America is noted as one of the most religious countries in the world, yet our founders established, in the words of Thomas Jefferson, a "wall of separation between church and state." But why does religion thrive in countries where government stays at arm’s length? And when that wall erodes, how does the character of society change?

America may be the most religiously diverse country in the world today. But true religious pluralism can only exist where religious freedom is protected as well as valued by society. At Cherry Hill Seminary’s 2009 Winter Intensive meet three activists who have shaken the earth with their footsteps, devoting their lives to ensuring religious freedom for all:  prison chaplaincy expert The Rev. Patrick McCollum, attorney and Druid James Bianchi, and CHS board member and former Public Ministry Chair M. Macha NightMare (pictured at left, top to bottom).

Program:

  • McCollum on the importance of religious pluralism in a diverse democratic society.
  • Bianchi on the intersection of religion, law and activism 
  • Panel discussion moderated by Pagan author and CHS board member M. Macha NightMare.

8:00 AM     Check in

8:30 AM     Morning session

12:00         Lunch on own

1:30 PM     Afternoon session

5:00 PM     Conclude program

 

Cherry Hill Seminary students receive credit for one intensive towards their certificate, (only for attending the full day).  Registration fee covers intensive workshop and materials.  Participants responsible for lunch on own.  The DoubleTree Hilton has several restaurants just down the hall from our meeting room.

The Rev. Patrick McCollum appears before the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights in Washington, DC, at a briefing on prisoners' religious rights.
James L. Bianchi, Attorney at Law, rests before a giant redwood while hiking at a Cherry Hill Seminary intensive.

M. Macha NightMare, Pagan author, CHS Board Member and former Public Ministry Department Chair, and member of the Marin (CA) Interfaith Council.

If you wish to stay at the DoubleTree or any of the several nearby hotels, you will need to make those arrangements.  The DoubleTree tends to fill up for PantheaCon; click on link at right for more info.

Special thanks to

for hosting Cherry Hill Seminary at the PantheaCon 2009 conference!

Click here to register for PantheaCon 2009, which begins the day following "Power, Politics & Religious Pluralism," in the same location.

$125 before February 6

$95 before January 6

$75 before December 6

Scroll down to register.

 

 

 

James L. Bianchi, Attorney at Law

 Attorney James Bianchi has founded or served on numerous nonprofit boards and commissions, including homeless shelters, domestic violence shelters, sexual assault programs, drug treatment programs, legal aid offices, and after school programs for elementary school children. Bianchi, a Druid, began his career as a draft counselor, working with conscientious objectors during the Vietnam War at San Francisco State University.  He teaches the "Religion and the Law" course for Cherry Hill Seminary and is a returning CHS Winter Intensive presenter.

The Rev. Patrick McCollum

 The Rev. Patrick McCollum was the first official U.S. Wiccan Chaplain. For the past nine years, McCollum has served as statewide Wiccan chaplain for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, ministering to inmates at 33 institutions and San Quentin's Death Row. He also serves as a Wiccan chaplain in the Federal Bureau of Prisons and is a religious advisor for fourteen other states’ correctional systems. McCollum serves on the National Advisory Council of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, and is the national coordinator of the Lady Liberty League Prison Ministry Program. McCollum is director of chaplaincy at Cherry Hill Seminary, and serves as liaison between the American Academy of Religion and the state chaplains of all 50 states. He is currently the plaintiff in a high-profile case against the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, arguing that the state's classification system for chaplains was improperly limited to five denominations, excluding Wicca, and therefore violates the Establishment Clause of the state and federal constitutions.
M. Macha NightMare, Priestess and Witch, is a ritualist, both solo and collaborative, and a published author. Macha joined in the formation of Reclaiming Collective, to teach Craft and to perform public sabbats in San Francisco. The collective evolved into a Craft tradition, and eventually dissolved itself in 1997, to re-emerge as a much larger and more inclusive entity.

Macha co-created with Starhawk The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over, and is author of Witchcraft and the Web: Weaving Pagan Traditions Online. She is also a contributor to Irish Spirit: Essays on Irish Spirituality, edited by Patricia Monaghan, coming from Wolfhound Press in September 2001.

Macha holds Elder and ministerial credentials through The Covenant of the Goddess. A member since 1981, she is a former National First Officer and has served the Covenant in many other capacities. She is also a member of the Biodiversity Project Spirituality Working Group, the Sacred Dying Foundation Advisory Council, and she participates in the Nature Religion Scholars Network. When the opportunity presents itself, Macha travels the broomstick circuit, where she enjoys immersing herself in the diverse community that is American Witchcraft.  Website
Form Object