Being Diffoccult

That's the question Ár nDraíocht Féin (ADF) will now need to answer since 4 of their 34 clergy members independently chose not to renew their credentials for 2020. Public resignations list racism, misogyny, nepotism, and spiritual abuse. All those who have stepped down are women or non-binary folks under the age of forty-five. These departures prompted an Initiate, training for clergy, to abdicate. Another priest has reduced his role in anticipation of leadership's response.

Ár nDraíocht Féin, or "A Druid Fellowship," is a neopagan non-profit founded in 1983. Their church is based on ancient Indo-European traditions. These are "expressed through public worship, study, and fellowship," according to their website.

The Complaints

Shockwaves echoed in the community Monday, November 4 when Rev. Lauren Mart was the first to make a public statement. Rev. Mart is a non-director officer (NDO) on the Mother Grove (MG), or Board of Directors, of ADF. (Non-director officers cannot vote but appoint Administrator, the Preceptor, and the Treasurer.) Around 4 pm on Monday evening, she announced the departure of the four clerics. "I consider these women my friends and am troubled by their words about an organization that has been so influential in my life," she stated. She brought the resignations to the attention of the MG. The post was also made available to the public. "...something this serious warrants discussion in more than just the clergy spaces."

Within two hours, "Snow" Fuller stepped forward to share her reasons for leaving. Fuller has previously served as the Heartland Regional Druid. She was the first to call out nepotism in the MG. "...[T]he emphasis seems to be more and more on maintaining the status quo and consolidating the power of the priesthood, not to mention blatant cronyism." She says that leadership has often left its members out of important decisions. They have ignored glaring problems. This was obvious when Moira Greyland accused ADF founder Isaac Bonewits of pedophilia in January 2018. Fuller also acknowledges knowing of "sexual abuse, racism and verbal abuse at the hands of leadership" in her position.

On Tuesday, November 5, Fuller wrote a longer follow-up. While she refused to share others' stories, she had one of her own. When she applied for the Clergy Training Program (CTP) in the spring of 2015, certain members of the Clergy Council expressed concern over her dual membership between ADF and the Troth, another neopagan non-profit. There was going to be follow-up, she was told. Instead, she received a form letter, rejecting her application outright. By this time, she had already become a solo Grove Organizer, attempting to build a new Proto-Grove four hours' drive from any community support. She was told to repetition the Council, which she did. They granted her petition and she completed clergy training in less than a year. "I actually threw up when I submitted my ordination portfolio, knowing that if my application was denied, I wasn't sure I could come back from the depression of it."

The problems, she says, are: lack of communication; lack of collegiality; lack of support; and cronyism. She also vehemently denies the idea, put forth by ADF leadership, that changes couldn't work because "ADF is different." Fuller says that the problems with ADF are predictable. "ADF is a church, which is a form of non-profit, and understanding how non-profits operate and how they have a lifecycle makes literally everything wrong with this organization predictable."

"This organization is not working toward sustainability. Not even the sustainability of its own existence," says Melissa Hill. She joined ADF in 2008 to build a sustainable path and create a culture focused on harmony between all. Hill's letter makes mention of the perpetuation of racism, as well as misogyny and emotional abuse. She is choosing to transition her online presence away from ADF. Continuing to try to do good work in ADF's name "make[s] ADF look good so that there are new targets for damage. That is wrong." Hill is the current Clergy Council secretary and leader of the Ecstatic Trance Special Interest Group. She has formerly served as Senior Druid and Chief Liturgist. Hill co-founded Cedarsong Grove.Hill writes The Dandelion Lady blog on Patheos Pagan. She wrote a piece critical of ADF theurgy in March of this year entitled "Appropriation of Afro-Diaspora Traditions in Druidic Religion." August saw a ritual designed to address these and other concerns.

Sara Blackwelder, the third to leave, has a similarly impressive resume. She joined the organization in 2008, founded the Manatee Oak Grove in Tampa, Fl., and then moved out to join the Mountain Ancestors Grove in CO. Ordained in 2004, she's been Treasurer, South East Regional representative, Bardic Guild Chief, Scholar's Guild Preceptor, Bardic Order Preceptor, and the Sacred Fire Special Interest Group Chief. Her statement only cites "growth in different directions." But she does invite people to message her to learn the specifics.

The last of the four priests, Nancy McAndrew, has yet to make a public statement (as far as I'm aware).

The Fall-Out

Late Monday night, Rev. Robert Lewis threatened to become the fifth to leave. He accuses the organization of trying to return to 1983. Citing the pedophilia accusations against founder Bonewits, he states: "Our leadership in the MG has been horrific in their responses to some self made crisis [sic]." Furthermore, "there has been a visible attempt to consolidate power in the organization amongst the clergy." He, too, underlines the lack of communication and transparency from the Mother Grove. Having joined ADF in 1999, he helped found the Tear of the Cloud Proto-Grove. He has also been the Northeast Regional Druid, the Secretary, and Information Manager. With the announcement of those leaving, he is stepping away from his roles. If nothing in ADF changes, he will leave. He also expects his Grove will be leaving ADF within the year.

