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What brings someone to the Ethical Society, and what makes them stay?In this special member-led Platform, a panel of Ethical Society members shares their own paths to this community: what they were searching for, how they found Ethical STL, and what membership has come to mean in their lives. Through different stories, backgrounds, and perspectives, we’ll explore what it means to find belonging in a community united not by a common creed, but by a shared commitment to living ethically and building something meaningful together.
Whether you’ve been a member for decades, recently found us, or are still wondering if Ethical STL might be a place for you, this Platform offers a chance to hear the story of our community through the people who make it what it is.
Sidney McGhee
Sidney McGhee (he/him, Trans Masc), performing as Freedapoet, is a St. Louis-born community leader, educator, and spoken word artist dedicated to creating spaces grounded in equity, healing, and human connection. He serves as the chapter director of Damned Good People (DGP), a Grove-based nonprofit focused on building intentional community and driving local social impact, and is the founder of DFT Breathe (Don’t Forget to Breathe), which provides accessible healing services for men of color. Grounded in the belief that true community is built through shared responsibility, empathy, and liberation, Sidney is honored to join the panel to share his path to the Ethical Society and explore what it means to show up for one another.
Sharon Biegen
Sharon Biegen (she/her) has been an ESSL member for 20+ years, and is a member of the Ethical Mindfulness Group and the Tuesday Women’s Association. She grew up the oldest of six kids, in a suburb of NYC (and can still proudly display her NY accent). She is retired from 35 years as a psychologist and director of Counseling Services at the University of Missouri-St. Louis. Her interests include the arts, books, psychology, secular Buddhism, being in nature, and spending time with friends talking about ideas and issues related to being human. The values most important to her are wisdom and compassion.
Travis Williams
Travis Williams (he/him) came to St. Louis from California, by way of Lincoln, Nebraska and Holden, MO. While he started his career as a middle school and high school band teacher, he now works in IT at Washington University. Travis first visited the Ethical Society in January of 2013, then jumped right into membership and also joined the Ethicurians, two committees, and became a fifth Sunday greeter. In the past 13 years, he served on the Board, met and married fellow member Trish Cowan here in this building, had their son's naming ceremony here, is part of the leadership team for the Navigators (ethical inclusive scouting), and continues to welcome members and visitors every fifth Sunday.
This Platform will feature music from Ben von Harz (percussion) and Jim Ibur (guitar). Jim and Ben play a more freeform, improvised musical genre: open-hearted and open-minded.
James Ibur
James Ibur works in multiple creative endeavors. As a musical artist, he is a singer-songwriter and also the writer and guitar player for the St. Louis original rock music band Flying House. Flying House’s third record, Seize the Day, was released in 2023 and is available on all digital platforms. As a visual artist, James has long been a ceramic-based potter-sculptor with a two-dimensional drawing/painting bent. He is a professor of art and runs the ceramics program at St. Louis Community College at Meramec.
Ben von Harz
Ben von Harz began musically playing congas in a church band back in the late ’80s but took a break while living aboard boats for ten years. He went to South Africa for work in 2011 and met a master drum builder and drum circle facilitator who taught him how to build beautiful rope-tuned African drums like djembes, ashikos, bougarabous, and djuns. At the World Rhythm Festival in Seattle, he joined a worldwide community of hand drummers and drum circle facilitators. He has attended Hawaii Playshops that Village Music Circles holds each year to train and certify drum circle facilitators.
Ben says, “Seattle is also the first place I played a handpan. It's been nearly a dozen years now. My music room is full of instruments and I still play pans every day."
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Ethical Society of St. Louis, 9001 Clayton Rd,Ladue, Missouri, Clayton, United States
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