Law'nence "L" Miller
American Ethical Union
lmiller.aeu@gmail.com
dale@dalemcgowan.com
212-873-6500
AEU Ethical Education Committee
Barn-Raising a Movement!
Helping our Societies help each other
Communities in rural America faced a major challenge in the early going: every farm needed a barn, but a single farm family could rarely manage the labor and materials required. To meet this challenge, members of the community would come together in a barn-raising to fulfill the need that one family could not manage alone.
AEU Ethical Education faces the same challenge. Energy, expertise, and ideas are spread throughout the movement. If each Society keeps to itself, both our individual “barns” and the larger community will fall short of their potential. This weekend aims to engender a new spirit of barn-raising in the Ethical Education program, connecting programs to each other and finding ways to share practical ideas and build structures of mutual support.
Sessions this year will be almost entirely peer-to-peer, with opportunity for conversation and brainstorming. Join us in building a stronger program and movement!
Schedule (subject to change)
Friday
4:30 p.m. Arrive, check-in and get settled
Join in puzzles, paper airplanes, and other collaborative constructions!
6:00 Dinner
7:00 Cooperative Games
8:00 Getting to Know You
Adults and kids (separately) share who they are and what they hope to get out of the weekend.
9:00 Relax and Chat
Saturday
7:30 Yoga for everyone (optional)
8:00 Breakfast
9:00 Welcome and Introduction - Lea Bender, EE Committee Chair
9:15 Barn-Raising the Ethical Movement - Dale McGowan, AEU Dir. of Ethical Ed.
9:30 From Scratch: Building a New EE Program - Martha Gallahue, Essex Society
10:15 Break
10:30 Team-building activity TBA
11:15 Adult Ethical Education that Flourishes - Melissa Sinclair, WES
12:00 Group photo
12:15 Lunch -- Children join their parents for the meal
1:15 Intergenerational Scavenger Hunt!
2:15 12 Brilliant Ideas - Sabine Salandy, Bergen
3:15 Online resources for Ethical Ed - Paul Chiariello
4:00 Break
4:15 Coming of Age - group discussion - Jone Johnson Lewis
5:00 Free time
6:00 Dinner Children’s Program Concludes
7:00 Evening activities TBA
Sunday
8:00 Breakfast
9:30 Colloquy Interdependency
10:15 Intergenerational Platform
11:30 Closing
12:00 Lunch
All rooms are double occupancy. The bathrooms are down the hall.
If you need to register for less than the full weekend, see the options on the registration page. Over night stays include dinner the arriving night and breakfast and lunch the following day. Additional meals can be purchased. Please register for the additional meals and then email L Miller to let him know what meals you are requesting: lmiller.aeu@gmail.com.
Scholarship opportunities are available! Applicants must be able to pay all other expenses either privately or with support from your local society. Email L Miller at lmiller.aeu@gmail.com if you are interested. Include your name, society affiliation (if any), role at your society, how you will use the conference in your religious education work, and your expected expenses and need. Include why the AEU should support your attendance at the conference. Scholarship requests are due by September 24. The AEU Ethical Education Committee will review applications, and scholarships will be announced September 28.