Our Annual Meeting was held at 7:00 pm on Thursday, April 25, 2019 at the Ethical Society, 9001 Clayton Road, 63117.  We had a panel of experts on the Missouri Legislature, including Missouri State Representative Deb Lavender of Kirkwood, Karen Aroesty, Regional Director of the Anti-Defamation League, and James Croft, Outreach Director of the Ethical Society of St. Louis, discussing “Destroying the Wall”, the attacks on church/state separation in the current session. It was be moderated by our President, Cynthia Holmes.

When you buy stuff from Amazon, you can have 0.5% of your purchase be donated to AU-St. Louis. This does not add anything to your bill, and everything else is just as usual. All you have to do is to use https://smile.amazon.com instead of the ordinary address, then identify us as the recipient of your gift. The direct link to us is https://smile.amazon.com/ch/43-1882014

Thank you for considering this.

St. Louis had the largest continent (six) of any Chapter of AU at the annual National meeting in Washington, on October 29 and 30. It was an informative and inspirational experience, featuring our new President and CEO, Rachel Laser (in the middle of the picture).  Highlights of the meeting can be found in the December issue of Church and State. A new video that gives a succinct view of what AU stands for is now available:  Click here to watch it!

We had a chance to greet our long-time Executive Director, Barry Lynn, who was looking healthy after his heart attack last year.

Article VI, Clause 3 of the constitution guarantees that citizens are not required to have a specific set of religious beliefs, or any at all, in order to exercise their rights.  Nevertheless, Americans have an aversion to atheists in public life, as is described a thoughtful review, “Without a Prayer: Why are Americans Still Uncomfortable with Atheism” by Casey Cep in the October 29 New Yorker of two books: “Godless Citizens in a Godly Republic: Atheists in American Public Life”(Norton) by Cornell Professors R. Laurence Moore and Isaac Kramnick and “Seven Types of Atheism” (Farrar, Straus & Giroux) by philosopher John Gray. If you don’t get to the books, the review is well worth reading. Click on the article link above.

We had a small group on Wednesday, May 23, to see the new documentary about Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, “RBG” at the Frontenac Cinema. We know that many of our members have already seen the show, or are planning to soon.  It is an inspirational film, well worth the price.  After the showing we had very nice dinner at Canyon Cafe, a nice “southwestern” restaurant downstairs.

Our annual meeting was held at the Center of Clayton on Thursday, April 26. Vice President Rudy Pulido presided as we accepted the Treasurer’s Report (we are in excellent shape financially), and re-elected three Board members whose terms expire this year – Treasurer Helene Sherman, Vice President Hal Harris, and Board member Ann Pollack.  Board member Chris Guinther introduced our keynote speaker, political activist and former Missouri legislator Jeanette Mott Oxford, who is now Executive Director of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare. She presented an inspiring talk that was both personal history and political insight.  About twenty members attended.