BSEC at March to End Fossil Fuels
On Sept 17th, some of our members and Ethics for Children students participated in the March to End Fossil Fuels, demanding investments in alternative greener options and a better future for our children. The kids even ended up being interviewed by a radio station...
Saying goodbye to our building and welcoming a new beginning
This weekend, we celebrated our years at our building at 53 Prospect Park West, as we get ready to move to a new location. It was an emotional party, as we have spent many decades at this beautiful Park Slope address, but we move with new purpose and excitement for...
Dance at BSEC
On April 30th, BSEC, in collaboration with Good Neighbors of Park Slope, had a community dance, led by Laurie Shayler, from Dance Connection.It was a lovely night, full of gracious steps and many fun missteps, with about 50 friends of all ages, sharing a great night...
Donating Feminine Products to the Brooklyn Central Library
Last week, we put out a call for feminine products, in support of "Pink Moon", the Brooklyn Central Library's distribution of menstrual products to low-income teens. Thanks to donations from our members, the Flying Squirrel Homeschoolers Co-op, and members of our...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Fun Day for Refugee Families
This weekend the Ethics for Children program held a Family Fun Day for about 50 children and adults. This wasn't just an event for our families. We invited families from the local sanctuary shelter to join us! Working in collaboration with Rachel Lori from Gowanus...
Collection of Feminine Products for Low Income Teens to Support Public Library Program
The Brooklyn Central Library will have a distribution of feminine products for low-income teens, called "Pink Moon". It is a very needed project, as feminine products are a monthly need, they are expensive and hard to acquire through public programs, particularly for...
Remembering BSEC’s History – Patsy Tran Berkman
Patsy Tran Berkman is an alumna who is currently 86 years old, but who was, in her childhood, part of what is now our Ethics for Children program. We are lucky to have people like her, who have saved a special place in their hearts for us, even so many years later....
2022 In Person Events at BSEC
Dear friends, As we wrap up 2023, it is always fun to look at community moments. We had so many fascinating talks and moving community moments on Zoom, but we also had a lot of in-person events. Below are a few highlights:We got together to collect toiletries for the...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Food Insecurity
In November the service project that our Ethics for Children program participated in was related to the issue of food insecurity. Our goal was to stock the Community Fridge located beside the Wyckoff Museum (5816 Clarendon Road, Canarsie). Students gathered at the...
BSEC has Hope
By Kim Brandon Thank you BSEC members for contributing such delicious food and volunteering for the Hope Dinner’s Thanksgiving dinner bags.This was the 29th Hope Thanksgiving dinner and the 35 dinner bags were overstuffed with wonderful cooked food and baked goods. ...
Screening of “NOT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD” at BSEC
A week ago, on October 28, 2022, we had an in-person screening of the movie "Not in My Neighborhood" by Kurt Otabenga Orderson, in co-sponsorship with Imani House.Several of our members, Imani house friends as well as people from communities affected by the ill...
BSEC Members Celebrate Halloween!
Our members worry about social issues, but we also like to have fun. Below are some pictures of how some of our members celebrated #halloween this year!
Ethics for Children Service Project – Animal Shelter
Putting our ethics into action is an integral component of the Ethics for Children program. This year it quickly became apparent that animal welfare is a shared passion among our families, so our first service project centered around that theme. On the second Sunday...
NY Center for Nonviolent Communication at Brooklyn Ethical
A testimony by Rebecca Lurie This past summer I took advantage of free training offered to members of BSEC in Nonviolent Communication. It was a weekend retreat we hosted for the NY Center for Nonviolent Communication (NYCNVC) and we are doing it again! In exchange...
Art Night with Friends
This week we had a lovely event, Art Night with Friends, guided by art educator and director of our Ethics for Children Program, Angel Thompson. Participants created their own petit landscapes, enjoyed the beautiful weather, and stayed long after the event sharing...
Postcards to voters with Beth Elohim
Congregation Beth Elohim and the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture came together in the BSEC garden on August 17 to write almost 300 postcards encouraging voting in competitive states. This postcard writing campaign is Reclaim Our Vote. Some of the pictures can be...
Postcarding to Voters (with pictures)
This past Tuesday, August 2nd, we had a Postcards to Voters - Community Day event at our building, organized by our Communications Committee. The event was outdoors and we had refreshments, a delightful brass band, Honk NYC, playing in our yard, and warm and dedicated...
Get Out The Vote Postcarding At Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture
Brooklyn Society For Ethical Culture members and neighbors are writing postcards to get out the vote in competitive states around the country. Every weekday evening in July, from 5-7 a table is set up in front of the building at:Brooklyn Society for Ethical...
BSEC MANAGING DIRECTOR: JOB DESCRIPTION
The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture (BSEC), a religious non-profit with an annual operating budget of approximately $450,000, seeks a Managing Director to work alongside its lay leadership and staff to nurture and grow our community. More detailed information...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Beach Clean Up
The best service day ideas come from the kids and our May service day was one of them! Our kids wanted to do something to help our local wildlife. To set up this project we reached out to the Urban Park Rangers at the Salt Marsh Nature Center in Marine Park. As it...
