The Archdruid Report, May 2016

The Archdruid Report, May 2016

The Blessings of the Earth Mother to us all! I was elected Archdruid after Rev. Kirk Thomas' decision not to run for a third term. May the Blessings of Health, Wealth, and Wisdom be with him always and may the Kindred always provide!

Activities performed in the previous quarter: I attended a number of festivals including Texas Imbolc, Pantheacon, ConVocation, and Ad Astra To The Stars. I communicated with many members during the recent election asking and answering questions. I wrote to people who were not renewing in hopes of learning why and was able to get a few people to reconsider and rejoin. I was interviewed for a number of blogs and publications and continued to talk to people about ADF and Isaac's vision whenever the opportunity presented itself. What we have here is very special - I want people to understand Isaac's Vision and Our Way of Worship.

The spiritual state of the organization, spiritual activities and growth in the previous quarter: The spiritual state of the organization is strong. I inherit a solid organization that is full of hard-working and devoted members who do their part to honour the Kindreds and worship in the ways of their hearths and their hearts. There is still work to do. We have been gaining members, ordaining and elevating priests, and talking to people. We want to know what people think and also want people to understand what we are doing with our church. In my travels and my correspondences with individuals, I am constantly awed by the depth of practice and sincerity in our members. While political challenges may arise from time to time, we are still walking the road that Isaac envisioned for us many years ago. We do not walk alone.

Where ADF is in terms of its long-term Vision: Our long-term vision continues, along the lines of Isaac's Vision. We have reached out to people across the world with rituals delivered along electronic pathways, reaching more and more people every day. We have members on six continents and Groves and Protogroves on four continents. We are growing - always as fast as a speeding oak - but the acorns fall farther and farther away from the central tree that finds itself in the United States. WE are ADF International and we are proud of our reach and outreach. We have more to do. The Mother Grove will be meeting this year for strategic planning and we will discuss Isaac's Vision at length along with leadership's thoughts on growth and planning as well as asking the membership for some input on certain topics. I think as we look around at ADF, what we see is good.

Planned activities for the next quarter: Festival season is upon us! Wellspring, Three Rivers, Eight Winds, Summerlands, Midnight Flame, and Harvest Nights beckons as welcome stops along the Way. ADF will be doing the main rites for Pan Pagan festivals such as Chrysalis Moon, Pan Pagan, and others. I will be speaking at a number of these venues. I will be reaching out to other Druid leaders and building on our commonalities. I look for ADF to become a place where everyone is welcome at our table and the Core Order of Ritual is broad enough for many, many people. I also want to mention that while I am a believer in the Dedicant Program and the Programs of Study of ADF, we have many devout and practicing members who have not done the Dedicant Program but who are still ADF Druids. We celebrate the great diversity of our practice while reveling in the commonalities of that same practice.

Other comments/information, personal summary of events, etc: I have completed some additional training and I encourage those people who have the time to look at our many programs. We have some GREAT Guilds, SIGs, Kins, and Orders. We continue to offer our great publication "Oak Leaves" and look forward to including more and varied works therein. We have a vast network of practice and learning and worship that spans the entire globe. We honour and support our members in both the Northern and Southern hemispheres and understand that the Wheels of the Year turn above and below the Equator equally. I have several blogs that I write each month and look to the Arch Druid's blog for occasional thoughts and insights. Solitary members - if you want someone from ADF to talk to you, to visit with you, to reach out to you, drop me a line and let us know. The Blessings of the Earth Mother to us all!


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