Posts Tagged ‘community service’

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Presenting at the Mosaic Program

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

This week, I was asked to speak to a class from the Mosaic Program here in Columbus. It is an interesting program that clearly produces (and serves) bright children in our area. I was asked to speak as a part of their world religions course, which I very much enjoyed.

One of the most important parts of being an ADF Grove is doing outreach: not proselytizing, but getting out there to inform and educate. Mostly, we have always done this through our community service role, but community service, while it gets your name out there, isn’t about advertising or education; we do service because doing service is right. Outreach, on the other hand, is about these things; outreach is about letting people know that we are there, showing them that we are serious and real, and giving people a chance to engage with us in places where they feel comfortable educating themselves.

I tend to see the community service role as “walking the walk,” while the outreach role is “talking the talk.” Both are a necessary component.

Over the 40 minutes I had each class, though, I was pleased to notice that the kids not only asked good questions, but showed a genuine interest in the discussion. What’s more, they asked informed questions many times.

It was pleasant discussing ritual, belief, history, and (on occasion) the joy of worship with them. I did learn that my general discussion pattern tends to shy away from that last point, mostly because I find (and I think that many of us find) it to be a very personal thing. Still, I hope that I described enough about why it is we do what we do to give them a working knowlege of that, as well as expose them to a new religious movement they may never have heard of before.

In all, it was a joy to spend time doing outreach with them.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Bringing the Snakes to the Dublin Irish Festival

Sunday, July 12th, 2009

I’ve noticed that the Grove is on the schedule for the Dublin Irish Festival this year. This is a huge, huge step for our Grove, one that we’ve been working on for a while. Special thanks go to April Ford for making this happen for us.

In years past, we had requested to do ritual at the Dublin Irish Festival, but had not heard back. This year, we were approached by our local community and asked to present at the festival on their behalf, and it was the community that went to the DIF and asked if they could be represented by us. That appears to have been the tipping point, and we’re in.

DIF has provided this time to us partially to guage interest in having a Pagan service on Sunday morning of the DIF next year. Having the community come out for the workshop we will be doing, “Ancient and Modern Druidry: Walking in Wisdom,” is important, I feel, to making that happen.

Please do come out that morning (admission is free before 11 AM) and come to our noon workshop on April 2, 2009. Doing so may bring us closer to having a Druidic ritual at DIF next year, set up on par with the Gaelic Mass and the Protestant service.

    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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A Growing Grove, and Actions that Speak

Sunday, January 11th, 2009

[Due to an internet outage at the Grove Priest's house, this entry is appearing late.]

I am ever amazed by what we have built here in Central Ohio. Most often, I am entirely lacking in words. . . which is really just fine with me: I am so overwhelmed by our actions that words seem moot!

I never dreamed of having a “Top 5″ Grove in terms of numbers. Never in a million years. I expected maybe 6 members, possibly as many as 9 on a good High Day. To break 70 people at ritual twice in one year is also something I never imagined. To co-sponsor the second-largest ADF festival is better than my wildest dreams. Having had people stick with the Grove this long, some since the second public ritual (and with NSJoe getting back into the ADF game, too) is something I was told was impossible seven years ago in this [college] town.

We Cranes aren’t sitting on our hands here, and the energy the membership puts into this Grove astounds me at every turn, every day of my life.

In three years, this Grove has won two Founder’s Awards for “exceptional actions of public service.” Sometimes, I feel like mentioning this award is somewhat silly: it’s just a sheet of paper that Isaac gives out each year. I has, however, also given us a burden to carry.

We’ve been held up as an example in ADF. Isaac believed that Groves were not just places people would go for worship, but that they were also places that people would look to see the good that Pagans could for one another and the community at large. When we ask ourselves, “Where are the Pagan soup kitchens, the Pagan homeless shelters, and the Pagan community food pantries?” I am more than willing to say, “They’re coming: ADF will light the way on these.”

We have a long way to go, but with actions like what we’ve seen so far, we can see it on the horizon.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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A Busy Week!

Sunday, December 7th, 2008

This week, the Grove had several different events: on Monday, we had World AIDS Day, where we held a small remembrance dinner for those whose lives have been affected by AIDS and HIV; on Wednesday we had a Druid Moon ritual where we went on a journey to meet with Frigga; Thursday we had our usual business meeting; and Saturday was our scheduled Trail cleanup, even though weather didn’t permit us to actually get out to do it.

