Covenant of Gaia Church of Alberta	Home   |    Site Index   |    Previous   |    Next.

New or updated items are marked .

Joining the Covenant. Invitations. Members -- Coven Hendrefydd.

Joining the Covenant

You do not need to be a member in order to attend church events. In fact, we encourage people not to join until they get to know us and vice versa. People's practices and beliefs differ and we believe that it is important for everyone to feel comfortable. We are happy to talk with people who just want to know more and/or do not wish to become members at this time.

There are two classes of membership: Full members and associate members. All members agree to abide by the By-Laws (available on request) and the Articles of Faith.

A Member must be at least 18 years of age and have had a First Degree initiation (or equivalent if your tradition does not follow the usual three degree system). The Covenant recognises self-initiations as valid for the purposes of membership.

An Associate Member is a member who has not had an initiation or who resides outside of Alberta. The difference is that Associate Members may not vote at business meetings.

Although the Covenant is a legally recognised church within the province of Alberta, Vital Statistics requires us to have a larger membership before they will register clergy for the purpose of solemnising marriages. This may take us several more years.

The Covenant recognises that religious affiliation is a personal and private matter. For that reason all membership information is considered confidential.

Membership application forms are available from the Secretary (see Contacts and Webrings) who also receives the completed form. The application typically will be processed by the Board of Directors at their next business meeting (usually once a month).

Invitations

First meetings are generally held in some neutral place such as a coffee shop. We appreciate that contacting an unknown religious group is an act of courage and we try to make our first meeting as safe as possible for all concerned. When we cannot fulfill a seeker's needs we may be able to direct the person to some other, related community that is more suited to them.

Minors are welcome to contact us for information but may not attend church events unless they have parental consent. Parents have the right to know what organisations their children are joining. If you are truly interested you can study on your own until you are 18, or we would be glad to discuss our religion and church with your parents if you think it would help.