Annual Clergy Report for 2024

This report is designed to illustrate how each individual priest has chosen to fulfill their oath to love the land, honor the deities, serve the folk, and continue in their studies as best suits their individual vocations. 

Time covered: January 1 2024 – December 31, 2024

Loving the Land

This section is for you to record your continuing relationship with the land. 

Nature-Based Community Service:

  • Nature walk cleanup in partnership with Scouts
  • Did service work to maintain the building and grounds of 3CGs partnered UU church

Nature Awareness Work:

  • Solar Eclipse @ Tredara
  • Intentional monthly hiking to reconnect with nature

Advocacy & Environmental Activism:

  • Taught workshop on “Awakening Your Garden” at multiple locations
  • Hosted a seed exchange

Natural Spaces Built & Maintained:

  • Maintained personal homestead, and continued to operate it as a community plant and food exchange.  Gained better traction this year in the neighborhood with clear reciprocity in the exchange.

Serving the Folk

This section is for you to record your continuing relationship with the folk. 

Special Occasion Services:

  • 1 funeral

High Day & Moon Services:

  • 3CG High Days: Imbolc, SpEq, Beltane, SumSol, Lunasa, AuEq, Samhain, Yule
  • ORW High Days: Imbolc, SpEq, Beltane, SumSol, Lunasa, AuEq, Samhain, Yule
  • 3CG Druid Moons: Rivros, Anagantios, Ogronios, Cutios, Gaimonios, Simivisonnos, Elembivios, Ædrinios, Cantlos, Samonios

Digital Media Created:

  • 30 Prayers written and shared during #PrayerADay

Sacred Art Created:

  • Brigid corn dollie (Brideog)
  • Inscribed candles for spellwork
  • Progress Pride Stole
  • Deity Peg People doll – created at Grove Art Night

Pastoral Service Work:

  • Hospital visits outside of employed chaplain work
  • Hosted the Annual #PrayerADay Project
  • Individual pastoral conversations (in person & virtual), both informal and formal, throughout the year

Chaplaincy:

  • Chaplain Resident at Grant Medical Center (a Level 1 Trauma Center), working fulltime (40hrs/week) & earning Clinincal Pastoral Education credits (1 credit currently earned, three more to earn in the coming year)
    • Categories of learning are: Spiritual Formation and Integration, Awareness of Self and Others, Relational Dynamics, Spiritual Care Interventions
, Professional Development
    • Full details on Outcomes and Indicators of CPE can be found here: https://www.manula.com/manuals/acpe/acpe-manuals/2016/en/topic/acpe-outcomes-and-indicators
    • Responsibilities at Grant Medical Center include: rounding on patients to complete Emotional and Spiritual Assessments, providing spiritual interventions, End of Life and Decedent care, on call assignments for crisis visits, caring for staff and families following distressing situations
  • Chaplain at the Ohio Reformatory for Women, providing spiritual care and religious services to inmates. serving primarily the needs of the pagan inmate population, but also others on an as needed basis. (My caseload averages 200-250 people). Duties include:
    • Teaching a weekly beginner class.  These classes have roughly 40-60 people.
    • Teaching a weekly advanced class.  Topics for this class vary based on interest. This year inmates have progressed to writing and performing parts for the High Day rituals. In the coming year they are hoping to write the whole ritual themselves.  These classes have roughly 5-10 people
    • Leading a weekly blessing rite.  These follow the COoR, and include set prayers and songs, and an opportunity for the inmates to make offerings.  These services have roughly 40-60 people. 
    • Leading High Day services.  These High Days have roughly 50-80 people.
    • Beltane & Samhain mini festival days.  I’ve brought in volunteers to make an all-day event of these two high days.  Volunteers have taught workshops, and then attended the High Day rite.
    • Providing Pastoral Care both as needed, and by appointment, every week.
    • Overseeing the Pagan Choir I helped the inmates form, and providing them with music and guidance.  

