{"id":66,"date":"2012-09-16T22:15:00","date_gmt":"2012-09-16T22:15:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination\/"},"modified":"2012-09-16T22:15:00","modified_gmt":"2012-09-16T22:15:00","slug":"ordination","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html","title":{"rendered":"Ordination"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering<\/a> in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS<\/a> is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is nothing like spending a long weekend in a wooded campground with 103 fellow Bards, Ovates, Druids<\/a>, members of AODA<\/a> and members of ADF<\/a>. I\u2019ll have much more to say about the ECG in the coming days, but tonight I want to write about a very personal event.<\/p>\n

On Friday night I was ordained as a priest in the Universal Gnostic Church<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During the years I\u2019ve been a leader in Denton CUUPS I\u2019ve been asked to officiate numerous rites of passage: non-legal handfastings, child namings, initiations, funerals. I have occasionally been asked about doing weddings and I\u2019ve had to decline \u2013 in order to legally perform weddings most states require ordination: a formal consecration and authorization by a religious governing body. <\/p>\n

After saying \u201csorry, I can\u2019t\u201d one time too many last year, I knew it was time to be ordained. But how? <\/p>\n

I could have gotten an online ordination from the Universal Life Church<\/a>. Texas will recognize it and I know several people who\u2019ve done that so they could officiate a friend\u2019s wedding. I have no problem with anyone who\u2019s ordained through the ULC, but it didn\u2019t seem right for me. If I was going to be ordained I wanted an earned ordination\u2026 plus I knew I was no expert on weddings and I could use some experienced instruction.<\/p>\n

My UU congregation could ordain me. Unitarian Universalism is a congregationalist religion and all ministers are ordained by congregations, not by denominational leaders. A couple people suggested this, but I felt like that would put Denton UU<\/a> in a difficult position. While the congregation has the right to ordain whoever they want, the denomination would not look favorably on going outside their strict requirements. I think the UUA needs pathways to ordination that don\u2019t include the traditional (and very expensive) three years of seminary, but that\u2019s another topic and a campaign I have no interest in undertaking. My calling does not include being pastor of a church.<\/p>\n

My Druid order, OBOD, does not ordain. But the Ancient Order of Druids in America does, so last Summer I contacted Grand Archdruid John Michael Greer<\/a> and asked what their requirements were and how much \u201ctransfer credit\u201d I\u2019d have by virtue of having completed the OBOD Druid grade<\/a>. He said AODA was in the process of revising its ordination requirements and the new program wouldn\u2019t be ready for several more months. <\/p>\n

But by virtue of his position as Grand Archdruid, John Michael Greer is ex officio<\/i> an Archbishop in the Universal Gnostic Church with the authority to ordain priests. <\/p>\n

I had never heard of the Universal Gnostic Church<\/a>. It has roots in a Dutch church that split from the Roman Catholic Church in the 18th century and in the writings of the early Christian gnostics. It includes a few American Universalists who declined to join with the Unitarians in the 1960 merger. It is a sacramental order whose only doctrine states that all that exists is part of one divine source, and is an independent order with few congregations. <\/p>\n

I was looking for a legal, earned ordination. This was an available path \u2013 the connections with Universalism and Gnosticism were a nice synchronicity. After some discussion I started studying under John in July.<\/p>\n

The course of study was appropriate for what I wanted to do \u2013 learn how to better lead rites of passage for others. There were books to read, questions to answer, and ceremonies to write. Lots of ceremonies to write! There was also a fair amount of research into the laws surrounding marriage, which vary widely from state to state and location to location. <\/p>\n

I completed the work in May. A gnostic ordination must by done by laying on of hands, and since John (who lives in Maryland) and I were both going to be at the East Coast Gathering, it made sense to do it there. I\u2019m grateful to Lorraine for making time in the schedule for me, to those who helped with the ceremony, and to everyone who came out to affirm my calling and witness my ordination.<\/p>\n

