Board of Directors

May 18th 2010

Congregationalist Wiccan Association of BC

Board of Directors Meeting

18 May 2010

Call to order 7pm – All present

1.Blessing of the Lady and Lord for spiritual purpose and focus delivered by Morrison

2. Minutes of the last meeting tabled as they are incomplete. There was general agreement about what had been discussed.3. Reports of Officers:

a) Chair had nothing to report b) Vice Chair – all of her activity belongs in the report of the Carrot and Stick Committee and Starfall Paganfest report. c) Treasurer and Secretary: matters arising should include revitalization of Penticton Temple. Filing is basically completed with the Income Tax and GST people, although the final three quarters need to be done. Communication with the lawyer regarding the polygamy law challenge has happened and been circulated via the Board discussion list. d) Communication: 86 reads of Page of Pentacles off the website, 165 unique visitors to our website thus far this month. Has been contacted re Polygamy case by the Van Isle Polyamoury association. Suggests that we open up the CWA Clergy list to all CWA clergy from across Canada – Alberta and Ontario as well as BC suggested. e) Membership: nothing to report f) At-large : just heard about Penticton revitalization and will be talking with new person (Dawn Hogslag).

4. Temple Reports:

a) Nanaimo – Beltane attendance the largest that we have had. Dedication, wedding and baby born last Wednesday. Courtney Beltane was a success as well, with a half-dozen locals in attendance as well as Nanaimo folk b) Vernon – nothing for Beltane conflicting with other community events and unexpected changes of plans. c) Vancouver-Burnaby – Beltane at Temple six people, at coven Outer Court a dozen. The core group is starting to build. d) Penticton- some moves afoot to revive the Temple’s activities.

Moved to accept reports - MacRoy / Abbott accepted.

5. Carrot and Stick Committee:

a) Board Discipline Policy (appended ) proposed M. Kimber / Morrison and adopted b) Starfall Paganfest has ten registrants at this point, two weeks before the price break and it goes up to $200. Mostly locals – try to get more people from Vancouver and points west to register. We will proceed even if there is a deficit, put out publicity again through our Temple contact lists. Carpooling will be arranged (if possible) from Vancouver and pickup can be arranged from Kelowna bus depot. c) Polyamoury policy (appended) proposed Morrison / M. Kimber and adopted. Can be sent to the lawyers and published in Page of Pentacles and posted up as our official policy. Subject to ratification by members at AGM.

6. Items from the Floor:

a) The definition that we wish to use for “handfasting” – discussion tabled to next meeting b) Communications – in general we must talk with each other more than we do. c) Policies and Procedures manual needs to be edited again. The section on Ethics Committee inadvertently left out of current edition. Discussion of the “special congregation / church planting” procedure. Wagar and M. Kimber appointed to revise the manual and make it consistent. d) Membership of Ethics Committee settled at Morrison (Vice-Chair and Chair of that committee), Heatherly D. and Roxanne Allen.e) Proposed New Temples:

- attempts should be made to grow the CWABC since there now are several groups interested in affiliating: Our members decided against re-activating the “special congregation” policy at the last AGM and we need their permission to do so. The Membership Director was directed to poll the members about reinstating this policy authorizing the Board and interested clergy to work with groups of non-members of the church and establish congregations. Another option might be to establish these congregations as branches off of established Temples. - Proposed new Campbell River Temple in particular. For the past three years Nanaimo clergy have been in regular friendly contact with Pat Stousky of “Aurora’s Grove”, and her group, including at least one other potential clergy member, is very interested in working with us.- The health issues that have been keeping Prince George on the back burner have now been dealt with. Teresa Cavenaugh will be at Panfest this year and so several of us will have the opportunity to talk with her about the project.

- Reawakening Penticton does not require any authorization from the members. Mike will be meeting with Dawn and they should be able to start things back on track before he moves with his family to Kelowna. Sam Wagar also volunteered to help from a distance.

f) Formally recognizing Cameron Locke as a Clergy in Training

g) Review of M. Kimber. Sam Wagar needs to be given the Nanaimo membership and contacts lists so that he can contact the members and friends of the Temple for their opinions of Meredith as a Priestess as part of the process. As soon as he has those he can proceed.

Next Meeting Set for 22^nd of June, 7 pm on Skype. Next meeting of the Carrot and Stick Committee re Starfall will be 8 June, 7 pm, Skype.

Closing Prayer, Thanking the Gods at 8:45.

Policy on Board Member Accountability (Adopted 16th February 2010, confirmed May 18th)

Members of the Board of Directors are accountable to the Board and to the members for the work that they are entrusted to perform.

If a member of the Board is unable to perform the tasks of the office that they have been entrusted with they may voluntarily:

1. Step aside from the position for a specific period of time with the approval of the Chair, who then has the option of appointing any other member of the church to fill in on an interim basis, such temporary appointment to be ratified by a majority vote of the Board.

2. Resign from the position permanently but remain a member without portfolio and act to assist other members of the Board, with their position being filled on an interim basis to fill out the period until the next AGM as above.

3. Resign from the Board, in which case their position would be filled as above for the period prior to the next AGM.

In all cases, the work performed by an Officer is the property of CWA-BC and all files plus work in progress must be handed over to whoever replaces a person in their position upon their resignation. It is expected that they will brief their replacement and work with them for a short period of time to bring them up to speed on the tasks at hand.

If, in the opinion of some members of the Board, an Officer is not performing their duties adequately, it is expected that those members will first approach the Officer and offer assistance. If they are not able to assist or if the person approached refuses their offer, the Chair has the authority to reassign responsibilities, with the support of a majority vote of the members of the Board.

In the event that an Officer refuses to step aside from their responsibilities on the request of the Board or to transfer their files and duties to their successor, a vote of two-thirds of the Board can remove them from the Board. An Officer will be given two clear warnings by majority vote of the Board prior to a vote to remove them.

In the case of an emergency or an Officer no longer being qualified for membership in our church yet refusing to voluntarily resign, the Chair may suspend them for a period of two weeks until a Board meeting can vote on suspension or removal. If the Chair thus acts, her or his membership must also be voted on during the same Board meeting.

All of these motions of censure or votes to suspend and all of the debate on them will occur in camera.

If a majority of the Board comes to be composed of interim and appointed members it must call a Special General Meeting to elect a new Board within three months of that time and all positions will be up for election.

In all cases of suspension or removal, interim and appointed Officers will only serve until the next Annual General Meeting of the members, at which time their successor shall be elected. This is true even if they were appointed in the first year of a two-year term.

