Events at Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture
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Past (10)
Songs of Resistance with Brooklyn Ethical Voices
📅 Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 10:30 AM
Community
Come to grow your confidence, voice, and solidarity so we can collectively feel more comfortable and power as we sing together at marches, rallies, and public actions. During our time, we will specifically focus on cultivating the skills needed to lead singing in the streets. Come if you'd like to improve your skills as a song leader. Come to be a participant, learn songs, and support those practicing their teaching skills. The space is intergenerational, seated and movement friendly, and open to anyone with a voice and a willingness to participate. The focus is healing, courage, and community building through collective song. Free and open to the public. Just bring yourself. Please RSVP to this event to ensure a spot at the rehearsal. RSVP HERE Brooklyn Ethical Voices meets once a month on Sundays. Here is the proposed schedule: June 28 July 19 August 16 Sept 20 Oct 25 Where: Brooklyn Ethical 269 4th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11215
The Struggle to Forgive and Be Forgiven
📅 Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Community
We live with many misconceptions about the nature of forgiveness that keep us from repairing our relationships. Forgiveness is not a compliant act but an important process, an ethical struggle that can last a long time and that must be understood and honored, Our forgiving self is the strongest, most loving part of who we are. It allows us to voice our anger without doing damage, acknowledge our part in what has gone wrong, and see the flaws in ourselves and others as part of our humanity. This program introduces participants to some key concepts in the process of forgiveness and invites them to examine their own ethical struggle to forgive and be forgiven.
Dr. Henry Neumann: Pastor and Pacifist
📅 Sunday, August 16, 2026 at 7:00 AM
Family & Kids
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.
Unprepared: What early COVID-19 taught us about our health security
📅 Wednesday, August 12, 2026 at 3:00 AM
Community
With Dr. Robert Fullilove. Long before lockdowns hit home, the tragic quarantines aboard the Diamond Princess and Grand Princess signaled the arrival of a global disaster—one that ultimately cost over 1.3 million American lives and reshaped our world. As official inquiries continue to probe past missteps, leading public health experts warn that the next pathogen is already on the horizon. Join us for a compelling look back at the chaotic early days of COVID-19, the scientists who navigated the storm, and the urgent steps we must take now to ensure we aren't caught unprepared again. In July of this year, a US Senate committee just concluded the latest hearing on COVID-19. Continuous efforts are ongoing to affix blame somewhere, anywhere but with the authorities in charge at the time. See the boogie man in the room! Epidemiologists and public health practitioners tell us that there will be a next time. And, it is when, not if. How prepared are we for the next pandemic? When: August 12 at 7pm EST Where: Virtual Event RSVP at: https://unprepared.eventbrite.com Dr. Robert Fullilove is a professor of public health at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health with a long-standing interest in pandemics. In this talk, he will look at the role and challenges facing the health of the public and the responses of public health to meet the challenges ahead.
Page Turners: Virtual Monthly Book Club
📅 Tuesday, August 11, 2026 at 3:00 PM
Community
2nd Tuesday of Each Month 7–8 PM ET on Zoom💬 RSVP here: https://page-turnersbk.eventbrite.com (You must RSVP to receive the link.) Hosted by Brooklyn Ethical member Phyl Soonachan (psoonachan@gmail.com) For the July 14 meeting, we are reading "The Hill". A novel by Harriet Clark. You can read more about it here. https://www.theguardian.com/books/ng-interactive/2026/may/05/harriet-clark-the-hill-book-prison?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other For the August 11 meeting we are reading "Barn Gothic: Three Generations and the Death of the Family Dairy Farm". A memoir by Ryan Dennis. You can read more about it here: https://bittmanproject.com/barn-gothic-excerpt/ 📚 Page Turners selects a new book at each meeting, so even if you haven’t finished the book, you’re welcome to join the discussion and help choose the next read! Let’s read, reflect, and turn the page—together.
In Remembrance of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 1945
📅 Sunday, August 9, 2026 at 12:00 PM
Community
Discussion and screening of the short movie: "An Ordinary Insanity". Refreshments and Peace Crane Project. Discussion led by Marion Ronan (Brooklyn for Peace), Vera Anderson (Nevada Desert Experience), and John Breitbart (NYC War Resistance League) When: Sunday, August 9 at 4PM 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 Before releasing the top-secret Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam War, Ellsberg served as a nuclear war planner with access to extensive classified information on U.S. nuclear strategy. Filmed by Oscar-nominated director Judith Ehrlich a year before his death at age 92, Daniel Ellsberg speaks with clarity and urgency about the dangers we face: “A threat and a readiness and a preparation and a rehearsal of causing nuclear winter and destroying most large life on Earth, that is insane. You have to call it a kind of ‘ordinary insanity’ because it's so widely shared.” With ongoing conflicts heightening global nuclear tensions, and the recent end of the New START treaty raising concerns about a renewed arms race, An Ordinary Insanity arrives at a critical moment. The film will help to awaken broader public concern and action for arms control and nuclear disarmament agreements. AN ORDINARY INSANITY was selected for screening at six international film festivals, winning Best Short Documentary at the Sydney World Film Festival. The film premiered at the United Nations Association Film Festival, where it was praised as a “film that will shock you and inspire hope.”
Issues and Action Discussion Circle
📅 Sunday, August 9, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Other
We decide on an issue of national or international significance at the start of the meeting. All are invited to attend and participate. We look forward to seeing you there. Issues and Action meets on Sundays at 3:30 (virtually) To join, please RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/issues-and-action-discussion-circle-tickets-179436177437
Writers Group
📅 Sunday, August 9, 2026 at 9:00 AM
Community
This is an invitational group. To learn more about this group, please contact us for more information.
All Ages Talent Show
📅 Saturday, August 8, 2026 at 11:00 AM
Theater
Whether you sing, dance, recite poetry, flip pancakes, or have a hidden talent you’ve been waiting to share—this is your moment to shine. Everyone is welcome to perform or cheer on friends and neighbors. Do you have a magic trick that will add wonder to the world? A poem you wrote? Can you flip a pancake and catch it in the pan? Can you do a handstand? Everybody’s good at something- all talents are welcome!! We just want to have a good time sharing our passions with each other! Come join us at Brooklyn Ethical, 269 4th Ave, Brooklyn, on Saturday, August 8 at 3pm. If you would like to participate, please RSVP below so we know to expect you. https://forms.gle/CyrDUr4ULvQuuPix6
Issues and Action Discussion Circle
📅 Sunday, August 2, 2026 at 11:30 AM
Community
We decide on an issue of national or international significance at the start of the meeting. All are invited to attend and participate. We look forward to seeing you there. Issues and Action meets on Sundays at 3:30 (virtually) To join, please RSVP at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/issues-and-action-discussion-circle-tickets-179436177437