UnitedPagans

The United Pagan Church of Australia is a not-for-profit organisation, established to act as an umbrella organisation for the purpose of bringing together various Pagan religious based organisations to have a unified voice for all Australian Pagans. The UPCoA aims to have the responsibility of acting as a religious representative of the Australian Pagan community in dealings with federal, state and local government agencies, the community as a whole, and other organisations and institutions. UPCoA is recognised by the Australian Taxation Office as a religious organisation and is endorsed as a charitible institution. One of our primary aims is to gain endorsement from the Federal Attorney General’s Department so member organisations can appoint leaders as religious marriage celebrants (click here for more information on this).

There are a large number of independent Pagan organisations in Australia, some with as few as a couple of members, and others with 100 or more. It is very difficult for all of these groups to get recognition from the government, both at federal and state levels, and from other organisations. An umbrella organisation like the UPCoA can represent the collective interests of all Pagans in Australia, benefiting even the smallest independent organisation.

All other religious groups have some form of umbrella body to represent them, even the Buddhist, Hindu, Sikhism, Spiritualist, Quakers and Hare Krisna’s have at least one umbrella group, and all of these have gained widespread recognition from government and the community in general. They all enjoy the benefits of religious marriage celebrants, places to worship, recognised religious leaders, etc.

The only way Paganism can continue to grow and gain the type of recognition that many Pagans wish they had is to follow the lead set overseas, especially in the USA, and in Australia with groups like the Hindu Council, and join all Pagan religious groups together under the common voice of umbrella groups. This is the aim of the UPCoA, however it should be remembered that UPCoA is but one of a number of groups that aim to provide representation for the Pagan community in Australia, so we are in no way the only umbrella group speaking on behalf of Pagan beliefs.

The UPCoA encourages all Pagan religious organisations, or those wanting to form a local organisation, to join and help provide a powerful single voice when necessary. In order to provide for all types of organisations the UPCoA has created a number of membership categories and sub-categories. We understand that not everyone will want the same thing - some will want to run their organisation the same way as they have done for years, yet others may not want to run an organisation at all but only help lead and teach people. To try and cater for all situations we offer the following categories:

• Affiliate Member - for those organisations that wish to remain totally independent, operating under its own rules entirely, with its own funds and management structure (if relevant). Whilst the UPCoA will help promote the activities of these organisations, and provide active representation, the UPCoA will have no control over the internal matters of these organisations. This is the category that most existing organisations would likely join under so they may continue operations exactly as they have done in the past.
• Associate Member - for those organisations started by individuals that don't want to run the organisation and prefer that the UPCoA run and control the organisation. Initial funds to start are raised by the founding individuals with ongoing funds raised by the organisation and/or UPCoA. Operates under UPCoA rules and managed by a sub-committee made up from members.
• Branch - for organisations started by the UPCoA using UPCoA funds. Operates under UPCoA rules and managed by the UPCoA Committee or a sub-committee made up of members and a UPCoA representative.
• Individual Member - for those individuals that would like to join and help promote the UPCoA objectives. Minimum age is 18 years, and must follow a Pagan path of some kind. This is mainly intended to cater for those that may not be the primary leader of a member organisation, but who still wishes to be actively involved in the UPCoA. It also caters for those that may be too far away from a suitable member organisation and/or may not have enough people in close proximity to allow them to start an organisation.
• Junior Member - for those aged under 18 years that follow a Pagan path of some kind. Generally this will be children of Individual Members however in exceptional circumstances the Church may enroll children that do not have family that are members of the UPCoA, if parental permission is provided.

In addition to the above membership categories, the UPCoA divides the three organisation membership categories into the following sub-categories:

• Church - for organisations that are under the leadership of a person (or persons) that is (are) ordained as a Minister(s) by the UPCoA. (i.e. all leaders MUST be ordained Ministers and are classified as Pagan Clergy).
• Group - for organisations that are under the leadership of a person that is not ordained by the UPCoA. (i.e. leaders do NOT need to be ordained and are NOT classed as Clergy, although they may hold the title of Priest/ess).

Although “Groups” do not need to be led by ordained leaders, the leaders may still choose to become ordained and remain operating as a Group rather than a Church. The choice of which type of membership each group seeks is a matter for the members of that group and not the UPCoA.

