Sunday Platform Meetings at the Society for Ethical Culture

What Can I Expect?

We are currently in transition: most Sunday platform meetings are on Zoom and with in-person attendance.  A few meetings are Zoom only and a few are in-person only.  We’ll announce on the calendar event, in our email newsletter, and on social media what the format will be. 

For now, as we continue to adapt to the changing pandemic, if you’re attending in-person it’s VERY important that you mask when indoors, sanitize your hands, and respect social distancing.  We require proof of vaccination on request, and that everyone pre-register (there’s a link on the calendar event) to attend in-person.

What Does a Sunday Meeting Look Like?

On almost all Sundays, 11 a.m. is gathering time, to meet and greet one another.  We aim to begin the formal program at 11:15 and end about 12:15.  After that through about 12:45, we have a time of informal conversation.  The calendar event will announce any special start and end times.  The Ethics for Children program is at 10 – 11 a.m. with supervised play during the 11:15-12:15 time. A few times a year all ages meet together in a multigenerational experience, as with our seasonal festivals.

Sunday meetings include time to honor personal journeys, challenges, and joys, and to be a supportive community to each other. We usually include music, and look forward to a time when we can sing together again.  Zoom and in-person participation is possible.

Our weekly collection helps sustain our programs and building.  We split the collection with an organization in the wider community that we believe embodies some of the values of Ethical Culture. Contributions are completely voluntary.

We have a social time (and when it’s safe will bring back snacks and beverages), as a way to more informally continue the discussion as well as reconnect or meet new friends.  We hope to go out, back to our individual lives, families, work, and social action, re-energized, and re-committed to live more ethically in all those arenas.

Topics and Speakers

Topics are varied.  Many of our Sunday meetings focus on a monthly theme. Some meetings focus on practical living and ethical relationships, and some on social justice or public issues, including climate justice, peace, antiracism, and human rights.  Some focus on humanism, secular philosophy, or religion.

Some Sundays, we hear from the professional Ethical Leader of the community, Jone Johnson Lewis. On other Sundays, we hear from guest speakers or members of our own or other Ethical Societies.For some Sunday meetings we use what we call a colloquy format, which is more participative and informal, with some structure to encourage deep listening to each other. Some Sundays are multigenerational celebrations of the seasons or a special holiday.