An elder in my tradition told me on more than one occasion that being Pagan clergy isn’t a master’s degree but rather a vo-tech certificate. She put it that way to illustrate the fact that much of what Pagan clergy do to serve their communities is learned through practical experience and on-the-job training. It’s a very different method of instruction than scholarly research and theoretical discourse. It’s not that Pagan clergy don’t learn about religious history, thealogy, pastoral counseling, and social work. We most certainly do. But it’s something that we learn in self-defense. Very often, we end up teaching ourselves those subjects when we’re confronted with the need to learn it in order to address an immediate problem or so we don’t harm others by our ignorance. And for a community that, except in very rare instances, cannot afford or does not desire to support the cost of a full-time clergyperson, I’m afraid that’s the only option available to most of us. Trusting our clergy to self-teach or to seek out topic-specific training is the best solution we’ve got.
Don’t get me wrong, I would dearly love to have ‘MDiv’ behind my name. For years, I dreamed of applying to Cherry Hill Seminary. Even now, I think I would make a pretty strong candidate for their pastoral counseling program. But there is not enough money in the bank, not enough hours in the day, not enough return on investment for me to pursue that sort of educational credential and still work full-time, serve the community, and see to my own health and wellness. It is inaccessible to me. And it hurts my heart. I feel the lack. It makes me question whether my role as a clergyperson is as valid as that of family and friends who are clergy in other religious traditions, even though I know I have read countless primary sources, academic articles, and scholarly and trade books, engaged in lengthy thealogical debates with my elders and peers, consulted with mental health professionals on best practices and available resources, consciously examined my own relationship with the Divine and my motivations for serving the Gods and the people in this fashion, and been recognized by people who have been practicing my religion for longer than I have been alive as having the necessary knowledge, skills, and experience to call myself a Wiccan priestess. But imposter syndrome is so much harsher when you don’t have an official transcript to look back on, and other professionals take you less seriously when you don’t have an institutional credential to certify your education. We put a lot of value on fancy pieces of paper.
Before the COVID-19 pandemic, my friend and colleague, Taz Chance, had been planning to host some educational events with vo-tech clergy in mind. After all, there were plenty of resources for new and inexperienced practitioners, but a surprising lack of them for advancing practitioners who find themselves ministering to others, whether by choice or by chance. But, to butcher the old saying, Woman plans and Goddess laughs. Apparently we needed more experience in crisis management, trauma treatment, and community organizing. And that looked somewhat different for us than it did for other organizations – even other Pagan organizations – in the region. We were the frustrated victims of trial-and-error for quite a while before we found the right combination of techniques to effectively minister to our community.
Now that we’re living with COVID as endemic, we’ve switched gears, not back to pre-pandemic ways but to post-endemic reality. Things aren’t going to get better. We missed our chance. So all we can do is go forward with compassion and care for one another, get our vaccines and our booster shots, and revisit old plans with new eyes. And a lot of those old plans have to do with preparing our community for resilience and addressing immediate needs that arise from hardship.
I’ve said elsewhere that the people who are doing The Work are less concerned with what you believe and more concerned with how you are alleviating the suffering of the poor, the sick, and the oppressed. When you are on the front lines, giving direct aid to those in unfortunate circumstances, it doesn’t matter whether you wear the crucifix, the pentacle, or the dharmachakra. What matters is your compassion, but compassion without boundaries is a recipe for disaster. We need our vo-tech clergy now more than ever, and we need them to be educated in techniques that allow them to protect themselves even as they offer a hand up to others.
For just a few of those resources, check out the priestesshood and reading lists tags.
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Author’s Note: The first two paragraphs of this essay were originally published as a Facebook post on November 17, 2018.