POLYAMOURY POLICY:

(adopted by Board May 18^th 2010) The CWABC, as a Wiccan religious organization, supports as an article of faith, as stated in the Charge of the Goddess, that “all acts of love and pleasure” are the Goddess’ rituals.

To us this means that any form of love or sexuality that is non-abusive, and non-coercive, between consenting adults, is acceptable and even desirable. This includes, but is not limited to, relationships that are heterosexual or homosexual, relationships that are monogamous or polyamorous, and relationships that are alternative or conventional.

Our clergy can, and will, perform any kind of Pagan-oriented or Pagan-multifaith marriage ceremony within the bounds of the law. However, the law currently forbids legally recognized clergy from presiding over any ceremony that bears any sort of resemblance to a wedding between more than two partners. For this reason, and only this reason, our religious representatives, as recognized by the Province of British Columbia, cannot perform polyamorous handfastings, or even handfastings between two people when one of the parties involved is still legally married to someone else.

If we are approached to perform such a ceremony, we will refer the interested parties to clergy within our Church, or to qualified individuals within the Pagan community, who do not have legal marrying credentials from the Province of British Columbia.

The CWABC on Polyamorous Marriage

The CWABC, as a Wiccan religious organization, supports as an article of faith, as stated in the Charge of the Goddess, that “all acts of love and pleasure” are the Goddess’ rituals.

For more information please contact the CWABC Board of Directors: info@cwabc.org

CWABC Constitution

1. NAME

The name of our society is Congregationalist Wiccan Association of British Columbia (hereinafter referred to as the “Society”).

2. PURPOSES OF OUR SOCIETY

2.1 This Society exists to pool resources of smaller groups and individuals to enable larger tasks to be accomplished. It is particularly established to provide public services to the Pagans and Witches of this province – to be a Temple association.

2.2 The specific purposes of our Society are:
a/ to form a church and provide legal shelter for our priesthood and members of our Society, including provision of legitimate credentials for ministers, legal assistance in discrimination cases, chaplaincy in jails and hospitals, recognition of our rites of passage and public rituals,
b/ to provide educational resources for our members and for the general public beyond those that a single group could undertake,
c/ to facilitate the formation of greater community among Witches in this province by producing gatherings and providing meeting places,
d/ to provide support in all ways for priesthood and members of our Society including around raising our children, pastoral counselling, bereavement, alcohol and drug dependencies, overcoming sexism and other forms of oppression,
e/ to build Temples and to worship the Goddesses and Gods with joy and enthusiasm,
f/ to assist new congregations to form and to form links with others in their area.

2.3 The general purposes of our Society are:
a/ to facilitate depth of communion between our members and the Goddesses and Gods through nurturance of covens and Temples,
b/ to counter public misconceptions about Witches and Nature religions,
c/ to unite those Witches who agree with our Statement of Beliefs and Ethics for our common purposes and for more effective service of the Goddesses and Gods of our religion.

3. BASIC STRUCTURE

3.1 The Society is a religious association composed of individual Witches, Witches’ covens and Temples that have come together to accomplish tasks beyond the resources of individuals, single groups or a smaller organization.

3.2 Those Witches and groups that are not members of our Society are nonetheless Witches and members of our common religion.

3.3 The Society is the provincial wing of the national Congregationalist Witchcraft Association Corporation.

3.4 This provision is alterable.

4. STATEMENT OF SHARED BELIEFS

4.1 The members of this Society believe:
a/ that the divine is multi-faceted and that it is appropriate to Name and worship a variety of Goddesses and Gods in a variety of different ways,
b/ that the divine is primarily immanent,
c/ that there are a variety of guardian spirits and levels of divinity,
d/ that we generally shape our liturgy and theology around the worship of the Goddess or the Goddess and the Old Gods,
e/ that the divine is ever-present and ever-active in the world,
f/ that we can through petition, action, and ritual, cause change in the world in accord with our Wills.

4.2 Every woman and every man is an embodiment of divinity.

4.3 All acts of love and pleasure are acts of praise of the Goddess. This specifically includes all non-coercive sexual orientations.

4.4 An ye harm none, do what ye will.

4.5 This provision is alterable.

5. ETHICS

5.1 All members of this Society must bind themselves by agreement with the
following:
Although there are many Goddesses and Gods and many Paths to their worship, our path does not involve;
a/ animal sacrifice,
b/ any coercive activities,
c/ charging fees for teaching the Craft beyond the recovery of costs, or Initiation. (Members of groups may reasonably be expected to share in the expenses of events sponsored by the group, or agreed to as part of its obligations as members of this Society, and voluntary donations will be accepted).
d/ malfeasance,
e/ breaking Priestly confidentiality, subject to the law,
f/ oath-breaking.

5.2 This provision is alterable

6. NON-PROFIT

The Society shall be carried out without purpose of gain for its members, and any profits or other accretions to the organization shall be used solely to promote its objectives. This provision is unalterable.

7. DISSOLUTION

Upon winding up or dissolution of the Society any assets which remain after the payment of all costs, charges and expenses which are properly incurred in the winding up shall be distributed to a registered charity or registered charities in British Columbia as defined in the Income Tax Act (Canada), as may be determined by the members of the society at the time of winding up or dissolution. This provision is unalterable.

CWABC Bylaws

1. MEMBERSHIP

1.1 Individual Witches who wish to join our Society must submit documentation of their agreement with Sections 4 and 5 of the Constitution and a cheque for their first year’s dues to the Membership Officer of their Local Branch (Temple) or the Society.

1.2 A person shall be accepted as a member after they have satisfied the following criteria: they must be adults, ordinarily resident within the province of British Columbia, who agree in writing with our basic statement of beliefs (Section 4), who agree to abide by our code of ethics (Section 5), who have paid a membership fee as set by Grand Council each year, have been involved in our Society for longer than one year and have attended at least three public rituals of the Society during that time. These persons shall be Voting Members of our Society. The Founding Members of our Society shall be Voting Members.

1.3 Clergy Members shall be Voting Members who have additionally completed the training to serve as clergy in the Society and have been duly Initiated and Ordained and declared by the Ordination Committee of the Society to be qualified to serve as clergy to our members and affiliates. The first group of Clergy Members shall be chosen by the Founding Members of the Society.

1.4 Any member may withdraw from the Society by delivering to the Society a written resignation and lodging a copy of the same with the Scribe of the Society.

