Dr. Henry Neumann: Pastor and Pacifist

Anne Klaeysen with Simba Yangala presiding.

Dr. Henry Neumann served Brooklyn Ethical as Leader from 1911 to 1957, but continued to give platforms and counsel members until his death in 1966. As a young man, he struggled to decide between Reform Judaism and Unitarianism until he heard Ethical Culture founder Felix Adler – and met his wife, Julie Wurtzburger, a graduate of the Ethical Culture School. A life-long pacifist and socialist, Dr. Neumann was also a teacher and, with a fatherly personality, the first pastor of a family congregation here in Brooklyn. “A person’s religion,” he wrote in a letter to members dated February 21. 1945, “is only another name for his deepest and largest devotion, his most serious love. As with every love, the thought of it renews our strength and greatens even the least act in its behalf.”

When: Sunday, August 16 at 11am
Where: In-Person (RSVP HERE FOR IN-PERSON) at 269 4th Ave, Brooklyn, NY 11215
&  Zoom* (RSVP HERE FOR VIRTUAL)
*must RSVP above to receive link

Dr. Anne Klaeysen is Leader Emerita of the NY Society for Ethical Culture and former Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island. She also served as Humanist chaplain at Columbia and New York Universities. Anne holds a Doctor of Ministry degree in pastoral care and counseling from Hebrew Union College and Masters degrees in business from NYU and German from SUNY Albany. She serves on the boards of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture, The Encampment for Citizenship, the National Ethical Service, and Ethical Culture Fieldston Schools. She and Glenn Newman joined Brooklyn Ethical in 1982, when they were married there, and their children, Andrew and Emily, were raised in, and are members of, Brooklyn Ethical.