Comments on: A Pagan Chaplaincy

By: Jane

Jane — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 13:42:00 +0000

If you look at the full program on the Cherry Hill site, you’ll see that the prospective Pagan chaplain is required to take a survey course in the variety of Pagan beliefs, and is encouraged to pursue elective study of Pagans’ beliefs on different issues in greater depth. So how will an Alexandrian Wiccan chaplain serve the needs of an Odinist prisoner? The same way an Episcopal chaplain serves the needs of a Pentecostal prisoner. You find common ground. You listen. You use your training to learn and understand.

By: Jaume

Jaume — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 21:33:00 +0000

The Neopagan paths are all widely different indeed, to the point that it is questionable why they should be grouped together as a single “movement” in the first place. Wicca is derived from the occult world, mainly linked to the Golden Dawn and Crowley, with some Romantic literary influences. The Druids are a totally different branch, while Asatru and Odinism are even more different and with some questionable origins. Finally, Reconstructionism in the Baltic and Slavic countries has also very different origins, composition, and political connotations. I wonder how a single chaplaincy program can even think of encompassing them all and still be productive and helpful.

By: Jonah

Jonah — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 17:50:00 +0000

I took a weekend intensive with Patrick on this very subject. It gave a really good overview of the chaplaincy system, and the need for it to include Pagans. And, it put all of the participants in the position of “chaplain for a day” through role playing.I absolutely loved the weekend, although I’m not sure that I’m cut out to be a professional chaplain. If anyone should be heading up a program like this, it’s Patrick McCollum. Malendia is nothing to sneeze at, either! I’m glad to see this happening.