Dear NoVES Members and Friends -

I hope that all of you are doing as well as possible during our times of "sheltering in place".  Isolation can be a time of loneliness and not being able to work is a source of financial hardship to many of us.  I am available for conversations  and I welcome phone calls to break up my day.  Call me at 919-672-9076 for a chat if you need a listening ear.

I am sharing the American Ethical Union's response to COVUD-19.  It was sent out earlier on the AEU's President's List.  I thought that it should receive wider distribution.  It provides links to useful resources, articles, and meetings.

May your virus be brief and your quarantine peaceful,

Randy

AEU Response to COVID-19

The AEU is providing or considering providing the following services for our member societies during this current crisis. Feedback about other services you would like to see are very welcome!

• Shared “Connections” Calendar on the AEU web site, listing platforms and other events offered by member Societies.

• • https://aeu.org/ethical-community/

  • How to get your Society's events on the calendar

• “Connections” forum to allow members to share information about the current situation. There is already a lot of great information there. 

• • https://aeu.org/ethical-community/

• Virtual Sunday Ethical Education for Kids -- This is envisioned as a collaborative effort between the AEU and interested Societies. The goal is to offer a joint program with breakout rooms for different age groups. Existing SEEKhttps://docs.google.com/document/d/1RKFW2oZGKzdyrNv0cuJVs4coV2MGFUYxaWIH-6fTtxg/edit?usp=sharing volunteers or staff from the interested Societies would help to plan and run the sessions. 

• • Timeline: First Virtual SEEK session on Sunday, April 5

  • Planning meeting on Thursday, April 2 at 7pm Eastern Time. https://zoom.us/j/349334424

• Support call for Societies with Buildings, on coping with COVID-19. 

• • Thursday, April 2 at 8pm Eastern Time. https://zoom.us/j/978170933

• Information about conducting Virtual Platforms and other events. 

• • Document about online Platforms has been drafted and is being reviewed. You are welcome to add your own comments. 

  • • Draft Document about Online PlatformsUsing Zoom for Online Platforms

  • A similar document about other kinds of gatherings will also be created. 

  • An information-sharing call will be scheduled for next week. Feedback about whether a “Zoom Platforms 101” session or a cross-Society information sharing session would be more useful is most welcome! If there is enough interest, happy to do both. 

• The AEU is exploring whether it is possible to offer a pastoral counseling service for Societies which do not have a Leader.

• • Timeline: we expect to have determined if this is possible by early next week. 

  • If it is not possible to do this with our current Leaders, alternate possibilities are being explored. 

• The AEU is interested in feedback about how the Visiting Leaders’ Program can be useful to Societies during this time. 

What else can we do to support our Member Societies at this time? 

For your enjoyment, there have been a number of articles published mentioning Ethical Societies and the AEU during this crisis. 

• Ethics during the coronavirus - Bart Worden

• These Secular Groups Are Bringing People Together During A Pandemic - Liz Singer

• 'We're All In This Together': Keeping Faith Despite Coronavirus - James Croft