What changed on Friday night? On the surface, I can now legally officiate weddings in Texas and in most other states. That\u2019s all. I\u2019m not changing churches, I\u2019m not changing careers, and I\u2019m certainly not changing my beliefs and practices. <\/p>\n

But on a deeper level, much has changed. An ordination is an initiation<\/a>: the work of preparation, which had been simmering for months, was brought to a boil. A transmission occurred: part metaphorical, part metaphysical, and part literal. This represents a major milestone on the spiritual path that began when I was born, went through several false starts, took off with an epiphany on Thanksgiving night 2001, and led to me kneeling in a field in Pennsylvania while a Gnostic Archbishop performed the rites of ordination. <\/p>\n

So now I\u2019m ordained and can legally officiate weddings. I\u2019m not looking for a side job \u2013 I already have a full time job and DUUF and CUUPS keep me busy most weekends. I\u2019m not looking to take work from Rev. Pam<\/a> or other professional ministers who do this as their primary occupation.<\/p>\n

But if a couple wants a Druid, Pagan, or other nonordinary ceremony, I\u2019m available. And though I can perform state-sanctioned marriages, I\u2019ll also be happy to officiate for marriages the state doesn\u2019t have the good sense and compassion to recognize. <\/p>\n

As for me, this represents an accomplishment and a milestone, but it is not the end. As I discussed last week<\/a>, I\u2019m being called to some deeper work: deeper study, deeper practice, deeper service. I\u2019m not sure exactly where that deeper work is going to lead, but I know what I need to do to get started. <\/p>\n

Further down the path we go\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Gnostic Archbishop and Grand Archdruid John Michael Greer, Gnostic Priest <\/i><\/i>and <\/i><\/i>Druid <\/i>John Beckett<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is nothing like spending a long weekend in a wooded campground with 103 fellow Bards, Ovates, Druids, members of AODA and members of ADF. I\u2019ll have much more to say […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1129,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-66","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOrdination<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Ordination\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-u7L0LvtUWaE\/UFaUFbr71QI\/AAAAAAAABpE\/5VvP2q2s-40\/s400\/IMG_3183.JPG\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Beckett\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html\",\"name\":\"Ordination\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\"},\"description\":\"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Ordination\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"description\":\"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad\",\"name\":\"John Beckett\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Beckett\"},\"description\":\"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Ordination","description":"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Ordination","og_description":"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html","og_site_name":"John Beckett","article_published_time":"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/2.bp.blogspot.com\/-u7L0LvtUWaE\/UFaUFbr71QI\/AAAAAAAABpE\/5VvP2q2s-40\/s400\/IMG_3183.JPG"}],"author":"John Beckett","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Beckett","Est. reading time":"5 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html","name":"Ordination","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00","dateModified":"2012-09-16T22:15:00+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad"},"description":"I\u2019m back from the 2012 OBOD East Coast Gathering in Medford, Pennsylvania. Denton CUUPS is my spiritual home, but Druidry is my tribe, and there is","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2012\/09\/ordination.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Ordination"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/","name":"John Beckett","description":"Musings of a Druid, Pagan, and Unitarian Universalist.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/b4c8980dc36f971434424c304ca429ad","name":"John Beckett","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/0f50bfa2a79f70103847fe75540bb29c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Beckett"},"description":"I grew up in Tennessee with the woods right outside my back door. Wandering through them gave me a sense of connection to Nature and to a certain Forest God. I\u2019m a Druid graduate of the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, the Coordinating Officer of the Denton Covenant of Unitarian Universalist Pagans and a former Vice President of CUUPS Continental. I\u2019ve been writing, speaking, teaching, and leading public rituals for the past eleven years. I live in the Dallas \u2013 Fort Worth area and I earn my keep as an engineer.","sameAs":["http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/author\/johnbeckett"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1129"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=66"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=66"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=66"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=66"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}