Acceptance of Beliefs: Whilst the UPCoA accepts that individual members and member groups may hold their own beliefs or follow their own path, in order to become a member they must:

1. Follow a Pagan path of some kind, and;
2. Accept the basic codes of Pagan beliefs:
   • Love for and kinship with nature: reverence for the life force and its ever-renewing cycles of life and death
   • The belief in doing no harm (sometimes referred to as “And it harm none, do what you will” and other variations)
   • Honouring the totality of Divine Reality, which transcends gender, without suppressing either the female or male aspect of Deity (bearing in mind the fact that “Divine” can mean many different things to different people, all of which are valid and acceptable).
   and;
3. Accept the UPCoA Statement of Beliefs as being valid and applicable to the UPCoA. (this does not mean that you must accept these beliefs as the only beliefs you can follow, you may continue to follow your beliefs, you just need to accept that the UPCoA beliefs are also valid beliefs.)

Each member organisation is free to hold and promote whatever beliefs and practices their members wish to follow. The UPCoA will not interfere with the beliefs of any member organisation, even Branches. Please contact us for a more in-depth explanation of these requirements and why these will not affect your own beliefs adversely.

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Our Structure

The UPCoA is a democratic non-profit organisation. Each and every member group appoints a representative who sits on our General Assembly. This assembly votes on the ongoing management and running of the group. Each year the Executive is elected from amongst this assembly.

The College of Elders is also appointed from amongst the assembly, by the Executive. The Elders vote only on religious matters such as ordinations. All other matters are voted on by the General Assembly.

All members, representatives, Elders and member groups are subject to a Code of Conduct. This helps assure the Pagan community that those forming our group will act in a proper manner.

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Use of religious titles

Some Pagans feel that our use of religious titles and names such as Church, Minister, Reverend, etc, is wrong and goes against everything Pagan. They often feel so strongly about this point that they refuse to have anything to do with any group that uses these titles.

The unfortunate truth is that society in general knows these terms, they command instant respect and people are generally comfortable using these terms. Paganism is fighting a battle as it is, trying to break down the image that has been created by 2000 years of the greatest PR campaign know to humanity, along with an image created by Hollywood to sell movies and grab the TV audience. Go into the street and tell any non-Pagan that you are “the High Priest of the Such and Such Pagan Temple of the Goddess” and I bet that most of the time you will be met with strange stares and people running away for fear of what you will do to them. BUT, go to those same people and say “I’m Reverend Joe Bloggs of the Such and Such Pagan Church” and I bet that most people will actually listen to you tell them what Paganism is and what it isn’t (I have actually done this myself and have seen first hand the reactions). Why? Because the terms “Reverend” and “Church” are familiar terms, people accept these terms far more than “High Priest” or “Elder”.

The other issue is that many laws and government policies are written using terms like “Minister of Religion”, “Clergy”, “congregation”, etc. For example, the Marriage Act 1961, Division 1, Sub-Division A, Section 29 states: “Subject to this Subdivision, a person is entitled to registration under this Subdivision if: 1. the person is a minister of religion of a recognized denomination;”. The criteria for an organisation to be endorsed as a ‘recognized denomination’ states: “a central authority should exist for the nomination of ministers of religion as marriage Celebrants and to attend to other administrative functions associated with the Marriage Act 1961;” and “there should normally be at least twelve congregations in different localities within Australia, each of which need the services of a marriage celebrant;”. And this is just the Marriage Act! There are numerous other pieces of legislation that make use of terms like minister of religion, clergy, congregation, etc.

In NSW, the Local Government Act 1993, Section 555, states:

(1) The following land is exempt from all rates:
...
(e) land that belongs to a religious body and is occupied and used in connection with:
(i) a church or other building used or occupied for public worship, or
(ii) a building used or occupied solely as the residence of a minister of religion in connection with any such church or building, or
(iii) a building used or occupied for the purpose of religious teaching or training, or
(iv) a building used or occupied solely as the residence of the official head or the assistant official head (or both) of any religious body in the State or in any diocese within the State,

emphasis added

So, as you can see, terms like minister of religion and even diocese are written into LAW! Even the Buddhists use the title of “Reverend” for religious leaders, and there are Pagan “churches” popping up all over the USA.

Now don’t get us wrong, we don’t for a minute expect any Pagan group to totally throw away their Pagan titles. There is no reason whatsoever that you shouldn’t keep using these terms within the Pagan community. In fact we do NOT insist that any member or member group must use ANY title, name or term. Member groups are perfectly free to keep using terms like High Priest/Priestess, and never use titles like Reverend, it is a matter of personal choice for each individual to make.