Grove Specific Activities:

  • Did service work to maintain the building and grounds of 3CGs partnered UU church
  • Annual Liturgical Planning Meeting
  • Weekly bardic rehearsals
  • Weekly planning and teaching for the Cub Scout Pack our Grove charters

Service in Leadership Roles:

  • ADF Vice Archdruid:
    • Attended Mother Grove Retreat in December.  We discussed budgeting & financials, ADF International, goals, and did some team building
    • ADF Annual Meeting
    • Keep ADF Calendar up to date
    • Calculate and send out Mound Journey dates
    • Writing articles for Oak Leaves
  • ADF Initiate Preceptor:
    • Includes administrative tasks, approving student applications, mentoring, and occasional reviewing of courses
  • ADF Blog Editor in Chief
    • Solicit, edit, and schedule relevant and timely posts to the ADF Blog
    • Blog is now on hiatus as we seek a volunteer to help

Honoring the Deities

This section is for you to record your continuing relationship with the Deities. 

Seasons & Cycles Observed:

  • 8 High Days, New & Full Moons
    • High Days are celebrated at least twice: once with ORW, and once with 3CG.  I occasionally attend other Grove rites virtually as well.  

Order Work & Regular Devotional Practice:

  • Mound Journeys most months (includes short ritual, offerings, trance journey, and write-up/reflection)
  • Good Mound Journey in August following Rev. Mike Kaan’s Ordination (9 clergy present)
  • Altar Work roughly 3x/week (includes prayers, divination, and/or offerings)

Shrines/Sanctuaries Created and/or Maintained:

  • Personal home shrine/working altar
  • Personal Homestead

Deity/Spirit Relationships Initiated and/or Maintained:

  • Patron Relationships: Poseidon
  • Regular Work: Hestia, Teutates, Garanus, Earth Mother
  • Occasional Work: Anahita, Ogmios, Ushas, Artemis, The Stranger, The Mistweaver

Continuing Study

This section is for you to record your educational activities defined further as the things you have done to fulfill our obligation as an organization to provide trained clergy to our church. 

Oak Leaves Articles Published: (with a delayed cross-post to HellenicDruid.com)

Festivals & Workshops/Rituals Attended:

Attended ShamROCK, Trillium, Wellspring, Summerland, and the Columbus Witches Ball which included the following workshops/rituals:

  • “Oracular Rite Practice Sessions” @ The Magical Druid
  • “Kindling the First Work: (Re)Starting A Pagan Practice” @ Trillium by Rev. Dangler
  • “Mannaz: A Gay Man’s Place in Norse Paganism and Magic” @ Trillium by C. Oleg Wildridge
  • “By Fire and Water” @ Trillium by C. Oleg Wildridge
  • “Stretching Your Marketing Budget For Your Pagan Event or Group” @ Trillium by Rev. Crystal Groves
  • “Regenerative Agriculture Principles for Working with the Earth” @ Trillium by Donald Smith
  • “You’re a poet and you didn’t even know it: devotional poetry for everyone” @ Trillium by Mike Bierschenk
  • “Bardic Circle” @ Trillium
  • “Wellspring Bardic Chair” @ Wellspring
  • “Wellspring Main Rite” @ Wellspring
  • “Pagan PowerPoint Karaoke” @ Summerland by Mike Bierschenk
  • “Well-Being: An Introduction for Pagans” @ Summerland by Dr. Amy Gorniak
  • “The Development of the Lay Leader” @ Summerland by Rachel Stevenson
  • “Leaning into the Liminal” @ Summerland by Julian Bell
  • “Summerland Main Rite & Mike Kaan’s Ordination” led by Rev. Jan Avende
  • “Bardic Circle” @ Summerland

Workshops Taught:

  • “Awakening Your Garden” – taught at  Trillium
  • “The Five Lights of *ghosti: The Gifts You Bring” – taught at  Trillium
  • Emcee for Trillium Bardic Circle
  • “Waking Up Your Garden” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Seed Exchange” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Intro to Candle Magick” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Divination Spreads: Intro to Reading for Others” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Mystical Stitches: Embroidery for Magic” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Finding a Spirit Ally” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Kindling Sparks – Raising & Educating Pagan Kids” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “Writing Prayers and Invocations” – taught at  The Magical Druid
  • “The Hearthkeepers Way: 5 Years On” – taught at Wellspring
  • “Song Circle & Chant Share” – taught at Summerland
  • “Tandem Omen Reading” – roundtable at The Magical Druid

Books & Articles Written outside of ADF Publishing:

Articles Read:

