C.C.C.C.C.W.W.W.W.W.A.A.A.A.A.

Page of Pentacles Page of Pentacles Page of Pentacles Page of Pentacles Page of Pentacles

Congregationalist Wiccan Association of BC 5-10282 132nd Street Surrey, British Columbia V3T 3T7 www.cwabc.org

#42 March 2010 c.e.

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Starfall Paganfest:CWA Religious Retreat in Works!

Canada Day weekend (2-4 July inclusive) nearVernon, about a 5 hour drive from the LowerMainland, 8 hours from Edmonton, nearest airport isKelowna. Although all of the details and a notice willbe sent out to all members and friends of CWABCabout it, here are preliminary plans:Members of CWABC and our Alberta sisterchurch will get priority in registration and a break onthe price. The early members-only registration(through April) will cost about $125 for the weekend(camping or cabins, food included). If you have beencoming out to our circles for a while and have never joined, or have let your membership lapse, this is areally good time to sign up.After the initial members only registration is overthe early-bird fee of $150 kicks in and lasts throughMay. The last-minute registration fee will be $200and will be subject to availability – first postmarked,first served. $90 for Elders (65 plus) and children(under 16), regardless of when they register, under 5free, children only with parents or guardians. Thespace can accommodate 60 and that will be our cap.Veners will be charged $10 per table.Yes, we intend to make a small amount of moneyon this, to put toward future events.This event is family-friendly and based in ourversions of Wicca. We assume that most of theworkshops and rituals will be presented by CWAmembers but we welcome anyone who wishes tooffer a workshop or ritual to do so. A place todescribe what you’d like to do, along with the timeslots you’d be available in, will be included in yourregistration package. Site is discreetly wet; this siteis also used as a treatment centre so let’s keep it lowkey. People will be required to volunteer an hour orso of their time helping set up or clean-up, or withserving meals or that sort of thing. Clothing optional,Temple of Aphrodite, walking in the woods; vendorswelcome! At this time there is no formal childcarescheduled, but if we end up with enough children andparents, something in the model of the Gathering willbe established, where all parents take a turnorganizing/supervising children’s activities.Disabled accommodation is limited, though we canimprove that a bit. And they would need someinstruction around special dietary needs, although theNorth Okanagan Temple has used the site and foundthe owners open and accommodating.Pre-registration packages will be prepared whendetails are finalized and heading out in a couple of weeks to members and will be available through ourwebsite at that time. Suggestions can be sent to thePage of Pentacles.Contact our Festival Organizer, Sable, for moredetails:Sable@thethreadsthatbindus.net.

Second Vancouver Pagan Craft Fairand Eightfold Way Workshop

As a follow-up to the very successful pre-YuleCraft Fair in Vancouver, a pre-Beltane one is in theworks. It will be on the 24th of April. Details to beannounced - save up for this one, since there are someserious artisans and artists in the community and theybrought some lovely stuff last time.Sable / Diane, the North Okanagan TemplePriestess, will be travelling down to the Vancouverarea for the Craft Fair with much neat stuff from herstore. She has a series of workshops on WiccanMagic(k) and the Vancouver-Burnaby Temple will hosther presentation of one or possibly two of the eight onthe 25th. Charge for members $10, for non-members$20. An announcement will be sent out to all membersand friends of the V-B Temple.Her workshops are part of an initiative of theBoard and the church to share our knowledge morewidely and encourage exchange between our Temples.

2CWABC Board of Directors MeetingFebruary 16

, 2010Call to order 7:10 – all present save Kam Abbott,who joined us a few minutes laterOpening Prayer, Sam Wagar to the Great Mother andAll-FatherAccepting Minutes of last meeting motion Morrison / McRoy acceptedReports from the Officers:a.Chair – nothing to reportb.Vice-Chair. Discussion of the potentialfestival on Canada Day weekend and we canhope to bring a few people from the CWA-Alberta down to meet us as well. Thelocation of the Vernon Temple’s recentretreat would be ideal for us, rates arereasonable - $1500 for the entire weekendand it accommodates 60 people, 30 indoorsroughly. Kitchen buffet style dining,entertainment room. It is near Vernon.c.Secretary. Reports to various governmentswell underwayd.Treasurer. Still slow going. The last 6 yearsof Income Tax returns must be filed becausewe are not at present a charity or pending,although were still non-profit so we are notgoing to have to pay (likely). No reports werefiled with GST for the past two years sothose must also be done, and should result, inthe positive side, in some rebate cash into ourbank account.e.Communications. Why haven’t we beenusing the websites and discussion groups?Please post writing, reports and so on to thewebsite! 292 unique visitors to website inJanuary, 170 to this point in February, 153reads to the Page of Pentacles. So thewebsite is beginning to do its job of outreach,and would be improved by more content.f.Membership. Membership is stable at 30-odd.South Okanagan is officially defunct andclosing down in April, however, it is theirintention to join with Vernon to form an