    1.5 A member may have her or his membership revoked by a majority vote of the Council on the grounds of;
            (a) open and consistent disagreement with the purposes of the Society, or
            (b) conduct likely to bring our Society or our religion into disrepute, or
            (c) non-payment of dues. These decisions can be appealed to the next Grand Council. A person whose membership is revoked cannot rejoin the Society for a period of a year and a day unless the revocation is overturned by the AGM.
    1.6 Members cease to be in good standing upon;
            (a) withdrawing from the Society, or
            (b) having their memberships revoked. All other members of the Society are members in good standing. Members in good standing can vote at Grand Council, serve as voting members of Society Committees, stand for election to the Board of Directors, represent their home Temple on Church Council, undertake training for our clergy and, upon completing that training, serve as clergy.

2 – ESTABLISHMENT OF BRANCHES (TEMPLES)

    2.1 The Society’s activities will be primarily carried out by the branches of the Society in the various locations where it has sufficient members to support a minimal level of public activity.
            (a) The minimum number of voting members living in a locale needed to form a Society branch will be five. One of these members must be a Clergy member.
            (b) If a group of members wishes to form a branch they must commit themselves to performing four rituals open to the general public each year and state the boundaries of the area they wish to serve (branches’ boundaries may overlap). They may undertake any number of private or public activities in addition to this minimum commitment.
            (c) Society branches will run their own affairs as they see fit, organizing their activities however suits them, so long as their organization and their activities are consistent with the purposes and by-laws of the Society as a whole.
            (d) The only areas where the Society branches are not completely autonomous are:
                (i) issuing receipts for charitable donations, that is under the jurisdiction of the national Congregationalist Witchcraft Association, (although local fundraising to support local projects is completely under the authority of branches);
                (ii) dealing with provincial and federal governments, which is under the jurisdiction of the Society’s Provincial Council and the Association’s National Council;
                (iii) matters that affect more than one branch or the Society as a whole, in which the Provincial Council will act to mediate disputes and make decisions subject to the Grand Council’s ratification;
                (iv) ordination, under the jurisdiction of the Ordination Committee of the Society;
                (v) chaplaincy and Ministry, under the shared authority of individual Ministers and the Ordination Committee, except as set out in these by-laws;
                (vi) real property, that shall be owned by the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association as a whole and administered by the Provincial Council.
            (e) All voting members of a branch of the Society must be voting members of the Society. Branches are obliged to admit any person to membership who is a member in good standing of the Society, lives within the boundaries of the area served by the branch, and applies to the Secretary of the branch for membership.

    2.2 (a) Branches will automatically be established on a probationary basis upon the written request of five or more voting members in a given locale as set out above, delivered to the Secretary of the Society.
          (b) At the first Grand Council of the Society not less than one year after the formation of a branch, the members can confirm the establishment of the branch, extend its probation, or dissolve it by a simple majority vote.
          (c) In the event that the members at an AGM confirm a branch the Board shall be directed to proceed under Section 18 of the Society Act of British Columbia to register it.
         (d) The first two Provisional Temples of the Society, in Langley/Aldergrove and in eastern Vancouver, are hereby recognized. They shall be subject to confirmation in the usual manner at the 2005 Grand Council.

2.3 (a) A branch that has been established for more than one year, and is not on probation, can only be dissolved or placed on probation by a 75% vote at an annual or special general meeting of the branch membership or by a special resolution passed at an Annual or Special General Meeting of the Society as a whole.
(b) Branches can merge with one another by a simple majority vote of the members of both branches expressed at the respective branch membership meetings. Branches cannot be required to merge.

2.4 All established branches will be entitled to a non-voting representative on the Provincial Council.

2.5 No person can be a voting member of more than one branch.

Bylaw 3

3. PROVINCIAL COUNCIL AND GRAND COUNCIL

Preamble In all matters save those areas surrendered as preconditions of joining our Society, members are wholly autonomous. Their freedom of action and practice is limited only by their voluntary agreement to the basic beliefs statement and ethics statement of the Society and these by-laws. In all other matters they are free to serve the Gods as they see fit.

3.1 The Annual General Meeting (hereinafter referred to as “Grand Council”) of the Society shall meet once each year in this province, in the month of August, with the time, date and place to be determined by the Provincial Council. Due written notice of meeting shall be two weeks and that notice will be given to all voting members through the provincial journal by mail. It shall be the final decision maker and court of appeal in all matters that it is mandated by the members signatory to the constitution of this Society to deal with. It shall elect the Provincial Council who shall act as the Board of Directors of the Society. The number of Directors shall be determined by motion, at each Grand Council, provided that at no time shall there be less than 3 Directors. Regardless of any other business the report of the Directors, the election of the Provincial Council, the financial statement and report of the auditors shall be presented and auditors appointed for the coming year at each Grand Council meeting.

3.2 A quorum for Grand Council is a full one tenth of all voting members, or three voting members, whichever is the greater, present in person. Proxies, that must be in writing, can be given to Grand Council as a whole or to a specific member and can be used to vote on all matters save amendments to the constitution and by-laws. Reminder of the right of proxy and the limits on their use shall be printed with the notice of the meeting.

    3.3 Responsibilities of Grand Council, or the Provincial Council in the intervals between Grand Council meetings, that all members of the Society mandate it to deal with on their behalf, shall include:         (a) overseeing the Society as a whole,
        (b) assisting in the formation of branches,
        (c) administering lands and other real property under the direction of the National Council of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association (though local councils may be authorized to administer some of the Association’s property in their areas by the Provincial Council),
        (d) publishing a journal and producing other educational materials,
        (e) working on a provincial level with other organizations, both Pagan and non-Pagan, to further the purposes of our organization,
        (f) speaking for the Society as a whole,
        (g) managing the finances and keeping the records of the Society,
        (h) dealing with the provincial government and its agencies on behalf of our members,
        (i) assisting branches to deal with local governments and their agencies,
        (j) organizing the Annual Grand Council.

3.4 Amendments to the Constitution and By-laws can only be made at Grand Council and cannot be made by the Provincial Council in the stead of the Grand Council.

3.5 An extra-ordinary Grand Council meeting can be called by a petition of no less than 10% of the voting members of the Society. The petition, bearing the signatures of the members calling the Council, must state clearly the agenda of the meeting. It must be delivered to the Scribe of the Provincial Council. Notice of an extraordinary Grand Council meeting is sixty days. The petition must be printed in full in the journal of the Society and distributed to all members. Only the matters specified in the petition can be dealt with at the special meeting.

3.6 The Officers of Provincial Council shall be selected by the voting members present or represented by proxy at Grand Council. They shall be elected from among the voting members of our Society as individuals, and shall decide together which position on Provincial Council they each shall fill. Officers must be individuals, 18 years of age or older, with power under the law to contract. The vote shall be by secret ballot and the persons receiving the largest number of votes shall be elected, except that the Officers shall at no time be only one sex and so, should all persons receiving the highest number of votes be of one sex, the highest ranking person of the other sex shall replace the lowest ranked member of the Executive. The Offices shall be Chair, Vice-chair (festival co-ordinator), Pursewarden, Summoner (membership and clergy), Public Information, and Scribe (publications and education).