  • Regularly read “Under the Ancient Oaks” posts by John Beckett
  • Regularly read “White Cat Grove” posts by Kwannon
  • Various articles from the Encyclopedia of Religion
  • Marin, D. B., Sharma, V., Sosunov, E., Egorova, N., Goldstein, R., & Handzo, G. F. (2015). Relationship between chaplain visits and patient satisfaction. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 21(1), 14–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2014.981417
  • Borneman, T., Ferrell, B., & Puchalski, C. M. (2010). Evaluation of the FICA tool for spiritual assessment. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 40(2), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2009.12.019
  •  George Fitchett. (2012). Next steps for spiritual assessment in healthcare. In Oxford Textbook of Spirituality in Healthcare. https://doi.org/10.1093/med/9780199571390.003.0042
  • Shields, M., Kestenbaum, A., & Dunn, L. B. Spiritual AIM and the work of the chaplain: A model for assessing spiritual needs and outcomes in relationship. Palliative and Supportive Care, 13(1), 75–89. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1478951513001120
  • Shields, M., Kestenbaum, A., & Dunn, L. B. Spiritual Assessment and Intervention Model (AIM) Manual. Spiritual AIM. https://spiritualaim.org/
  • LaRocca-Pitts, M. (2015). Four FACTs Spiritual Assessment Tool. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 21(2), 51–59. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2015.1015303
  • Grube, D.-M. (2015). Justified religious difference: a constructive approach to religious diversity. International Journal of Philosophy and Theology, 76(5), 419–427. https://doi.org/10.1080/21692327.2015.1166682
  • Liefbroer, A. I., & Berghuijs, J. (2019). Spiritual Care for Everyone? An Analysis of Personal and Organizational Differences in Perceptions of Religious Diversity among Spiritual Caregivers. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 25(3), 110–129. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2018.1556549
  • Sonneville, S. A. (2023). Spiritual support of transgender individuals: a literature review. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 29(2), 196–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2022.2080965
  • Ramsay, A., Ziino, J., & Hirschmann, J. (2024). Self-described religious and spiritual identities of patients receiving gender-affirming surgeries: Implications for chaplaincy practice. Journal of Health Care Chaplaincy, 30(4), 294–305. https://doi.org/10.1080/08854726.2024.2379710
  • Compton, & Morgan. (2022). The Experiences of Psychological Therapy Amongst People Who Identify as Transgender or Gender Non-conforming: A Systematic Review of Qualitative Research. Journal of Feminist Family Therapy, 34(3), 225–248. https://doi.org/10.1080/08952833.2022.2068843

Books Read:

Self-Reflection and Future Plans 

Reflect on the previous year. Discuss what you intended to accomplish, what you did accomplish, what you learned from this year of service, and what your plans are for the upcoming year.

Year in Review:

This year my biggest accomplishment is getting enrolled in CPE and hired as a full time Chaplain Resident.  It has been a deeply fulfilling, and deeply challenging experience so far.  CPE Residencies are highly competitive and difficult to get into, and involve earning all 4 units of CPE to prepare you for Board Certification.  I have currently complete the first unit of CPE, and am on track to earn the remaining three in the coming year.  

This year has been a year of learning to weigh my commitments, set some good boundaries, and be better about delegating work or stepping down from things that I don’t currently have the bandwidth to do well.  The added bonus there is it allows opportunities for folks who are looking to get involved to really step up and step in.  I am still passionate about mentoring, so being able to create and support those opportunities helps with the bittersweet nature of passing projects and roles along.  

Some goals I missed on last year:

  • “Teach 1 workshop a month to the community (local shop or festival)” – I think this was a fair trade-off for the miss, since I had to cut back due to getting a full time job in Chaplaincy.
  • “Complete “Pagan Theology 2” in CTP3 and Complete “Comparative Ritual Theory” in CTP3” – Again, I think this was a fair trade-off for the miss, since I had to cut back due to getting a full time job in Chaplaincy.

Future Plans:

Love the Land

  • Continue to maintain a homestead space
  • Hike at least once a month

Serve the Folk

  • Post/share workshop handouts, notes, etc to my Patreon, and delayed release to my blog as appropriate
  • Continue writing for both Oak Leaves and my personal blog
  • Continue serving the inmate population
  • Continue my work as a hospital chaplain
  • Continue serving in elected/appointed ADF Leadership roles, requesting help where necessary, and accepting help as needed.
  • Continue serving as a Priest for Three Cranes Grove

Honor the Deities

  • Write 1 bardic piece per quarter
  • Participate in #PrayerADay

Continuing Education:

  • Complete all four CPE units

Books & Articles I want to Read:

Leave a comment