Board of Directors Minutes

Okanagan Temple.Temple Representatives:a.Nanaimo. 30-odd in attendance at NanaimoSabbat, 5 in Courtney and will be doing onethere for Ostara as well. 15 showed up for afilm showing at coffee night. Wedding comingup in April, Wicca 101 starting. Roxannedrumming up membership and reactivatinglapsed members.b.Vancouver-Burnaby. Shift to Full Moonshappened and attendance at rituals – 9 on 9January, 4 on 29

. Pagan Singles group hasbeen unsuccessful, in part because of organizational glitches.c.North Okanagan. Imbolc was well-advertisedbut poorly attended, Shanna’s firstPriestessing role. Wedding March 29

bySable, Mike also doing one in April, finallydoing a Wicca 101 but waiting on gettingregistration numbers up. Ostara on 19

.Pagan Pride – a collaborative effort of Store/ Temple/Pagan Pride to be mutually beneficial,maybe a Witch’s Ball at Beltaine.Moved to accept reports McRoy / B. Curiston.Accepted.Items from the Floora.Non-profit information line re GST/HST 1-800-959-6287 and a discussion group beingset up for thatb.Some discussion of the controversy aroundpolyamorous marriages and the church’position on them. The matter was referred tothe Carrot and Stick Committee – Sable wasinstructed to come up with an opinion on thematter which the Board could discuss andpresent to the members at the AnnualGeneral Meeting for their decision. Thematter is before the courts now and it willlikely be several years before the SupremeCourt renders an opinion on the polygamylaw. The Chair stated that there would be nofurther posts made on BC Pagans regardingthis issue.

3Carrot and Stick is also planning the retreat and isscheduled to meet on the 1

of March.c.Treasurer talked with the person at Charitiesappeals and they expect to have the finaldecision by the end of March.d. Policy on Board Members Responsibilitiespresented by Secretary. Motion to adoptMorrison / Kimber, adopted.d.Next Board meeting, March 16

, 7 pmClosing Prayer McRoy, adjournPolicy on Board Member Accountability(Adopted 16

February 2010)Members of the Board of Directors areaccountable to the Board and to the members for thework that they are entrusted to perform.If a member of the Board is unable to perform thetasks of the office that they have been entrusted withthey may voluntarily:1.Step aside from the position for aspecific period of time with the approval of the Chair, who then has the option of appointing any other member of the church tofill in on an interim basis, such temporaryappointment to be ratified by a majority voteof the Board.2.Resign from the positionpermanently but remain a member withoutportfolio and act to assist other members of the Board, with their position being filled onan interim basis to fill out the period until thenext AGM as above.3.Resign from the Board, in whichcase their position would be filled as abovefor the period prior to the next AGM.In all cases, the work performed by an Officer isthe property of CWA-BC and all files plus work inprogress must be handed over to whoever replaces aperson in their position upon their resignation. It isexpected that they will brief their replacement andwork with them for a short period of time to bringthem up to speed on the tasks at hand.If, in the opinion of some members of the Board,an Officer is not performing their duties adequately, itis expected that those members will first approach theOfficer and offer assistance. If they are not able toassist or if the person approached refuses their offer,the Chair has the authority to reassign responsibilities,with the support of a majority vote of the members of the Board.In the event that an Officer refuses to step asidefrom their responsibilities on the request of the Boardor to transfer their files and duties to their successor,a vote of two-thirds of the Board can remove themfrom the Board. An Officer will be given two clearwarnings by majority vote of the Board prior to a voteto remove them.In the case of an emergency or an Officer nolonger being qualified for membership in our churchyet refusing to voluntarily resign, the Chair maysuspend them for a period of two weeks until a Boardmeeting can vote on suspension or removal. If theChair thus acts, her or his membership must also bevoted on during the same Board meeting.All of these motions of censure or votes tosuspend and all of the debate on them will occur incamera.If a majority of the Board comes to be composedof interim and appointed members it must call aSpecial General Meeting to elect a new Board withinthree months of that time and all positions will be upfor election.In all cases of suspension or removal, interim andappointed Officers will only serve until the nextAnnual General Meeting of the members, at whichtime their successor shall be elected. This is true evenif they were appointed in the first year of a two-yearterm.

Vancouver-Burnaby Temple

Dear sisters and brothers,The past couple of months have been busy, withthe first two meetings of the Pagan Singles group(which were flops but we’ll try one more time thismonth), and two Full Moon Temple meetings, on the9

and 29

of January and the 5th of March witheight, four, and seven people in attendance,respectively.Because of the Olympics turning our region upsidedown there was no Temple Open Circle in February.