3.7 Meetings of the Provincial Council shall occur in person (or by conference telephone call, provided all the Directors consent either generally or in respect of a particular meeting) at least annually, with time and place at the option of the Chair. At least 14 days notice of meeting must be given in writing if by mail. No error or omission in giving notice of meeting shall invalidate such meeting or make void any proceedings taken thereat. A summary of the minutes of these meetings shall be published in the provincial journal. Each Officer is authorized to exercise one vote. A resolution in writing, signed by all the Officers entitled to vote on that resolution is as valid as if it had been passed at a meeting of Officers. These meetings shall not be open to non-Directors save by invitation.

3.8 Three Officers shall constitute a quorum for a Provincial Council meeting.

3.9 The Provincial Council is empowered to deal with defamation issues, with legal needs of members of our Association, and with all matters in 3.3, in collaboration with the National Council of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association.

3.10 The applicants for incorporation shall become the first Directors of the Society. Their term of office on the Provincial Council shall continue until their successors are elected. At the first annual meeting of members the members shall replace the provisional Directors named in the Letters Patent of the Society.

3.11 The office of Director shall be automatically vacated: (a) if an Officer shall resign by delivering a written resignation to the Scribe of the Society; (b) if an Officer is found by a court to be of unsound mind; (c) if an Officer becomes bankrupt or suspends payment or compounds with creditors; (d) if at a special general meeting of members a resolution is passed by 51% of the members present at the meeting to remove them from office; (e) on death; (f) if an Officer is no longer a member in good standing in our Society; provided that if any vacancy shall occur for any reason in this paragraph contained Provincial Council may appoint any member of the Society to fill the vacancy until the next Grand Council.

3.12 The Directors shall serve as such without remuneration and no Director shall directly or indirectly receive any profit from their position as such; provided that a Director may be paid reasonable expenses incurred in the performance of their duties.

3.13 A retiring Director shall remain in office until the end of the meeting that their retirement is accepted and their successor appointed.

3.14 The Board of Directors may appoint such agents and engage such employees as it may deem necessary from time to time and such persons shall have such authority and shall perform such duties as shall be prescribed by the Board of Directors at the time of such appointment. Nothing contained herein shall preclude any Director from serving as an employee of the Society and receiving compensation therefore.

3.15 Every Director or Officer of the Society is held harmless out of the funds of the Society for all costs sustained in the performance of their duties save those occasioned by their wilful neglect or default.

Bylaw 4

4. DUTIES OF OFFICERS

    4.1 Branch Officers:
        (a) Chair – facilitator of all meetings, draws up agenda, spokesperson for the council, one of the signing officers on the Branch bank account.
        (b) Vice-chair – replaces chair when she is unable to fulfil her duties, co-ordinates local festivals and gatherings, signing officer on the bank account, doubles as Ethics Officer when one is needed.
        (c) Pursewarden – handles all financial matters and keeps the books, oversees all lands and properties, does the banking, reports regularly to the provincial pursewarden, is a signing officer.
        (d) Summoner – meets and assesses potential new members, recommends them to council, keeps records of members and individuals involved in our Society and the national Association in the area, assists people looking for groups to find or found them and refers groups to potential recruits, acts as liaison with non-member Pagans in the area and with other Branches of our Society.
        (e) Public Information – acts as press liaison, in particular in providing factual counters to anti-Pagan propaganda, acts as a spokesperson in the absence of the Chair and Vice-chair, oversees classes offered under the auspices of our Society, encourages sharing of research and discussion, collaborates on speakers’ tours and other events.
        (f)Scribe – acts as secretary to the Council, records Council meetings, sends out notice of meetings, edits the Branch newsletter (if any), sees to the other printing needs of the Council, has custody of all minutes of the meetings of the branch.
        (g) Ethics Officer – if there is a formal ethics charge laid against a member of the Society, the Vice-chair assumes the role of the Ethics Officer. She must immediately strike a committee of at least two other persons not parties to the dispute to investigate and recommend action.

    4.2 Provincial Officers:
        (a) Chair as Branch Chair
        (b) Vice-chair as Branch Vice-chair
        (c) Pursewarden – administers all lands and properties, keeps records of all monies and promptly reports to the Provincial Council and to the provincial authorities when required, a signing officer for all bank accounts including those established by Branches and having the authority to over-ride any Branch Pursewarden.
        (d) Summoner – keeps a provincial record of all members and contacts, all Ministers and their activities, assists Branches to form, acts as provincial liaison with other associations of Pagans, refers groups to Branches, encourages inter-branch communication.
        (e) Public Information – as Branch
        (f) Scribe – as Branch, oversees all publications of the Society – provincial journal, educational resources, also has charge of the Seal of the Society, prepares and has custody of the minutes of meetings of the society and directors.

4.3 Other Officers ex officio can be seconded to serve on any Council by vote of the Officers, but they cannot vote.

4.4 Every Officer of our Councils who holds any office or possesses any property whereby, either directly or indirectly, duties or interests might be created in conflict with her duties or interests as an Officer of the Society shall, in writing, disclose to her Chair the fact and nature, character and extent of the conflict

Bylaw 5

5. MONEY AND PROPERTY

5.1 The Society may issue debentures when the issuance of the debenture is authorized by a special resolution, which may confer a general power on the directors to issue debentures for a period of not longer than one year from the date the resolution is passed.

5.2 Only the National Council of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association may authorize mortgages or sales of any real property owned by the Association or application for loans outside of the Association or unusual fund raising activities outside our membership.

     5.3 (a) The Society will keep proper accounting records in respect of all its financial and other transactions.
            (b) without limiting subsection (a), the Society will keep records of the following:
                (i) all money received and disbursed by the Society and the manner in respect of which the receipt and disbursement too place;
                (ii) every asset and liability of the society;
                (iii) every other transaction affecting the financial position of the Society.

5.4 (a) The Society is a provincial branch of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association, a federal charity entitled to own real property and receive all sorts of income and donations of property of all sorts.
(b) All matters having to do with the charitable status of the federal association or donations to the Society for which tax-deductions will be claimed are the jurisdiction of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association Corporation.

5.5 A budget and accounting of all income, dues, fees and all expenditures shall be produced on the 1st day of August in each calendar year, our fiscal year-end, by the Pursewardens of each level of the Society. A summary of each budget shall be published in the relevant internal newsletter and copies shall be available on request to any member for free and for the cost of photocopies and postage to any non-member.

