Welcome
Northern Pagan Church is a community shaped by shared values that support sacred connection, mutual respect, and grounded presence. These values guide how we gather, how we practice, and how we live in relationship with one another.
This page outlines the shared standards that help our community remain steady, welcoming, and accountable.
Our Core Values
Honor
We treat one another with dignity, honesty, and integrity. We recognize the sacred in others and in ourselves, and we act in ways that uphold trust and responsibility.
Honor includes fulfilling our obligations within the roles we hold. Different roles carry different responsibilities, and acting honorably means tending those responsibilities with seriousness and discernment.
Honor includes speaking truthfully, keeping commitments, and taking responsibility for our impact. When we fall short, we acknowledge it and participate in repair.
Honor requires discernment, especially when responsibilities are complex or in tension. It is not about perfection. It is about integrity in relationship.
Hospitality
We welcome one another with warmth and clarity. We make space for differences of experience, practice, identity, and belonging.
Hospitality is shared responsibility. Hosts offer thoughtful space and clear expectations. Guests enter with awareness and respect for the community they are stepping into.
Hospitality does not mean the absence of boundaries. It means creating conditions where dignity and mutual respect can thrive.
To receive hospitality is to honor the space and the people who hold it.
Sovereignty
We honor personal agency and consent. Every person has the right to make decisions about their body, voice, boundaries, and participation.
Sovereignty includes responsibility. Our freedom does not override another person’s safety or dignity. We exercise agency with awareness of our impact.
Sovereignty also requires clarity. We are responsible for naming our limits and respecting the limits of others.
To honor sovereignty is to uphold both individual integrity and the integrity of the community.
Practice Over Dogma
We prioritize lived practice over rigid belief. Growth happens through participation, reflection, and shared experience rather than enforced agreement.
Questions are welcome. Exploration is encouraged. Commitment grows through engagement, not compulsion.
Community Over Hierarchy
We value relationships over rank and contribution over title. Leadership exists to support the health of the community, not to elevate individuals above it.
Responsibility may differ by role, but dignity does not.
Standards of Shared Conduct
Our values become real through behavior. These standards apply across events, ceremonies, classes, conversations, and roles of service.
Speak and Listen with Care
We communicate clearly and respectfully. We listen before reacting. We speak from personal experience rather than assumption.
Respect Consent and Boundaries
Consent is explicit and ongoing. Physical, emotional, and conversational boundaries are honored. If discomfort is expressed, we pause and respond with attention.
Be Present and Accountable
We take responsibility for our words and actions. When harm occurs, we acknowledge it and seek repair rather than deflection.
Include Without Erasure
We make space for many paths and identities. Inclusion does not require sameness. Differences strengthen the community when held with respect.
Care for Shared Space
Our gatherings, whether in person or online, are sacred spaces. We treat them with awareness, attentiveness, and consideration for others.
Accessibility and Safety
We are committed to creating spaces that are as accessible and safe as possible within our resources.
Access needs vary and may change. Safety includes both physical and emotional dimensions. People arrive with different bodies, nervous systems, and histories.
Accessibility
We strive to:
- Offer online participation when possible
- Provide clear information about location, format, and expectations
- Be mindful of sensory load and pacing
- Make space for mobility, seating, and rest needs
- Welcome requests for reasonable accommodations
If you have an access need or question, reaching out in advance allows us to explore options together.
Safety and Care
We approach safety through awareness and shared responsibility.
This includes:
- Respecting physical and emotional boundaries
- Supporting consent based practices in ceremony and learning spaces
- Naming expectations clearly
- Redirecting activity when discomfort is expressed
- Encouraging participants to step away when needed
Participation should not require self-neglect.
Limits and Responsibility
While we strive for accessibility and care, we cannot meet every need in every circumstance.
Participants are encouraged to advocate for themselves, communicate clearly, and make choices that support their well being.
When safety concerns arise, leadership may intervene to protect individuals or the community as a whole.
Fire Safety and Sacred Fire Stewardship
Fire has been part of the spiritual life of this community since 2012. It was tended privately for several years and used publicly beginning in 2017. Northern Pagan Church formally formed in 2021, continuing this living tradition.
Over time, the fire has held offerings, prayers, communion, and portions of cremated remains entrusted to it by members of the community.
For many, this fire represents continuity, memory, and connection. It is treated with the respect given to both sacred space and final resting place.
Shared Expectations Around Fire
When fire is present, participants are expected to:
- Follow guidance from designated fire stewards
- Maintain awareness of surroundings
- Keep clothing and belongings clear of flame
- Offer only appropriate, non-toxic, burnable materials
- Dispose of trash and recycling properly
- Refrain from tending the fire while impaired
- Respect boundaries around the fire pit
Sacred fire is not a disposal site. Offerings are acts of intention and should be treated as such.
Offerings and Respect
If you are unsure whether something is appropriate to offer, please ask.
Because the fire holds deep meaning and has received cremated remains, all engagement should be mindful and respectful. Quiet reflection is welcome. Carelessness is not.
Fire and Accessibility
We aim to clearly mark fire areas and provide seating at varied distances. Alternative participation options may be available.
If fire presents a concern for you, speak with event hosts.
Stewardship and Responsibility
Fire stewards are designated for gatherings where fire is used. Leadership may pause or end fire use if conditions change or safety requires it.
These decisions are made in care for people, land, and community.
Response and Accountability
Perfection is not required. Responsibility is.
When expectations are not upheld:
- Conversation may be initiated
- Guidance may be offered
- Adjustments to participation may occur
We seek fairness, transparency, and compassion in how we respond.
Shared Responsibility
These standards apply to everyone. Participants, volunteers, teachers, and leaders alike.
Community health is sustained by how we show up, how we speak, how we listen, and how we act with integrity.
Contact and Questions
If you have questions about these values or how they apply, you are welcome to reach out at:
We believe conversation strengthens community.