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Pagan Community Notes is a series focused on news originating from within the Pagan community. Reinforcing the idea that what happens to and within our organizations, groups, and events is news, and news-worthy. Our hope is that more individuals, especially those working within Pagan organizations, get into the habit of sharing their news with the world. So let’s get started!
On Jan. 21, the Pagan History Project announced its official launch on its public blog site.
The American Academy of Religions held its annual meeting in sunny San Diego, California from Nov. 22-25. The event attracted thousands of professors, students, writers, religious leaders and others from across the globe to participate in workshops, lectures and events related to religious studies and theology. In attendance and presenting were a growing number of Pagans. “The AAR annual meeting is a huge intellectual energy infusion, not to mention a social occasion with Pagan Studies scholars from around the world,” said Chas Clifton, co-chair of AAR’s Contemporary Pagan Studies Group.
This year, the Covenant of the Goddess (CoG) held its annual business meeting, Grand Council, in the southern city of Atlanta, Georgia. The meeting was sponsored by Dogwood Local Council (DLC), the Atlanta-based chapter for the national organization. The two-day meeting is the center-piece of a full four-day conference event called MerryMeet. Before I continue, I must divulge my affiliation with the organization and event. I have been a CoG member for years, and I am currently serving as its National Public Information Officer (NPIO) – a position that I will hold until Samhain 2014.
Last week I posted an article highlighting the MountainTop Summit, a multifaith conference that took place over three days in mid-June. Uniquely structured, the conference employed digital technology in order to facilitate meaningful dialog among the participants. Pagan Priestess and Witch, Aline “Macha” O’Brien was on hand to experience this inaugural event and to offer a Pagan perspective. The event’s title was “MountainTop Summit: Advancing a Multifaith Movement for Justice.” Its primary focus was to “explore developing an expanded blueprint” for this social movement. Erin White of Auburn Theological Seminary writes:
A coordinated and energetic multifaith movement for justice reinforces a shared commitment to breaking down silos, reaching across religious lines, and amplifying a faith perspective across movements — such as the environment, poverty and human rights — as well as across age, race and sexual orientation. Forging a connected path driven by justice strengthens all movements and lifts us all toward fairness and a healed world. It is becoming increasingly common for multifaith and interfaith efforts to focus on broader social causes. In a recent article for The Interfaith Observer, Grove Harris wrote:
Faith-based efforts towards peace, social justice, and eradication of hunger and poverty are directly in line with U.N. objectives…In my opinion, the U.N. needs religious groups to increase their activity and apply more pressure. Above my desk is Margaret Mead’s famous quote – “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world: indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.”
At all levels, organizations are identifying the beneficial role that multifaith cooperation can have in social justice, environmental activism and other similar efforts. MountainTop is an example of one conference’s efforts to facilitate this progressive movement.
Returning to my interview, one of the main reasons for Macha’s eagerness to attend MountainTop was its “collaborative efforts towards social, economic and environmental justice among different religions.” In the second part of our interview, she shares her observations on this topic as well as the personal affects that the entire experience had her own life – both professionally and personally.