5.6 Membership fees: Each individual member must pay an annual fee to retain their membership in our Society. The fee shall be set by Grand Council every year and shall be divided as follows – 30% to the Branches, 70% to Provincial Council. In addition the Society shall receive 30% of all national membership fees of its members.

5.7 Other fees may be assessed from time to time by the branch or provincial councils to pay for specific projects with the consent of the affected membership as expressed by a 2/3rds vote in favour at Grand Council.

5.8 Fees may be charged for books, publications, attendance at gatherings and festivals, speaking engagements on behalf of our Society by approved spokespeople, or other services or events sponsored by the Society. Rental of premises owned by the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association may also be charged at the discretion of the council administering the property.

    5.9 Limits on fees:
      (a) members of the Society shall only pay the costs of providing goods and services,
      (b) no charge greater than $1 per annum shall be made for instruction of candidates for membership in a worship group or Temple under the aegis of the Society, for Initiation, or for classes in our religion offered to the general public (this section is unalterable),
        (c) fees charged shall be reasonable and allowance shall always be made for financial hardship.

5.10 The debt load of the Society is limited to 10% of an annual budget above the obligations committed to in our founding by-law.

    5.11 Annual budgets shall be set as of August 1st of each year. They should be designed to produce slight surpluses and all councils must maintain a contingency fund equal to at least ten percent of a given budget.

    5.12 In the event that a Branch’s Pursewarden anticipates a deficit she must consult with her council and discuss possible solutions. Her council, together with the provincial Pursewarden, must meet together within a reasonable time of determining the deficit situation to decide on a course of action.

    5.13 A council that anticipates a deficit may;
            (a) appeal to its constituent bodies for extra monies,
            (b) appeal to other councils in the Society for assistance,
          (c) apply monies from its contingency fund,
          (d) ask for loans from members of the Society, or
        (e) increase the fees charged for its activities.

    5.14 If it is impossible for a Branch’s Council to meet its obligations it shall be dissolved and its obligations assumed by the Provincial Council. A period of financial probation may be imposed on councils that have chronic financial difficulties, at the option of the Provincial Council. 5.15 If at the end of a fiscal year there is a surplus of income it may be applied at the discretion of the body generating it to either or several of:
         (a) assisting in meeting the debts of one of the other Branch Councils. This may be done by a Branch Council only once in a three year period and only with the consent of the members expressed at an annual meeting,
        (b) donation to the Provincial or National Council,
        (c) a contingency fund, not to exceed 10% of the annual budget of the Council.

    5.16 Surpluses cannot, under any circumstances, be applied to:
        (a) honoraria or bonuses to any officer of the Society for the performance of her duties,
        (b) payments to any group or organization not a member group of the Society, except for services or goods agreed to by the membership,
        (c) payments to clergy for the performance of religious duties.

Bylaw 6-11

6. AUDITS

6.1 Provision shall be made for an annual audit of the Society’s books and the auditors shall be newly appointed at Grand Council to audit a financial statement for report to the next Grand Council.

6.2 The auditor need not be a professional accountant but cannot be a director, officer or employee of the corporation or associated with a director, officer or employee.

7. AMENDING PROCEDURE

7.1 Amendments to these by-laws may be proposed by any two voting members.

7.2 At least one of the movers of an amendment must be present in person for the amendment to be considered at Grand Council.

7.3 An amendment will be adopted when 75% of all voting members represented in person at a Grand Council vote in favour. Abstentions will be recorded but will not count in deciding.

7.4 Amendments to the Statement of Shared Beliefs (Section 2) and to the Ethics section (section 3) and this section require the consent of the National Grand Council of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association Corporation.

8. OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT

8.1 This Association will be primarily interested in recruiting individual Witches in need of our services rather than in replacing activities already underway. We will attempt to work with established groups as well.

8.2 We will provide networking services and meeting places for seekers and solitaires and will encourage new groups to form.

9. PROCEDURE AT MEETINGS

9.1 Roberts’ Rules of Order shall be the standard for procedure at all Society meetings, as modified through these by-laws and the Branch and Provincial Councils’ rules of order as from time to time adopted.

10. RULES AND REGULATIONS

10.1 The Provincial Council may prescribe such rules and regulations not inconsistent with these by-laws relating to the management and operation of the Society as they deem expedient, provided that they shall only have force or effect until confirmed at the next Grand Council and if they are not confirmed they will cease to have any effect.

10.2 In like manner, the Ordination Committee may adopt rules and procedures to govern its actions.

11. CORPORATE SEAL

11.1 The seal, an impression whereof is stamped in the margin hereof, shall be the seal of the Society.

Bylaw 12

12 – ORDINATION OF MINISTERS

Because of the traditional system of apprenticeship of Priesthood, and the requirement in many of the Traditions of our religion that some aspects of the training of Priesthood be kept secret from the non-Initiated, the details of the training and the exact reasons for decisions being made about Ordination of Ministers cannot be set down in detail nor published. The strong role of intuition and the Mysteries through which the Gods act to train candidates for the Priesthood cannot be systematized.

    12.1 (a) One of the services that the Society wishes to offer to its membership and to the Pagan and Wiccan population of British Columbia as a whole is legal ordination of Ministers.
            (b) Initiation is required for Ordination in our Society. An Ordained person is expected to engage in a public Ministry and to be associated with a Temple group.
            (c) Any qualified person can act as Priesthood within the Society or at any of our activities or events save only those activities that require an Ordained Minister, chiefly public rituals, marriage and chaplaincy.
            (d) Ordination does not give the Minister any greater power in the affairs of the Society except in those areas where an Ordained person is deemed to be required by Grand Council or the Provincial Council and in the area of training for Ordination and Ordination itself as elaborated below.

