The election for ADF just ended, and I’ve been elected to serve as Vice Arch Druid for the upcoming term. I’m excited and humbled that folks have trusted me to do this job, and looking forward to seeing what we can accomplish over the next two years.

For those of you who don’t know me well, I’m a Consecrated Priest working out of Three Cranes Grove as well as the Preceptor of the Initiates Path and Coordinator for the Children’s Education & Parenting SIG. I am one of the co-authors for the Hearthkeeper’s Way, created and lead the November #PrayerADay Project, and a co-host on the “Druids in Cars, Going to Festivals” podcast. Additionally, I’m also working as an Affiliate Chaplain at a local university, interfacing with pagan students and participating in interfaith events. 

My personal work typically involves Spiritwork, Bardry, Liturgy, Divination, and Homesteading, and I’ve been focusing my publishing the past few years on creating resources for families and raising pagan children. One of the other things I’m passionate about, and a large part of my vocation, is building relationships with the folk and supporting them in their religious practices and life’s ups and downs. I’m excited to see how being in a more public role will allow me to deepen that particular aspect of my work. 

I’m looking forward to working with the new and returning Mother Grove members, and developing a plan to bring some of the changes I proposed to fruition, as well as hearing what other projects we’ll be taking on this year. There are two big things I’d like to pursue at the outset of my term, recognizing that they are big projects and may take awhile to accomplish. 

First, I’d like us to develop a modern blog with regular, scheduled postings as a centralized location to share timely articles, focused research, embedded videos, reflections and reviews, and other spiritual content. This would be a great opportunity to go beyond our work with the Newsletter and Oak Leaves and encourage the membership at large to have a place to share their knowledge, as well as provide a public-facing place to share what we have to offer with the greater pagan community. 

Second, I want to form a committee of professional educators and passionate content specialists to re-evaluate and modernize our training programs. This would be a lengthy process as we worked through each program, but it’s work that’s vital to maintaining their excellence. One particular additional change I’d like to make is to move the Guild Study Programs out from under the “DP Required” umbrella. That is a needless barrier that has prevented meaningful membership engagement for decades. I look forward to working with Rev. Kirk Thomas, the ADF Preceptor, to update our programs.

I’m excited to serve ADF in this new role, and excited to hear from y’all on what you’d like to see us provide and work towards as an organization. Please reach out to me, because I love hearing from folks and it helps keep me connected to the community. Beyond that, our Vision is calling, so let’s get to work!