Diane "Emerald" Bronowicz Egelhoff provided the most detailed allegation of spiritual abuse. She is the Initiate who decided to leave, too. In April of 2016, the ADF Preceptor -- who was also Vice ArchDruid (VAD) at the time -- refused to review her last Initiate Path Course. This went on for months. She followed procedure and contacted the Members' Advocate for help. In return, the VAD filed a formal complaint against her and her Initiator. This kept her from completing her Initiator Path. It also kept her Initiators from helping anyone else or running for office. When there was no movement on the Formal Complaint, Bronowicz counter-filed. She cited abuse of power and violation of the Leadership Conduct Policy. On filing, she learned that the original Complaint was still "under review" by the VAD, who should have been recused, and the Arch Druid. The Mother Grove finally threw out both complaints in September 2016. She was able to pass the Initiate Path but there was no investigation into the VAD's abusive behavior. But Bronowicz did not enroll in the Clergy Training Path, as she'd intended. She entered the Interfaith Seminary, instead. She remained an ADF member to keep personal ties and access to religious resources. Now, she is quitting in solidarity -- and to heal. "[A]s we were coming up with traits of abusive leaders during a recent seminary class centered on spiritual abuse, I realized that every trait I came up with could describe the current leader of my church, and that made me feel so powerfully ashamed—ashamed of my church for being this way and ashamed that I was a member of it."

The Response

Desiree Amber Cook, a current Non-Director Officer, began the ADF response unofficially. She admits also struggling to renew her membership. As a former Members Advocate, she felt gutted. "Our complaint process doesn't work. It is not designed to help anyone but rather than to just dismiss whatever is brought up as not the organization/grove/member problem." Now, in her new position, she feels that the Mother Grove refuses to examine new ideas. Cook calls for the leaders to listen to those who are leaving so they can change things for those who remain.

Northeast Regional Druid, Echo Summer, has even provided a list. Their November 5 blog-post "ADF: Four Priests and an Initiate have Resigned. What comes next?" orders the complaints logically. Summer added two more pressing concerns, as well. ADF needs to have a better response to current events. In 2017, the courts found a member guilty of "Dissemination of Obscenities." And in 2018, Greyland accused founder Bonewits of childhood sexual assault. "Both of these did elicit responses from the Mother Grove at the time, but there were concerns about the appropriateness of those responses which cost us members AND reputation," Summer states. The structural organization of ADF also needs an overhaul. " It is clear that the organization was assembled piecemeal as needs arose, but the current structure is not tenable and we need to do some serious pruning."

The Mother Grove's first statement was captured by the Wild Hunt's November 6 article. The Mother Grove assures its members that they are listening to these concerns. "All three groups will be looking over our processes, our communication styles, our commitment to each other and to the folks we serve so what we don’t lose any more talented members of our clergy or initiates."

By November 8, they officially disavowed Isaac Bonewits in a public statement. Other members had recently come forward with new allegations of childhood sexual abuse.

Further actions may be taken in time. Just what they will be remains to be seen.

What Does This Mean?

What does it mean when a male-majority, older establishment loses its diversifying voices? ADF offers the same opportunities for leadership to men and women. Yet no woman has ever led the organization. With fifteen percent of those eligible gone, it seems near-impossible for the group to break away from its Good Old Boys Club atmosphere.

Pagan groups need to start working on inclusivity. Otherwise, they will continue to lose diversifying talent. This starts from the top-down. Elected officials need to reflect the range of the members, from gender to cultural background. And then those leaders need to listen -- even to voices they would otherwise disagree with. Members should feel not only included but respected despite their gender, age, race, sexual orientation, and physical conditions. No religious group should be playing favorites. No religious group should lose members that feel as if they can't speak up because they won't be heard.

"Being heard" means your group needs to have a strong communication platform. ADF spreads itself thin across its website and facebook. Certain kindreds prefer to use one exclusively over the other. Those decisions allow smaller sub-groups to govern themselves more effectively. But at what cost? How much ends up slipping through the cracks? It's hard to build the transparency complainants call for when there's no consistency. And without consistent communication, it's easy to understand how the obfuscation Fuller, Lewis, Bronowicz, and Cook mention could occur. When the public can't easily oversee a group's directors, leaders don't have to be fair or inclusive.

These complaints shed light on a toxic situation in the greater pagan community. While ADF is the most public group to be called out on these problems, it's not the only group to experience them. If pagan organizations do not change the way they operate, they cannot -- will not -- survive.