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
5.1 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.
