Membership
Details of membership are still being finalized in the By-laws and these are currently being amended, but in brief our structure is such:
Associate Member - Someone apprenticed to our Path. (or children
of members).
Associate membership requires registration, attendance of
at least 2 gatherings, completion of the first class and minimum
membership dues.
Member - Full initiate with voting rights. Full membership requires the appropriate dues, age 18, sponsored by two other members, and has apprenticed for at least a year and a day with the church while completing the required classes. It is also possible for us to recognize those who have already completed a comparable apprenticeship with someone else while having a working relationship with the Divine through PaDeva. (i.e. apprenticed to a Curandero for at least a year of learning and study.)
**Priest / Priestess - in the PaDeva church we do not use the term Priest or Priestess as a designation of rank, privilege or status. It is how we refer to full members who have demonstrated that they take responsibility for their own spirituality and their own relationship for the divine. They are NOT considered clergy but are individuals who no longer require anyone else to perform the rites and rituals of the church. Most importantly, these are people who require no mediation between themselves and the Divine - they have achieved some level of inward mastery and competency in study.
Clergy - A Member Priest/ess in training or someone who has
graduated from our Seminary. In special cases, clergy title
may be given in cases of an individual already being a minister
and having completed a substantial level of training while
contributing a great deal of themselves to the community and
the world they live in.