Many Pagan leaders in the USA have already figured out the benefits to using these terms in order to gain acceptance and recognition in the wider community. Some even go so far as to wear clery shirts and collars when out and about in the street, but that is probably stretching things a bit! (certainly I don’t think any of us at UPCoA would be caught dead in a clergy dog collar!). I personally have had many great discussions with people who hear the title Reverend and Pagan, and ask me to explain to them what Pagan is. This has educated many people that would no doubt have otherwise not even bothered to ask.

Yes these terms may be mainly associated with Christian groups, but given the problems we already face gaining recognition and acceptance doesn’t it make more sense to use these terms if it will help us to gain recognition and acceptance? Religions such as Islam and Judaism that use alternate titles have been doing so for some 2000 years, so using this as an argument for why we should stick to our “traditional” names is a bit silly. Or are we so insecure in our own beliefs that we are unable to see the bigger picture and overcome our own prejudice? Besides, many of the “Christian” terms used today have a Pagan connection anyway!

From our Home Page, recall the following:

“Church” comes from the Old English and German word pronounced “kirche”. In Scotland, it was “kirk”.

The following entries are from the Oxford Universal English Dictionary:

Church [Old English cirice, circe; Middle English chereche, chiriche, chirche; whence churche, cherche, etc.: -Greek Kuriakon...]

Church comes from the Anglo-Saxon root word “circe”, and stems from the Greek name of the goddess “Circe”, the daughter of “Helios”, the Roman Sun-god adopted from Greek mythology. Linked to this goddess in Celtic pagan worship is the name “Kirce”. From her name comes the word “kirch” which pertained to the building dedicated to pagan Celtic worship and rituals. The Greek word “kuriakon” was used for the building or “house of Kurios (Lord)”.

The actual original Greek word used in the Christian religious texts to identify the Christian religious body was “ecclesia”.

This Greek word appears in the New Testament approximately 115 times. That’s just in this one grammatical form. It appears also in other forms. And in every instance, except three, it is wrongly translated as “church” in the King James Version. Those three exceptions are found in Acts 19:32, 39, 41. In these instances the translators rendered it “assembly” instead of “church”. But, the Greek word is exactly the same as the other 112 entries where it was changed to “church” wrongly. So, in reality, it is the Christians that have chosen to use an ancient Pagan term rather than Pagans using a purely Christian term!

BISHOP: From “Biscop” which comes from the Greek “Episkopos” which was a Presbyter who could read and write. They became the overseer or watchers of the illiterate Presbyters.

PRESBYTER: (Latin) Presbyteros (Greek) : Simply means “Old Man”. They wandered around the district spinning yarns “full of the boldest metaphor and rhetorical artifices of the age” (Church History- Socrates Scholasticus 1911 pg 380-450) The compressed version in Old English became “Preost” or Priest. The majority of Presbyters were illiterate.

Cost

The current subscription rates are:

Organisation members

	Groups*	$15.00/year
	Church*	$20.00/year

* New groups or those with no income may be exempted from these fee's upon application. Contact us for more information. We are not here to make huge profit from Pagan organisations but rather to help all Pagans, so we would much rather waive the membership fee and gain a member than stick to the fee shown and leave an organisation without representation.

Visit the Downloads Page to download an application kit

Individual members

Note that the UPCoA its self does not hold any regular gatherings or meetings. These are conducted by individual and independant groups. UPCoA is primarily an “umbrella group” that aims to represent the Pagan beliefs and affiliated groups. You can join UPCoA as a member in order to help support our activities and also to have a say in how we operate, however if you are looking for membership so you can attend local gatherings then you should look at local groups instead.

Category	Fee
Ordinary	$5.00/year
Concession	$2.50/year
Child (under 18)	$3.00/year
Family (2 adults + 1 or more children)	$12.00/year
Family concession (2 adults + 1 or more children)	$6.00/year

As with member organisations, those with no or extremely limited income may be exempted from these fee’s upon application. Contact us for more information.

Visit the Downloads Page to download an application kit

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Charters and Affiliations of UPCoA

The United Pagan Church of Australia is NOT a Chartered group or otherwise officially connected with the organisation known as the United Pagan Church in the USA. Because of the similarities in names the UPCoA has a loose understanding with the USA based UPC, however the UPCoA has no connection with the policies or practices of the USA based UPC.

Similarly, although the UPCoA is a chartered church of the USA based Church of Seven Planes (CSP), this organisation has no control or power of the UPCoA, or its practices or beliefs. This charter is primarily in place to help the UPCoA with the task of ordination of Pagan clergy, and not for the purposes of control or power.

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