    12.2 The first group of Ordained Ministers will be chosen by the founding members of the Society.                 (a) Subsequent groups of candidates shall apply to the Ordination Committee of the Society. This committee shall be composed of the Ordained Ministers, the Chair, Vice-chair, and Pursewarden of the Provincial Council and a Members’ Advocate chosen at a Grand Council by the members-at-large. The Ordination Committee may strike a subcommittee to perform the evaluation of potential candidates for the Ministry and delegate whatever authority it deems appropriate to this sub-committee. This might be done in the case of a geographically remote potential candidate or for some other reason and must be done at the request of a Branch if more than three Ministers are associated with that Branch. A simple majority of the Committee must approve the candidate for her or him to begin the formal process.
            (b) Candidates must establish a formal working relationship with one Ordained Minister of the Society within a reasonable time after being accepted as a candidate. They must be prepared to work under her or his direct supervision for a year. When the Ordination Committee is informed in writing of this arrangement the year of formal preparation for Ordination will begin.
            (c) An Evaluation Committee will be struck, under the authority of the Ordination Committee, consisting of at least three Initiated Witches. All of the members of this committee must be members of the Society but they need not all be Ordained. The candidate and her or his mentor will select them and they will act as backup to the candidate and her or his mentor and keep generally informed about her or his progress.
            (d) A Minister may mentor no more than three candidates for Ordination at a time. No person may serve on more than four concurrent Evaluation Committees.
            (e) A candidate must do a public ritual prior to their final evaluation. At the end of a year the candidate will be examined privately by the Evaluation Committee as to her or his fitness to be an Ordained Minister of the Society. The committee will discuss privately and vote by secret ballot. The candidate must be approved unanimously. If any member of the committee requests it, a second vote will be held after no less than one hour of further discussion and prayerful deliberation. The vote will again be by secret ballot and approval must be unanimous.
            (f) Decisions of the Evaluation Committee are subject to ratification by the subcommittee of the Ordination Committee that originally approved the candidate.
            (g) Candidates who fail their evaluation can continue to study for another year with the same mentor or another. The same voting rules will apply.

    12.3 For the general guidance of the Ordination and Evaluation Committees these criteria should be used in evaluating candidates:
            (a) the person must be of good character – honest and sincere, with demonstrated good judgement and strong moral character, direct and trustworthy, possessing a creative intelligence, compassion for others, some counselling and teaching ability. — Character is first because the Goddess is not a matter of information but of heart and emotions. It is our self that we offer to Her and in service to our community. And it is through our honest commitment to compassion, to mutual vulnerability and to the principles of our Statement of Faith that we can serve Her as clergy in the Society.
            (b) the person must be able to found and lead a group and to train all of its members. — That means she or he must be very knowledgeable about Paganism as she or he understands it – know the ritual forms, the festivals, the techniques of trance and ecstasy in her or his Tradition, the mythology, the deities and so on. He or she must be able to create and demonstrate ritual that works and to explain why it works.
            (c) the person must have undergone a transformative experience that left her or him with a personal strong attachment and commitment to the divine.
            (d) the candidate must be able to be a public spokesperson for the Society in specific and Paganism in general.

12.4 People who have been ordained by another provincial branch of the Congregationalist Witchcraft Association shall only need to be approved by a majority vote of the Ordination Committee to receive our Minister credential.

12.5 The person who authorizes Minister’s credentials and deals with the province around this is the Secretary of the Provincial Council.

    12.6 Removal of Ministers
            (a) A Minister shall be removed from the Ministry in the event that;
                (i) she/he ceases to be a member in good standing, or
                (ii) she/he is no longer ordinarily resident in the province of British Columbia, or
                (iii) a petition for her/his removal signed by a majority of the members of the Branch of the Society that the Minister is associated with is presented to the Secretary of the Provincial Council, or                 (iv) a resolution is passed at an Grand Council of the Branch she/he is associated with removing her/him, or
                (v) she/he fails the regular review by the Ordination Committee and is not able or willing to correct whatever failings that she/he has within one year of the review.

(b) A Minister who has lost her/his credential may apply to be reinstated to the Ordination Committee no less than one year after losing the credential. Upon a simple majority vote in favour the Minister will be reinstated.
(c) A Minister who has been stripped of her/his credential two times may not reapply for five years after the second time.

CWA BC Annual General Meeting 2009-10

CWA BC Annual General Meeting

17 October, 2009

Winfield, British Columbia

1. Call to Order at 12:31
Attendance: 9 in body, 13 in proxy (after approval
of one irregular proxy by the will of the meeting).
Membership is currently 31 and so quorum was met.

Opening prayer led by Diane Morrison

2. Reading of the Minutes from 2008 AGM.
Moved Wagar, seconded Morrison to accept.
Unanimous approval.
3. Outgoing Officers Reports:
Chair – a very difficult year in part due to personal
challenges of many members of the Board and in part
due to the continuing problem of getting the necessary
information from the member Temples for the Board
to do its job properly. Recommending that greater
disciplinary powers be given to the Board.

Vice-Chair – Policies and Procedures Manual
completed and no new Ethics complaints and so this
was a quiet year. This meeting needs to review the
P&P, dealing with Temples, Ordination and issues of
Board responsibility and authority.

Treasurer – $1431.17 in the bank account, $348 in
outstanding liabilities for a positive total of 1083.17.
All individual Temples are in the black (to the limits of
their reports to the Board): North OK (Mirth and
Reverence) $112, Vancouver Burnaby $180, South
OK (Phoenix) $0, Nanaimo (Green Cauldron) $200.

Communications – Charitable status will depend
on our ability to have good reports and the incredible
apathy of Temple reporters is tough. Only four Page
of Pentacles issues, no occasions to speak to the
press. Recommending stopping publishing PoP
entirely to be replaced by periodic missives from the

Board, Temple reports to Secretary, media to Chair,
website to Secretary, eliminate Communications
position both provincially and locally, strike a
committee to talk about discipline.

Membership – 31 paid members, no information on
adherents, people served in mission, weddings,
funerals or other such matters. Recommending
memberships due on fixed date.

Secretary’s report – received
Moved to accept reports – S. Curiston / M.
Kimber. unanimous

4. Temple Reports
Temple reports were delivered verbally by
representatives of the North Okanagan, Nanaimo and
Vancouver-Burnaby Temples.

Nanaimo (Green Cauldron) – 18 members, solid
core group and outreach, regular Sabbats, good
working relationship with hospital chaplains,
successful Pagan Pride.

North OK (Mirth and Reverence) – 9 members,
handful of almost members. Sabbats. Women’s
Mysteries now on hold, starting New Witches Q&A,
volunteer work and visited Vancouver Pagan Pride,
regular Practical Magick workshops.

Vancouver-Burnaby – 2 paid members, handful of
lapsed and likely. Temple has been inactive for
several months due to Priest’s involvement in
Canadian National Pagan Conference and other
projects but now has new Priestess and new energy.
Hoping to do series of “Living a Wiccan Life”
discussion groups.

Moved to accept reports – Wagar / B. Curiston,
unanimous

5. Discussion of Policies and Procedures Manual.
5

Adopt 1.10 . Discussion of the need for both
rewards and recognition and discipline led to the
proposal to strike “Carrot and Stick Committee”.

Moved to adopt M. Kimber / S. Curiston.
Unanimous

Further discussion of Section 7 (Ordination) was
tabled until later in the meeting

Break 1:49, resume 2:00

P&P section 19 is in conflict with section 17 and
needs to be revised. Changing address in section 18
to info@cwabc.org.