While we canceled the trail clean-up due to the weather (our reasoning was primarily that it is hard to pick up trash when you can’t see it due to an inch of snow covering it, but also that the roads were not good enough to be driving), the rest of the week went very well. The omens for the Druid Moon rite were as follows:

  1. What is our path? Dagaz – The New Day
  2. On what should the Grove focus until the next moon? Fehu – wealth and reciprocity
  3. On what should each individual focus? Laguz – the self and the subconsciousness

While I was unable to attend the ritual, I found a lot within these runes anyway: the tone of introspection and understanding the gifts of the Grove itself are strong, and we have new paths to forge. I look forward to seeing how these work out. But I applied these most to the way I have personally looked at World AIDS Day here in Columbus.

The theme of World AIDS Day this year was “Leadership.” I want to thank Seamus for the idea of doing an AIDS Remembrance Dinner and thank those who showed up as well as the host and the cooks for making it possible. But I also want to ask that next year, we show this leadership: let’s look to make sure that a real event happens next year. Let’s make it multi-faith and multi-cultural. Let’s fit as many people as possible into it, and feed their souls with our spirits.

I want to do more, for the Grove and for the people. I want to show this leadership. Our Grove can do so much, if only we commit to it and build it. I think that this Grove truly can do this.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Giving Thanks

Sunday, November 30th, 2008

Of course, around this time of year we gather close with our families, remembering old traditions and celebrating new ones, it’s a good time to slow down and remember what we’re thankful for.

I remember that Seamus, our Senior Druid, likes to describe Samhain as “a mixture of a Memorial Day, Halloween, and Thanksgiving all rolled into one.” When taking time to visit with relatives and friends over this weekend (or just to re-live the happy memories of watching football after eating too much turkey), I often feel that this description is spot-on: we are fortunate, as Pagans, to have an entire time of year devoted to our families and our friends, both those who went before us and those who will come after us.

It is also a great time to reflect on what we have and think about what more we can give: at each High Day, the Grove collects canned goods for the Mid-Ohio Food Bank. Please do remember this when coming to our rituals: for all that we harvest, we need to remember that it is more important to fill our spirit with the joy of sharing the harvest than it is to fill our bellies with the fruits of the harvest.

And remember: On Dec. 1, 2008, we will be holding a small remembrance dinner for those whose lives were affected by AIDS. See our calendar or last week’s post for additional details.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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World AIDS Day Remembrance Dinner

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008

Some may have noticed that this blog was hacked recently, which explains the absence of the past few regularly scheduled entries. Hopefully, we will recover them and be able to provide them again.

At our liturgy meeting this week, the topic of World AIDS Day came up: last year, we had participated in an interfaith service marking the day, and we felt very good about doing so. This year, after not being contacted about the WAD service, we contacted some of the organizers.

It turns out that there is no general World AIDS Day service this year: last year’s organizer’s email is bouncing, and no one else took point on it. So, without a planner and with no location, it seemed that WAD would not be celebrated by the interfaith community again this year.

This didn’t seem right to our Grove, so we have begun working on something to mark this day, even if it’s not a terribly formal or impressive ceremony. We decided to have a World AIDS Day Remembrance Dinner of our own.

So, on Monday, December 1, 2008, Three Cranes Grove, ADF, will gather at the Pizza Hut on Lane Ave., west of Ohio State’s campus. We’ll say some prayers, read some names, and tell some stories about how AIDS has affected our lives and the lives of others.

Come out with us, order yourself a pizza, and remember those who have gone to join the Ancestors.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Reviewing a good harvest

Sunday, October 12th, 2008

After last week’s Druid Moon (and the ADF Clergy Retreat, which I somehow forgot to mention), there’s a sense of renewed vigor within the Grove, with new interest being shown in our Dedicant study group and the number of events in general starting to wane, there is much to be happy about in what we have harvested in this year.

This year we planted much as a Grove: we increased our already impressive levels of community service; began a serious partnership and co-sponsorship with The 6th Night Grove, ADF, of the Summerland Festival; welcomed many new members; and worked hard to add 12-13 moon festivals to our calendar.

All of this seems impressive when laid out upon the page like this, but what it came down to was that our members were strongly committed to building and growing this Grove. They’ve done a marvelous job, whether new to the Grove or old hands.

This Grove has a long way to go, and we’re taking steps in the directions we know we need to go: increasing our advertising, opening more doors to service (and each other), and deepening our connections to the Kindreds.

