Church of Eclectic Pagan Fellowship
Many Paths...One Goal
Who and What Are We?
Ok, so who and what is the Church of Eclectic Pagan Fellowship? Well,
let's break down the name a bit to give you a little insight into us.
Webster's Dictionary describes a church as a congregation or a
gathering of people for religious worship. This church was formed to
serve the purpose of providing pagans with a place to congregate to
worship however they see fit, to educate about differing spiritual
paths and traditions, and for social interaction with other pagans of
similar beliefs.
Eclectic is
described as being a belief, group, or system that is made up of
elements from a variety of sources. This church's congregation is made
up of people of various belief systems. We have members that are
Witches, Wiccans, Asatru, Shamans, and a variety of other traditions.
So long as they harm none, all are welcome here.
The word pagan has a broad range of definitions. In Medieval Times, it
was used to denote a person of country origins. For religious purposes,
it usually describes one who is not a follower of a "mainstream"
religion (i.e. Christianity, Muslim, Jew, etc.). More often than not,
pagans are polytheistic but not always. Many pagan religions follow ancient pantheons
of gods and goddesses such as the Greek and Roman pantheons.
A fellowship is defined as "a close association of friends or equals
sharing similar interests." No matter what particular path or tradition
our members follow, we are all equal. Everyone's path is valid. You
will not find a Wiccan telling an Asatru that their path is wrong. We
believe that, as long as your path harms none (including yourself) and
does not violate anyone else's right to religious freedom, it is a good
and valid path.
We, the founders of CEPF, are nothing if not Eclectic. We are not Wiccan. We are not Asatru. We are not Christian or followers of any mainstream path. We simply follow our ethics and morals and, most importantly, our hearts. We are not striving to create or lead a new tradition of Paganism. We simply wished to create a place where followers of various paths and traditions can meet on equal terms in an effort to teach and learn from each other. We would also like to provide a resource to others who are looking to learn about different traditions and practices. Such is the purpose of our interactive links pages and ebook reference library.
We do not claim to be the know all and end all. We do not ask those that join CEPF to abandon the beliefs they hold dear and adopt our own. We simply ask that, within the organization, every member respect the path or traditions of other members regardless of whether they follow that tradition or not. Many times we see followers of a particular tradition rant about tolerance and acceptance to only watch them turn around and deny the rights of others just as much as they themselves feel they are being denied simply because they don't agree with the other's path.
Everyone is equal in CEPF, from us, the founders, right down to the newest members. Everyones' paths are accepted from the Witches to the Wiccans, Asatru, Druids, right down to the Satanists, and the pushing and proseletyzing of specific paths is not tolerated here.
Religious tolerance means tolerance of ALL religions, not just the ones you may feel comfortable with.
“Of earth return to earth, but any part
Sent down from heaven, must ascend again
Recalled to the high temples of the sky
And death does not destroy the elements
Of matter, only breaks the combinations.”
- Lucretius
