The Aquarian Tabernacle Church: A World-Wide Wiccan Ministry

The Aquarian Tabernacle Church has been promoting Pagan rights and protecting our people's choice to worship since 1979. Here we share about our ministries, temples, the resources we share and what we do to help develop the future of today's Witches.

  • Home
    Home This is where you can find all the blog posts throughout the site.
  • Tags
    Tags Displays a list of tags that have been used in the blog.
  • Bloggers
    Bloggers Search for your favorite blogger from this site.
  • Login
    Login Login form

Building Community is Bigger Than Our Congregations

The ATC Mother Church exists in a small, mountain, town. People out this way care about their community. They want to make sure that it remains the place where they want to raise their children, relax, and grow old. In 1979 when we opened our doors, Snohomish County was much as it is today. The farms stretch down the highway leading up to the foothills of the mountains. The closer you get to Stevens Pass, the more isolated the communities become, and the more they depend on one another. There could be a localized disaster that cuts a community off from the outside world for days at a time. The people out here need to know that they can depend on each other.

"It isn't until we start helping our local communities that we will stop being seen as those witches down the street." Rev. Terry M. Riley, HP Southern Delta Church of Wicca-ATC

The ATC found out the importance of connecting with our community early on. Our founder Pierre "Pete Pathfinder" Davis began his work as a politician, and he brought that need to create systems, and take care of the people in his world, with him. He was instrumental in keeping a post office in our little mountain town. He led the way to getting a new fire truck for our first response, mountain, fire department. Pete designed the towns emergency sand bag response system for river breeches, and took care of our fur babies as Index's Animal Catcher. When he passed away many people from the town called us to ask us if we knew how to keep taking care of everyone in the way that Pete did, and could they have memorabilia for the town museum. 

When people are left to their own devices, with little to no actual knowledge to base their opinions on, they sometimes create fascinating stories. Get to know the people of your town through service, and they will see you as a church leader that benefits their community and someone they can trust in times of need. Have you been to the soup kitchen? Have you helped in the local parade? Have you attended the local city council meetings? Chances are, that if you answered 'Yes' to any of those questions, then you have a relatively amicable relationship between your group, and your town.

"When we build a wheelchair ramp for an elderly woman, and her son comes by and starts bad mouthing those witches down the street, she will stand up for us. 'Don't you talk bad about them! They built me a ramp when no one else was able to help me.' Everyone listens to grandma." Rev. Terry M. Riley, HP Southern Delta Church of Wicca-ATC

This year, we received an opportunity to help a small high school on the mountain. They couldn't find anyone to finish off the sponsorship for their t-shirts. We are lucky to have such a caring congregation, and in no time we received approval to allocate funds to help the kids. It's these types of moments that allow you to make a difference in the community within which you live. You only get a handful of these moments in the life of your service, and each one you bypass affects the ones you are presented in the future. By reaching into your local community, you take the steps we need in making this world a better place. You become the nurturing arms that uplift society and reshape the world.

Community service is a keystone of ministry. From children and the elderly, to those who are incarcerated, to community events, pets, and fund raising, the health of your local community is literally in your hands. A door held open today leads to a door held open tomorrow.

 

 

Last modified on
Rt. Rev. Belladonna LaVeau is the ArchPriestess of Aquarian Tabernacle Church and Dean at Woolston-Steen Theological Seminary. A Navy Veteran, Mother of three, and Spiritual Counselor; Bella is a 10 year veteran of full-time Wiccan ministry. Her current passion is to create a benefits package for Wiccan Clergy to help provide the resources for groups and leaders to be successful in their ministry.      

Comments

  • Thesseli
    Thesseli Wednesday, 23 August 2017

    This is an excellent article, something we all need to consider -- no matter what faith we practice.

  • Please login first in order for you to submit comments

Additional information