Plain Truths – Abortions, Births and Other Matters (Members’ Blog)
“Rather than love, than money, than fame, give me truth” Henry David Thoreau Americans in a certain respect are under-read and over-exposed thanks, in part to social media, thereby producing a population that has a highly personal and ego-centered view of themselves...
Ethics in Action – Collection for Women’s Shelter
At a time when so many people in our communities are struggling, sometimes it seems overwhelming to try to look for solutions, but even small acts can make a difference. As part of the Secular Week of Action, we had a toiletries collection to help support the CAMBA...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Show of Gratitute
Our April Ethics for Children project was a show of gratitude. The Prospect Park Board Gaming Club is a long-standing supporter of our children's program. As a gesture of gratitude, we made board game pieces for them to use. With much creativity and great patience...
In support of the victims of the Sunset Park Shooting
The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture would like to express our concern and support for the victims of the horrific subway shooting in Sunset Park. Our thoughts go out to the victims, their families and friends.
Ethics For Children Service Project – Multigenerational Connection
With our BSEC platforms and Ethics for Children classes being held online, there have been fewer opportunities for multigenerational interactions within our community. Many of our students have never seen the BSEC building bustling with activity or enjoyed a brunch...
Announcing our new Managing Director
We would like to welcome Erin Carney as the new Managing Director of the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture. The Recruitment Taskforce conducted an exhaustive campaign and had the pleasure of interviewing several impressive candidates; however, none matched as many...
Ways to Help Ukrainians Affected by the War
The Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture is committed to peace and human rights. We are also part of the American Ethical Union (AEU), and the statement on the Ukrainian crisis can be found below: https://ethical.nyc/aeu-statement-on-the-ukraine-crisis/ Below you will...
Ethics for Children Service Project – A Surprise Party!
For their February service project, the Ethics for Children program threw a surprise party to validate and honor the work of two special guests - Jorge and Nahomy. Jorge and Nahomy work in an industry that has been deeply impacted by the pandemic - Domestic...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Books
The Ethics for Children program hosted its first service day of 2022 with a theme of literacy. They collected 26 boxes of gently used books (that is over 1,000 books) to donate! The children's books that were collected are being donated to the Brooklyn Book Bodega...
Ethics for Children Service Project – Food Security
The December Ethics for Children Service Day was focused on food security. We assembled grab bag lunches and collected pantry items for the community fridge that is hosted by the Wyckoff Museum (5816 Clarendon Rd Brooklyn). We also had a special guest, Anaika Forbes,...
Help our children feed the hungry!
Dear friends, We have entered the holiday season, and food insecurity becomes even harder for so many families during this time of the year. Our kids want to make a difference, and we need your help. This month the kids from the Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture 's...
Ethics for Children – Service Day
The November Ethics for Children Service Day was in service of the animals. We made toys, treats, and did drawings of animals in the NYC ACC shelter. The catnip dumplings, dog tug toys, and timothy treats for the bunnies and guinea pigs will help the animals to deal...
BSEC Members’ Blog
BSEC Members BlogDISCLAIMER: The articles are published as submitted by the authors who hold the intellectual rights and take full responsibility for the content. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of BSEC. BSEC takes no responsibility or liability for...
EFC student fostering a puppy!
Our Ethics for Children student Westley Miller shared some exciting news this summer: His family is fostering a puppy! It has been really special hearing about his experience, so we asked him to share about it for our blog. ------------ We are currently fostering a...
BSEC Members Celebrate Halloween!
This Halloween, some of our members shared their costumes and decorations with us. BSEC members also know how to have fun!
OPINION – Mask-less? Anti-virus shots? Really? ( Members’ Blog)
By Muriel Tillinghast “As anti-vaxx groups nationwide continue to push dangerous theories, some are already reaping the consequences. In their latest deadly advice, the same anti-vaxx groups that pushed at-home COVID-19 remedies including drinking bleach, taking...
My 9/11 by Muriel Tillinghast (Members Blog)
I have written about this elsewhere, but I will commit to writing about it now. I can remember the day it happened It was a Tuesday morning. It was a day to remember not only because of the events that unfolded, but because it was an exceptionally beautiful...
Covid- Virus Update/Uptick (Members Blog)
By Muriel Tillinghast As you can see, most of the Northeast and upper Midwest, as well as much of the West, have only “moderate” or “low” transmission." But it looks to me like except for these areas, the rest of the country is off the chain and we are heading into...
(Video) Where is the Joy in Freedom? By NYC Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson
On June 13th, 2021, we welcomed NYC Deputy Mayor J. Phillip Thompson as a guest speaker at our Juneteenth platform titled "Celebrating Juneteenth: Where is the Joy in Freedom?" Below is a transcript of his talk: Where is the Joy in Freedom? By NYC Deputy Mayor J....
The 1960’S: Decade of Assassinations (Members Blog)
By Lujira Cooper Medgar Evers 1963 June CIVIL RIGHTS John F. Kennedy 1963 November EXTERNAL CONFLICT James Chaney 1964 June FREEDOM RIDER Michael Goodman 1964 June FREEDOM RIDER Led to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 Andrew Schwerner 1964 June FREEDOM RIDER Malcom X 1965...