I hope to see this Grove build on the vigor that we have at this time, and I know that it will. We are, after all, guided by a Gardener whose touch is gentle yet firm, and who has a plan for us.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Another Walk in the Woods, and a walk toward a Cure

Sunday, August 31st, 2008

This week as we recovered from Summerland last weekend, we convened in the Main Library for another Walk in the Woods with Seamus and Shawneen. This week’s special guests were Mugwort, Garlic, Bramble, and Wheat.

As we sat about, enjoying the fruit of some of these (some particularly fat blackberries were served!), we discussed the sacred meanings of each of these plants.

Again, I was struck by the way we learn about the world around us, and the effect it can have on us as citizens in the world. Each time we stop to learn something about our world, we begin to better understand how we are tied to it.

This week, one of our members, Anna Gail, also created a PowerPoint presentation that you can download from our service pages about our Grove’s participation in the Susan G. Komen for the Cure this year. Please take some time to watch it: it’s a great showcase of our work!
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Awards, Service, and a Walk in the Woods

Sunday, July 27th, 2008

We have mentioned before just how important it really is to us that we do regular community service. As we like to say, it’s about “honouring the Kindreds through work in this realm.” This past year, we won our second ADF Founder’s Award for Exceptional Public Service in the past three years, and we felt truly blessed to receive it.

This weekend, our Grove took a walk down our adopted trail, the Lower Scioto Multi-Use Trail, which runs approximately five miles down the primary river in Columbus. The cleanup is always rough: carrying forty- or sixty-gallon bags full of garbage down the trail is never fun, but we always manage to find it very rewarding.

I suppose that’s the central paradox of community service: for all the work and sweat you put into it, you always get so much more out of it than you could ever dream.

Also this week, we took a “Walk in the Woods,” having a class in plant identification and herbal uses in the Columbus Topiary Garden. We spent two hours lying in the grass, discussing various plants and what they were once used for, chatting, and enjoying the summer weather. We then took a short walking tour of the gardens, identifying trees and learning their history.

Study is at the heart of ADF Druidry: we work hard to learn about the world we live in, and in doing so, we also learn to love and cherish it. While the name of a plant may seem useless to some, knowing it brings about a deeper, more intimate connection. Rather than being a simple “plant,” it begins to have a personality, a way of existing that cannot be described as mere objectification.

What we learn about, we know. What we know, we will protect and love.
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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Desert Magic and the Komen Race for the Cure

Sunday, May 18th, 2008

It may be obvious that no entry was created for last Sunday (though there’s a placeholder now pointing to this entry on that date). That is because last week, several of our Grove members went to the Desert Magic Festival in Arizona. So today, a double-issue of this blog is in order.

Desert Magic is hosted by Sonoran Sunrise Grove, ADF, a wonderful Grove that has hosted this festival for five years now. The festival is full of good food, good friends, and good hospitality.

Our Senior Druid, Seamus, was asked to present on warrior spirituality and its applications in today’s world. His workshop called on us to take action, to not simply sit on our hands. He also introduced the new First Circle of the Warriors’ Guild Study Program.

My presentation was on Vedic hearth culture within ADF, offering a simple outline of the deities of Vedism and how they can interact with ADF and our worship structures.

Throughout the weekend, we Cranes enjoyed the company of many of our West Coast brethren: people that we just don’t get to see often enough, and people that we often wish would come out to visit us, too. As a hint, Summerland is just around the corner!

The real work, it seems, was done on the night after Desert Magic, though, when a small group of us gathered together to help work out more of the Clergy Training Program and to nearly complete the Liturgist Guild Study Program’s remaining courses. We hammered out basic exit standards for nearly all the courses required for the Liturgist Guild, and most of the courses required for Clergy within ADF.

ADF may soon see more Ordained Priests. I pray it happens soon.

This week was spent preparing for the Komen Race for the Cure, a breast cancer run that the Grove has done for years now. It is ever a joy to know that our Grove is committed to this particular bit of community service: so many of our friends and family are affected by breast cancer, and this is such a small thing that can help so much.

While the Columbus Komen Race broke new records and shattered the goals that were set, I’m proud to think that Three Cranes Grove, ADF, was among the many who helped make this possible.

Truly, this Grove is blessed with folk who wish to help with our service, and truly we are all blessed by our actions as a community.

Next Sunday, our Grove will mostly be attending Wellspring, so while we will try and update on Sunday, another double post may also be required in two weeks!
    -Rev. Michael J Dangler

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