Moved to remove “random clergy” from 7.1 b
(Wagar/ Morrison – unanimous)

Moved to remove “as requested by the sponsor”
from 7.1 c and add “The Committee as defined as the
sponsoring clergy person and two other clergy as per

7.1 b. (Wagar/ Morrison – unanimous)
Moved to replace 7.1 d with “Criminal Records
Checks must accompany applications to begin
training” (Wagar/Morrison – unanimous)

Moved to add to 7.2 a after “by ordination” , “by a
unanimous vote of the Committee. If the candidate is
not approved CIT has the option of training under the
original supervisor with a new committee for a further
year and a day. “ (Wagar / S. Kimber – 16 in favour,
6 opposed)

Moved to remove 7.2 b.i (S. Kimber/ Wagar
unanimous)

Moved to remove 7.3 (S. Kimber / Wagar,
unanimous)

6. Items from the Floor:
Motion to dissolve the Central Okanagan
Provisional Temple Morrison / B. Curiston.
Unanimous

7. Motions arising from reports:
To dissolve Communications Director position and
distribute the duties on both Provincial and local levels

-Morrison / M. Kimber – failed 20 against, 2
abstentions, none in favour
To replace Page of Pentacles with regular Board
e-mails failed for lack of a seconder.

To require membership dues on Samhain each
year, renewals same date each year, everyone given
a three month pass that has recently joined or
renewed, prorated by 6 months. – Morrison / B.
Curiston unanimous

To strike a committee, the “Carrot and Stick
Committee,” to empower the Board to both reward
and censure and discipline members around Board
reports and duties. To include non-Clergy and non-
Board members if possible and be chaired by Ethics
Director (Vice-Chair) and provide a progress report
to the Board in three months (January 17th). Morrison
/ Wagar unanimous.

To disband Temple Membership Director position
and distribute responsibilities – defeated for lack of
second.

Letter from Debra Eilers was read.

Lunch Break 3:30, resume 4:00

8. Announcement of Board decisions on
Ordinations.
Following the recommendations of their respective
Ordination Evaluation Committees, the Board
approved Roxanne Allen and Kam Abbott, both of
Nanaimo’s Temple of the Green Cauldron, for
Ordination. The formal ceremonies will be held in
Nanaimo at the discretion of the home Temple.

9. Elections of Board of Directors.
Motion by Wagar to reduce the Board to 5
members withdrawn. Motion S. Kimber / M. Kimber
to remain at 6. As four members had been nominated
for the four empty slots and all agreed to serve, the
Board for 2009-2010 will be Diane Morrison and
Brenda Curiston (serving the last year of their 2 year
terms), Meredith Kimber, Erin McRoy, Kam Abbott
and Samuel Wagar, serving for two years.

10. Closing Prayer delivered by Diane Morrison.
Adjourn at 5:00

Secretary’s Report

Merry Meet.

This past year has been one of wonderful growth,
both personally, and within the CWA Board. There
was a serious accident which almost left the CWA
without a highly respected and loved member. A Vital
Statistics letter that tried to inform us that we are not
eligible for Charity Status (which is being appealed).
There was the birth of the Secretary’s baby, and the
personal challenge known as ‘mommy-hood’. And,
for the most part, and for most people, just life in
general.

Despite the challenges, it is my opinion that the
CWA has grown stronger, surer. It’s members have
been beaten, shaped and tempered by the forge of
time and bureaucracy.

As I mentioned earlier, Vital Statistics is giving us
a challenge with our application for Charitable Status,
which our Chairperson, Vice Chair, and Samuel
Wagar are very decidedly stepping up to beat down.
It is the intention of this organization to ensure that
Charitable Status is available not just to the CWA, but
to other pagan entities that meet legal requirements.

Most of the other challenges have been more
personal in nature, and have taken their toll. Yet
despite them, we have persevered, and modifications
have been made to our Policies and Procedures that
we believe will make everyone’s workload more
bearable.

In this spirit, I wish to thank the present Board for
their support and understanding with my challenges,
and I hope that I was there when you needed me.

Many Blessings,

Ivannia Halls,

Secretary, CWA BC

2007 – 2008, 2008 – 2009.

Annual General Meeting of the CWA-BC
October 17, 2009
Officer Report for the Vice Chair

The past year has been a quiet one for the me. With
the policy and procedures manual completed in the
prior year, and no new issues being brought before
the Ethics committee, I was able to sit and enjoy the
general workings of the Board of Directors.

The last 12 months have brought personal struggles to
many on the board and in doing so has brought the
“go get em” attitude to a slow down. The goddess
presents herself in different ways to help strengthen
us, and I firmly believe that this past year has shown
her presence in almost all the board members.
Luckily for the people on the Board this year, we
have been running smoothly with no pressing issues
and have been able to deal with our personal lives.

As my term on the board is coming to an end I would
like to mention a couple of items for the new board to
think about and possibly take on.

1. A review and discussion concerning the P&P
should ensue, updates and changes being made for
clarification purposes. A couple of pertinent areas
would be the ordination process, and dealing with
temples who are not submitting the required monthly
reports.

2. Accountability of board members may need to be
added to the P&P.
3. The current board unanimously chose to have the
charitable status information sent to our lawyer to
have it reviewed, as suggested by clergy members.
This needs to be done ASAP.
While there have been concerns raised regarding the
current board, I as Vice Chair and head of the Ethics
Committee would like to say that none of this has
been officially submitted.

Submitted by Meredith Kimber
Vice Chair

CWA AGM October 2009

Membership Directors Report

I wish I could say this last year at my job has been
a great pleasure. I can’t though – it has been a
exercise in frustration and futility. I have been unable
to track things properly as local membership directors
can’t be bothered to send in a report. There seems to
be no way to make them. I was under the impression
also my job consisted of keeping a master list for
provincial records only to find out the Thursday
before this meeting that my job was also to notify
members six weeks before their memberships were
due according to the PnP.

We currently have according to my records 31
paid members of this organization

When I have received reports I was told that our
organizations Temples rituals were either well
attended or moderately well attended for the most
part.

It is my recommendation to this organization that if
provincial’s job is to indeed notify each and every
member six weeks before their membership is due
and it is not the local temple memberships director job
to see to this, that one, temple membership directors
might as well not be required to report because it
does no good and they don’t do it anyway. Two, that
memberships be due always on the same date for

everyone and the first time we be kind enough to give
a pass to people who bought their memberships within
three months of the arbitrary date set by the
provincial council.

2009-10 Board Meeting
Board of Directors Meeting

17 October 2009

Beginning 5:00 pm

The inaugural Board of Directors meeting
followed immediately after the Annual General
Meeting with the non-Board members welcomed as
guests. As we operate on a Parliamentary system our
first order of business was to decide who would fill
which position.

