Opening Words from Sun. January 22 by Trish Cowan-Williams
Good morning, I’m Trish Cowan-Williams and my pronouns are she/her. I’ve been a member of the Ethical Society for 17 years. My husband, Travis, and I are raising two teenagers and a six-year-old little guy with the support of you all. Travis, the kids, and I have each enjoyed the different ways to engage as members and supporters of the Ethical Society over the years. It’s brought us meaning, a sense of belonging, a way to commit to group projects and initiatives, and an extended family of true friends and loved ones.
Every Sunday, we all hear the Core Values recited by our awesome kids. One of the Core Values is “I accept responsibility for my choices and actions.”
This year, I’ve accepted responsibility to chair the Ethical Society’s pledge campaign! Each of us pledges to this community in many ways.
- We give money.
- We come get inspired with each other on Sundays.
- We raise our kids together.
- We host and attend events during the week.
- We remember loved ones as we relax in our Memory Garden.
- We hold Black Lives Matter vigils on Clayton Road.
- We join teams and committees.
- We take care of our grounds.
- We march in protests.
- We engage on social media.
These are all vital to sustaining and growing our community and I want to thank you for the many ways you support the Ethical Society by doing all of these things.
In the last couple of days, many of you received your annual pledge form in the mail. If you haven’t, or if you’re interested in officially joining the Ethical Society, please contact the office so we can count you in our campaign. We’re really trying to get the message across that, although we do need money to run the Ethical Society, multiple types of commitment are important to fully support a community. Each of you – and everything you give to the Society – is important to this community!
We’d also like to invite you to stay after Platform on Sunday, February 5, so we can thank our members with a special lunch. We’ll be serving pasta, salad, and garlic bread and there will be vegan options. We really hope to see you there!!
As you spend your time with us today, I encourage you to think about what you accept responsibility for within the Ethical Society community. You can share your answer on your pledge form and we’ll compile all of the wonderful responses to share with everybody in the coming weeks. By choosing to support the Ethical Society, you’re making it even more meaningful and impactful, and I thank you for being part of it!