CWABC

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.
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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.

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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

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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

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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