Meredith Kimber – Chair; Diane Morrison – vice-
Chair and Ethics Officer; Samuel Wagar – Secretary
and Treasurer; Kam Abbott – Communications
Director; Brenda Curiston – Membership and Clergy;
Erin McRoy – Ombudsman/ Members’ Advocate and
at-large.

Our next Board meeting was set for the 14th of
November at 4 pm.

Adjourn 5:20

Board Meeting 14 Nov.
Board of Directors Meeting

14 November 2009

1.
Call to order – all present save Brenda
Curiston, who joined in shortly afterward.
2.
Opening Prayer to Pomona and the
Goddesses of the Harvest – delivered by
Wagar
3.
Minutes from AGM and first Board meeting
– Wagar / McRoy, approved
4.
Reports of Officers :
a)
Chair – Getting organized and it’s coming

along well.

b) Vice-Chair – has sent all Witchvox listings to

Communications Director, still haven’t gotten

on Yahoogroups, received Ethics stuff as of

AGM.

c)
Communications – working away diligently at
webpage and expect in about a month to
switch to a fully functional new page.

d)
At-large – the South Okanagan Temple is
considering folding in the spring as the Priest
and family will be moving to Kelowna. The
Temple will merge with North Okanagan ,
although there is also the possibility that the
Central Okanagan Temple could be
reactivate, eventually.

e)
Secretary – all paperwork with the
government is up-to-date. Working on the
first issue of Page in a while (some
discussion to clarify that Secretary edits
Page, Communications distributes it).

f)
Treasurer – waiting to get form 11 back from
the government to start on the banking but
meanwhile is just starting to get things in
order.

g)
Membership – (report delivered later)
Treasurer issues membership receipt and
passes membership information along to
Membership Director. Membership Director
emails everyone about renewals and keeps
record. The contact lists belong to CWA –
each Temple must send its contacts list, as
we’ll as members lists, to the centre so we
will have it in one place.

Moved to receive reports McRoy / Morrison
approved

5.
Temple Representatives:
a)
Nanaimo – Planning for 2 Ordinations, Vision
TV visited and recorded part of a ritual reenactment,
at Samhain, coffee nights are
doing well. 37 at last Sabbat. Workshop in
December, Blue Moon Esbat.

b)
North Okanagan – good Samhain turnout
(25). Replacing the contact person who
hadn’t been contacting members has brought
people back that had lapsed, continuing
Practical Magic series, possible coffee meet,
and New Witches Question and Answer
meetings

c) Vancouver-Burnaby – very small Samhain
turnout (4) and we’ll be switching to Open
Circles on Full Moons instead of Sabbats,
to reduce the competition. Priestess hopes to
be official Clergy in Training and both Priest and
PS see building a core group as essential to
building the Temple.

Moved to receive reports McRoy / Morrison
approved

6.
Duties of the Board of Directors
Communications Director led us through the
flow-chart outlining our responsibilities and, with
minor modifications we accepted it, and gave him
a round of applause. Temple Representatives will
be added to the BoD yahoogroup.

7.
Items from the Floor:
a)
A proposal was made to consider changing
our name because of some negative
impressions that people in the broader Pagan
communities seem to have acquired of us.
People were not in agreement with this
drastic step, and there was some discussion
of what those impressions could be and
where they came from.

b)
Carrot and Stick Committee – It was agreed
that the C&S should have the Temple Reps
on the Committee and that a part of its
mandate was to find ways to give help to
Temples that are struggling. The Board must
have clear authority to get reports from
Temples that we need.

c)
Report from our sister church in Alberta –
they would like us to reactivate the National
church, their membership is 31, they have one
active Temple in Edmonton

d)
Discussion of membership issues – how to
encourage our adherents and attendees to
decide to become members – members-only
events? A surcharge for non-members to
attend events? The discussion was referred
to the C&S Committee, but will be an
ongoing concern.

8.
5:30 pm. Adjourn McRoy / Abbott. Closing
prayer Wagar.
The next meeting was scheduled for 7-8:30 on
Tuesday December the 15th.

Membership requirements:

CWA is not a coven or an association of covens
and so we do not require training or Initiation of
people who wish to be members. We do not expect
“perfect love and perfect trust” but a much more
normal level of trust and mutual respect of our
potential members.

Potential members must be legal adults, must
attend at least three of our Open Circles over the
course of a year, sign the attendance book at each of
them, signify in writing that they agree with our
statement of beliefs and our ethic statement (below)
and pay our annual membership fee (currently $25).
This membership is a joint membership with the
national Congregationalist Witchcraft Association.

Only voting members may vote or be elected to
congregational councils or the provincial council, may
vote to confirm a clergy person for ordination, or train
for our clergy.

Clergy training takes a minimum of one further
year, regardless of the amount of previous training or
experience which a person may have.

CWA Statement of Beliefs:

The members of this Society believe:

a/ that the divine is multifaceted and that it is
appropriate to Name and worship a variety of
Goddesses and Gods in a variety of different ways,

b/ that the divine is primarily immanent,

c/ that there are a variety of guardian spirits and
levels of divinity,

d/ that we generally shape our liturgy and theology
around the worship of the Goddess or the Goddess
and the Old Gods,

e/ that the divine is ever-present and ever-active in
the world,

f/ that we can through petition, action, and ritual,
cause change in the world in accord with our Wills.

Every woman and every man is an embodiment of
divinity.

All acts of love and pleasure are acts of praise of
the Goddess. This specifically includes all non-
coercive sexual orientations.

An ye harm none, do what ye will.

Statement of Ethics:

All members of this Society must bind themselves
by agreement with the following:

Although there are many Goddesses and Gods and
many Paths to their worship, our path does not
involve;

a/ animal sacrifice,

b/ any coercive activities,

c/ charging fees for teaching the Craft beyond the
recovery of costs, or for Initiation. (Members of
groups may reasonably be expected to share in the
expenses of events sponsored by the group, or agreed
to as part of its obligations as members of this
Society, and voluntary donations will be accepted).

d/ malfeasance,

e/ breaking Priestly confidentiality, subject to the
law,

f/ oath-breaking.

People who wish to become further involved in
our church need not be members to volunteer for
committees (although nonmembers cannot vote) or to
attend basic Religious Education classes (which will
be taught by members and clergy). Just contact the
Secretary of CWA as a whole or your local
congregation’s lay clergy or congregation council
Summoner.

The Secretary of CWABC for 2009-10 is Sam
Wagar and he’s at samwagar@shaw.ca

CWABC

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