heart
- Lois Kellerman, Leader Emeritus of Brooklyn Ethical, discusses her much-anticipated new book, Marriage from the Heart: Eight Commitments of a Spiritually Fulfilling Life Together, co-authored with Nelly Bly. There will be a book signing during lunch. In the afternoon Lois will lead a Couples Workshop in the Library.
- May 5
- Peace Site Platform
- Every year BSEC gives a Peace Site Award to an individual or group who has made great contributions to the cause of peace in the world, and invites them to speak at our Sunday Platform. This year, BSEC welcomes Rita Lasar, who lost her brother in the World Trade Center attacks, and then went to Afghanistan with other 9/11 survivors to meet with and call world attention to Afghani people who have lost family members in the conflict there.
- May 12
- Mother's Day Colloquy
- A reflective, participatory Ethical Culture service. With music, meditation, and sharing on the theme of motherhood.
- May 19
- Recognition Day
- Students of the Children's Sunday Assembly.
- May 26
- Memorial Day Platform
- Celebrate the lives of those who have left us.
- June 2
- Membership Sunday
- Join us to welcome formally and hear from the people who have made the decision to join the BSEC community this past season.
- June 9
- Vision, Action, Practice and Reflection; How Are We Doing?
- Join BSEC Leader Lisel Burns for the closing platform of the Season, with and end-of-year review of our successes and where we may have fallen short.
- Join BSEC Leader Lisel Burns for the closing platform of the Season, with and end-of-year review of our successes and where we may have fallen short.
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this page last revision: 5/13/07