Memberships, Tithing, and Pagans

What that has given rise to, unfortunately, is a very capitalist model of Paganism. What I mean by that is that different classes, stores, and festivals compete with one another for people’s dollars. And (with some exceptions) only those who can afford it, can go to classes or festivals, or can buy things at the stores. This at times enforces a polarity for Pagans -- many Pagans who can’t afford the expensive classes, festivals, etc, complain that this stuff should be free.

The Pagans who are in the middle/upper class, who have better education and more money, seem to gravitate toward closed communities/groups that charge more for events and meet occasionally through the year, drawing people from a broad geographic area. These folks are less likely to take part in their local community. I’d go so far as to say a further polarization is that the folks with the most disposable income and education end up gravitating toward the New Age community, where similar events and education to the Pagan community cost ten times as much or more.

The trap is insidious. As a Pagan teacher and event planner, even if I’m just trying to cover the cost of an event, I have to charge for it. If I’m renting space for a ritual, or making copies of class notes, or buying art supplies for an exercise, or spending money to travel there, there’s an associated fee for that. Even if I believed that classes and rituals should be totally free (I don’t) there’s still the idea that I need to charge a fee to cover the cost.

I can tell you, both Mark and I have run events where we had to pay out of pocket because not enough people donated. After weeks of organizing, dropping flyers, and planning workshops and rituals and other offerings, having to pay out for the pleasure of slaving over an event is the fastest way for leaders and teachers to burnout.

I don’t believe that events should just cover the hard costs. I believe that those people who have done the work to learn the professional skills to be able to teach Pagan topics, learn how to facilitate the workshops professionally, and lead effective rituals, should be paid for their time. I believe that people who are putting in the time to organize an event, design a flyer, staff an event, should be paid for their time. I work hard to offer Pagan events, and I should be paid for my time, too.

In the midst of this conundrum, how do you offer classes available to those who can’t afford much, but also honor the value that expenses should be paid, and that teachers should be paid for their work? The Reclaiming tradition (co-founded by Starhawk) came up with using a sliding scale, with no one turned away for lack of funds.

This is blending capitalism (paying for classes) and tithing (paying based on what you can afford). It’s the model I’ve used for every workshop, ritual, and event I’ve offered, and I’ve had great success with it. I think that taking the model further, making it a true tithing model, corrects a lot of the capitalist/competitive flaws that many Pagan classes and groups face. More on that in a bit.

Beyond teaching classes and leading rituals, I also believe that the clergy folks who are counseling people through a crisis should be paid for their time. Mark and I have both taken emergency “clergy calls” over time, and that’s not work we get paid for, even though it can take hours out of our day, or constitute us paying out of pocket to drive out to a hospital and spend time with someone. Therapists get paid for their time. Tarot readers and Reiki healers get paid for their time. Hospital chaplains and ministers who are available full time to their congregation for their personal emergencies get paid for their time.

I’m not suggesting that if you have an emergency, I take your credit card info over the phone and have you pay by the minute, any more than a firefighter should collect money before putting out a house fire. But there needs to be a community support function where those who are getting services are helping to support the structure that provides them that service. Selena Fox of Circle does a huge amount of clergy work for the community, including hospital visits and memorials. And through Circle, she has a structure that makes sure she’s fed and clothed while she’s doing this work.

I should offer the caveat that few Pagan group leaders have done (or paid for) the kind of training needed to offer counseling and spiritual direction to their group members, but that’s changing. We who lead groups and who take clergy calls, should have this kind of clergy training; it’s not cheap, but it’s out there, and more and more Pagan leaders are seeking this education. This is a good thing for Paganism, but it does have a cost.

As Pagan groups change structure, especially in metro areas where groups like NIPA are working to serve the needs of a larger community, this format starts to look a lot more like a congregation (church) similar to a UU church, serving diverse faiths. However, in the case of most larger Pagan organizations, like the ESC group Mark and I used to organize in Chicago, or NIPA, or the various Pagan Unity Councils out there, it’s usually a really small group of people organizing for a lot of Pagans that show up, or don’t show up, depending on what their whim is.