What are the obligations I have as a CUUPS leader?\u00a0 How do they differ from the obligations of a coven or grove leader, from the obligations of a priestess or priest, or from the obligations of other lay leaders in UU congregations?\u00a0 This is not organizational policy \u2013 I\u2019m speaking for myself, not for the local or national Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans.\u00a0 But this is something CUUPS leaders need to consider.\u00a0 If you disagree with my conclusions, fine \u2013 just make sure you understand why you disagree.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to seekers<\/strong>.\u00a0 About a year after my Pagan epiphany<\/a>, I recognized I had gone as far as I could go on my own \u2013 I needed a group to work with.\u00a0 I thought a CUUPS group would be a good place to start my search, so I went to a circle led by Denton CUUPS\u2026 and I never left.\u00a0 Other people do what I did \u2013 it seems like every circle someone will tell me \u201cthis is my first time at a public Pagan event.\u201d<\/p>\n I have an obligation to these seekers that begins with being there for them:\u00a0 making sure our circles happen, that they\u2019re easy to find, that they\u2019re welcoming, and that they\u2019re accessible.\u00a0 \u201cAccessible\u201d doesn\u2019t mean watered-down, least common denominator rituals designed to make sure no one\u2019s sensibilities are offended.\u00a0 It means you don\u2019t need a second degree initiation to understand the terminology and participate in the flow of the ritual.<\/p>\n I don\u2019t have an obligation to provide personal instruction.\u00a0 A CUUPS group is not a teaching coven or a dedicated priesthood \u2013 we have no fixed traditions to teach.\u00a0 Denton CUUPS teaches an Introduction to Modern Pagan Religion class about once a year.\u00a0 It\u2019s designed to give new Pagans and other interested folks a basic foundation for beginning their own religious and spiritual explorations.\u00a0 On the rare occasions when I take on students (usually as an advisor \/ mentor rather than as a teaching elder) I do so in my role as an individual Druid and priest, not as a CUUPS officer.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to Unitarian Universalism<\/strong>.\u00a0 The values of modern Paganism and the values of Unitarian Universalism have much in common \u2013 it\u2019s why CUUPS works.\u00a0 It\u2019s easy for Pagans to support UU values like justice, compassion, and liberty, and the seventh principle and the sixth source<\/a> speak specifically to Pagan themes.\u00a0 The challenge for Pagans is to remember that Unitarian Universalism is a non-creedal religion.\u00a0 Whatever you believe about the Gods or Nature or magic, there will be someone else who believes something different \u2013 and that\u2019s OK.\u00a0 CUUPS is \u201cBig Tent Paganism\u201d in practice.<\/p>\n Again, this doesn\u2019t mean moving everything to the least common denominator.\u00a0 It means accepting the value of differing Pagan perspectives and providing opportunities for their expression.\u00a0 Many of the members of Denton CUUPS are polytheists in one sense of the term or another, but when our matriarch (who trained in New Thought<\/a>) wanted to lead an Ostara circle that fell squarely in the middle of the Self-centered Paganism<\/a> camp, the only question anyone asked was \u201chow can I help?\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019m leading Beltane \u2013 we\u2019ll be making offerings to Danu<\/a>.\u00a0 We have no shortage of volunteers for that one either.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to the host congregation<\/strong>.\u00a0 There\u2019s been much written \u2013 some of it here \u2013 about the need for \u201cright relationship\u201d between a CUUPS group and its host congregation.\u00a0 But my obligation to Denton UU<\/a> goes beyond supporting the church physically, spiritually and financially.\u00a0 I also have an obligation to encourage those who come to our circles to support the UU church.\u00a0 Part of that is from a sense of reciprocity.\u00a0 But just as importantly, Unitarian Universalism can be helpful to Pagan seekers, who in turn may become supporters of UUism and the local congregation.<\/p>\n I\u2019m a Pagan and a Druid and a UU<\/a> \u2013 it all works for me.\u00a0 It won\u2019t all work for everyone.\u00a0 But while neither Paganism nor UUism condone proselytization, CUUPS leaders owe it to their congregation to let everyone know that good services happen on Sunday mornings as well as Saturday nights.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to the Pagan movement<\/strong>.\u00a0 Just as I have an obligation to promote UUism within Paganism, so do I have an obligation to promote Paganism within UUism.\u00a0 While I have neither the need nor the desire to convert UU Buddhists and Christians and Humanists, I do want to represent Paganism accurately and favorably to my fellow UUs \u2013 and where I have the opportunity<\/a>, to represent Paganism to the wider community.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to the Gods<\/strong>.\u00a0 An essay on UU Paganism isn\u2019t the place to debate the nature of the Gods, much less to insist that my view is the correct view.\u00a0 But whether you view the Gods as distinct beings with agency, as aspects of the Divine, or as the better parts of ourselves, They clearly represent something that is worthy of our respect, honor and service.\u00a0 Yes, we put work into building our CUUPS groups because they\u2019re helpful to us, to other Pagans, and to other UUs, but they also contribute toward doing the work of the Gods and making Their values manifest in this world.\u00a0 We are part of something bigger than ourselves, and as leaders we have an obligation to it\u2026 or to Them<\/a>.<\/p>\n As a priest, I have obligations to Cernunnos and Danu.\u00a0 Those obligations are neither superior nor inferior to my obligations as a CUUPS leader.\u00a0 Sometimes they can overlap \u2013 as with the Beltane plans I mentioned earlier \u2013 but I can no more attempt to turn my CUUPS chapter into a Celtic temple than I can ignore Their needs just because Summer Solstice will honor Egyptian deities.\u00a0 I\u2019ve made two sets of obligations and I must fulfill them both.<\/p>\n A CUUPS leader has an obligation to CUUPS<\/strong>.\u00a0 Denton CUUPS was there for me in 2003 because Summer, Monique and Cheryl started it. They could do that because CUUPS National and other chapters that served as role models were there for them.\u00a0 As with all institutions, we pay our debts to previous generations by being here for future generations.\u00a0 As a CUUPS leader, I have a multigenerational obligation to make sure there is space for Pagans within Unitarian Universalism that is safe, welcoming, nurturing, and challenging.<\/p>\n So with all these obligations, why would anyone want to be a CUUPS leader?<\/p>\n I went to Denton CUUPS looking for a place to celebrate the seasons and a place to learn.\u00a0 Instead, I found a community to serve.\u00a0 I accepted the obligations, and in the process I\u2019ve learned and experienced more than I could have ever imagined.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" What are the obligations of a CUUPS leader? How do they differ from the obligations of a coven or grove leader, from the obligations of a priestess or priest, or from the obligations of other lay leaders in UU congregations?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":2305,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[946,385,4,5,19],"class_list":["post-2299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cuups","tag-cuups","tag-leadership","tag-pagan","tag-paganism","tag-unitarian-universalism"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2014\/04\/Intro-to-Paganism-2013-300x237.jpg\" "\\"Intro")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2014\/04\/Winter-Solstice-2013-300x200.jpg\" "\\"Winter")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2014\/04\/SS09-WRL-01-invocations-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Summer")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/243\/2014\/04\/Winter-Finding-2013-16b-300x225.jpg\" "\\"Winter")
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