Quote from another Blog: "I’ve been busy working outside (finally!) and getting ready for Pagans in the Park. My, what a little hot-button topic for something that is supposed to bring people together! I’ve seen more animosity in just the past couple of weeks than I’ve seen around here for the entire previous year. It’s been a little discouraging, really. It’s this sort of infighting that has caused so much division within our community, and what’s really off-the-wall is that most of the anger and accusations have been coming from those that espouse working together and trying to repair the community! I do appreciate it when people offer thoughts and advice on how to repair our damaged community. I’d love to see everyone sit down and talk about where it’s all gotten weird and try to pull it back together, but I truly believe that must be done with an open mind and a willingness to listen to EVERYONE’S ideas, not just one person’s. And I know there are a few out there who will say I’m not willing to listen to anyone else’s ideas but my own. I don’t really think that’s true. I still like the idea of trying to create some sort of truly interfaith organization. I’m very much open to anyone else wanting to organize a gathering or a study group that would truly be available to the community as a whole."
I won't identify the author of this "blog" but I will respond. The infighting that has manifested over the last month has not originated from any organization, or even any organized group of people, despite what the author states. It has originated with less than a handful of people who refused to delegate anything to anyone simply because they have serious control issues and have exercised poor judgment. They know who they are.
As for IEFC (Interfaith Esoteric Fellowship Church), the organization was created to serve, repair, and heal the pagan community. For 6 months, several Board members came together and painstakingly wrote the Bylaws for the organization. Everyone had full input. Everyone had a vote. This includes the author of the aforementioned, "blog." The result was a governing document that everyone on the Board had a hand in creating. No opinions were suppressed, nobody's ideas were ignored. The organization is administrated by the High Priestess and High Priest. Yes, the Corporate Board does have input, but only because the church itself in still in its first year of operation. There is no elitism about IEFC, in fact, the Bylaws have provision that prevent such a situation. IEFC is open to anyone of any faith. The church follows both State and Federal laws regarding its legal status, and keeps meticulous records, both financial and organizational. To date, the church has done nothing in word or deed to create, promote, or perpetuate any division or animosity in the Springfield Pagan community or any other community. If anyone has been removed from IEFC, it has been for their own actions that violated the Bylaws, not because their input and opinion was not wanted or they held a dissenting opinion concerning the content of the Bylaws. It only makes sense that if one spends 6 months helping to create the governing document that they be held accountable to the provisions therein. Apparently there were some that felt that the Bylaws were meant for "others" in the church and not them. They are no longer with IEFC.
