PANTHEA (n), All-Goddess(es); All is Goddess.
One woman's journey as an artist, mother, and priestess of the Goddess.

Recent Posts

Instant Karma's Gonna Get You
Dancing with the Crone
The Last of the Monarchs
Lessons in Mythology
Pagan Clergy; Necessary or Not?
Responsible Gardening, Values, and Podcasting
Gender Issues in Paganism
Croc Hunter Dead at 44
Paganism a Nature Religion?
Burning the Wicker Man




"Art! Who comprehends her? With whom can one consult concerning this Great Goddess?"

~ Ludwig van Beethoven


Posts of Note

A Triple Goddess Debate
Pagan Proselytizing
Atheists and Does Goddess Exist?
Pagans Kids and Public Schools
Religion not Fem Agenda
To Organize or Not to Organize
Should Pagans be Vegetarians?
Paganism a Nature Religion?
Discordia Comes Out to Play
Why Satanists Aren't Pagans
H O M E   ::   L I N K S   ::   A R C H I V E S   ::   I N F O R M A T I O N   ::   O L D   S T U F F   ::   S U B S C R I B E   T O   P A N T H E A

Monday, September 18, 2006

To Organize or Not to Organize

The latest post at The Wild Hunt Blog has me thinking about organization within Paganism yet again. It seems that some UU members are having difficulties with Pagans making up a part of their congregations.

The fact that Pagans are attending UU churches to begin with is a sign that says (at least to me) that there are some Pagans out there who crave a little organization and structure. Perhaps it's even a telling sign that they are looking for some kind of standards in their teachers and leaders.

I have always been a fan of the idea of organization in Paganism but I am still at a loss as to how to accomplish it. You never can please everyone, but I think there is a genuine need and would like to brainstorm a little bit on how that need can be fulfilled.

So, what would be the first steps to organizing Paganism? Would the standards in training or the legal churches come first? If the churches come first who is to say that the people leading them are qualified to do so? Almost anyone can incorporate a church (if you have the means and the funds) but how will we know that they are qualified? How would our clergy system run? Will there be a degree system in place? Will the clergy be full-time and paid? Who will pay for the bills at the church and the living expenses for the clergy? Should dues be paid by members of the congregation?

And then there is the pressing issue of many Pagans protesting organization. The main argument I hear is something similar to:

"I left Christianity to escape churches and hypocrisy. Why would I want to create something like that within the religion that freed me from it?"

While I believe that this is a valid statement I honestly don't see how it's relevant. Let me explain. No one will be forcing Pagans to attend church. No one will be pushing organization on anyone. That kind of behavior would be considered proselytizing in my book and we Pagans just don't do that - or at least we're not supposed to. So, those individuals who would like some organization are free to create it and live in it. Those who do not are free to be solitary. I don't see the problem.

What do you think? Feel free to answer any of the questions in this article with your own opinions.

Note: the above image is something I worked on a few years ago. It's a working model of a bare bones temple for Pagans.

Labels: Modern Paganism

posted by Grian/Lee at 16:05  

del.icio.us :: Digg it :: Yahoo MyWeb :: Google :: StumbleUpon

3 Comments:

Sojourner said...

I, too, am a fan of the idea of having an organized Pagan church. For me, it has a lot to do with having a community of like-minded people.

It seems that there are people that are interested in having some kind of organization. It becomes difficult to do so when the group that seems to be the loudest on the issue is shouting what you stated. It makes it seem that no one is interested, but it may be just the opposite as shown by Pagan membership of UU congragations.

I have noticed there is a lot of talk about the idea of an organized Pagan church recently. It will be interesting to see what direction these discussions will take us.

8:08 PM  
Jason said...

The problem of a "structured" or congregational model of Paganim is that many believe it is married to some form of "Pagan unity" a concept that is generally doomed considering that "Paganism" is at best a loose gathering of individualistic faiths.

Until the individual faiths (Wicca, Asatru, Druidry, etc) become large enough to emerge from the modern Paganism "umbrella" we are stuck with the status quo.

I always thought that instead of a church, why not common open temples that cater to the needs of local communities? It could be staffed with a couple local "keepers" who have no authority and simply keep the places open and looked after. Then any individual faith or tradition could use it for any ritual they desired.

As for education, I think that in the long term formal education for leaders and clergy will be unavoidable. While lay leaders will always exist (as they do in most faiths) it will become obvious that we will need people within our communities well-trained and ready to deal with the problems that people used to look to Christian/Jewish clergy for.

11:47 PM  
Grian said...

Sojourner and Jason - thanks for the comments.

I agree that there are many different Pagan groups under our umbrella, but it's a shame that the idea of Pagan unity is abhorant to some of these groups. We have so many things in common that it seems we should be able to come to an agreement about something.

An open Pagan temple would be very nice. I think this could be a possibility for any temple, regardless if one tradition operates it. There could be one or two days set aside for the temple tradition and the rest of the week could be open to the public.

A lot of Pagans complain that Christianity governs our society and we are not afforded the ability to receive faith based funding or be recognized as a voting block. If the recent figures I've seen are correct (between 768,000 and one million Pagans in the US) this is just sad. We have no one to blame but outselves for not being able to organize and be recognized in the same way as other religions. Apparently we have the numbers to do all of the above and more.

8:50 AM  

Post a Comment

Links to this post:

  <$BlogBacklinkTitle$>  
<$BlogBacklinkSnippet$>
<$I18NPostedByBacklinkAuthor$> @ <$BlogBacklinkDateTime$>

Create a Link

<< Home

About

Grian/Lee
(Lee Hutchings)
rochester, ny
my profile
my art
my circle

Information

The Goddess
of the Maiden
of the Mother
of the Crone
Prayers and Prayer Beads

Gen. Education
CotG Edu. Class Wiki

Archives

03.2004 04.2004 02.2005 03.2005 02.2006 04.2006 05.2006 07.2006 08.2006 09.2006 10.2006 11.2006 12.2006 01.2007 02.2007 03.2007 04.2007 05.2007 06.2007 07.2007 08.2007 09.2007

Old Stuff

Graphic Art Stuff
wallpapers
textures
patterns 1
patterns 2
blinkies

Pagan blogs



MOUNTAIN ROSE HERBS:
Organic, bulk, shipped to your door.


I love my period
LUNAPADS






Add to Technorati Favorites

The Book of Tridea: A Guide to Practicing Goddess Religion
The Book of Tridea

CURRENT MOON
moon phases


all content © lm (lee) hutchings/grian debandia unless otherwise noted
this blog powered by blogger