CST News, Services and Projects
NEWS:
PASSINGS:
Sandi Craig, a long-time member of CST, and previous member of our Pagan Prisoner
Committee, passed on Friday morning, November 24, 2004, after having suffered serious health
problems for many years. She had just recently gotten engaged.
Ossian Gillebert, an Irish pub singer and old friend, passed on Thursday night, November 23,
2004, after an 8-month battle with lung cancer. Ossian previously wrote for The Hazel Nut (to see his
articles, go to http://www.spiraltree.org/HazelN
ut/articles.index.htm and scroll down to "From Other Traditions: The Three Worlds of the
Oide Column by Adrian"), and was a High Priest of his own tradition.
Stormy, the organizer of Earthdance, passed on Friday, October 1, 2004 at 4:15 pm, after a 2-year
battle with pancreatic cancer. Stormy had requested that people donate to
Pancreatic Cancer Research, in lieu of flowers.
Patricia J. Hembree, aka RoseHawk Blue, formerly known by Cherokee Rose or Myra, passed away
on January 1, 2005. She is survived by her mother and daughter, Amanda. RoseHawk was an
inspiration to many, having gone through many personal battles. After working a 12-step program
successfully, she began sharing this method with other pagans at gatherings. She was the first to do
a 12-step program during a gathering at Dragon Hills. There were several memorials held in her
honor, including the first memorial where her family requested her Wiccan friends, fellow CST
members, her Bird Clan friends, and her 12-step brothers and sisters to each come together by the
river to honor her in their own way; a fire walk in her memory; and a sweat lodge. Her laughter will
always be remembered as well as her spirit of service.
April 2000 - Community Relief Fund: CST now has a Community Relief Fund
up and running. Your donations to this fund are tax-deductible - we will send you a receipt
UPON
REQUEST. Please make your checks out to "Church of the Spiral Tree" and attach a note or
write in the memo space, "Community Relief Fund." This way we can keep up with exactly how
much is coming in for this fund. Please consider donating now, before we actually need it, so that
when someone is in need, we can send a check immediately. We recently received a thank-you
letter
from the Governor of North Carolina for our $120 check we sent in fall 1999 for the North
Carolina Disaster Relief. Mail
checks to: Church of the Spiral Tree, P.O. Box 8396, Columbus, GA 31908.
June 1999 - Homeschool: CST has formed a cover school for Alabama pagan
homeschoolers, called
Sacred Grove Academy. In Alabama, to
homeschool your
children, you need to be either a certified teacher, or be part of a
church with a cover school. Now Sacred Grove meets this requirement!
June 1999 - CST received its tax-exempt status. We're recognized by the IRS as a Section
501(a) organization under 501(c)(3) of the code. So start sending in those donations!
May 1999 - We received a letter from an inmate in Texas requesting books to read. He wants any
type
of Pagan or Wiccan books, used, damaged, no longer needed, etc. You may send them directly to
him: Rodney Shelton, #763666/3-G-30-B, 3695 FM 3514, Beaumont, TX 77705, or to CST,
P.O. Box 8396, Columbus, GA 31908. Thanks!
December 1998 - An article on Pagans in Alabama was published in the Birmingham
Post-Herald on December 9, 1998, and subsequently picked up by the AP and carried in many,
many other papers throughout the southeast, and probably the country. If you know of a paper
that carried the article, please email us and
let us know!
View the article in its entirety in text and color photo form
here. This requires Adobe Acrobat
Reader; click on the icon below to download a free copy of this program:
SERVICES:
Pagan Prisoner Committee:
Ordination: Since CST is a religious organization, i.e., a church, we can legally ordain
ministers. This means that our ministers can perform legal weddings, funerals, and baptisms. In
order to become a legal minister through the Church of the Spiral Tree, you first of all need to be
an active (paid) member. Then fill out the ordination form , and mail
in with the one-time fee. You will be entered into our database, and will soon receive your
certificate of ordination and a card to carry with you. The fee for this service is $35.00, and will
confer ordination for life. Note that becoming a CST minister does not automatically confer
"Elder" or "High Priest/ess" status upon anyone! These are earned positions, not lightly
given.
Forming Local Groups:We are legally registered to do business in Georgia as well
as in Alabama. This means that members in that state may form their own local CST group. If
you are in a different state and wish to start your own group, let us know, and we can easily
register for business in your state. However, we won't do that until a member requests it, due to
the cost involved (minimal, but can add up). The two types of local groups are Groves (1st level)
and Branches (next level). If you are interested in this, please see Forming Local Groups.
Natural Family Planning: Cathy, a health services professional, is offering counseling
on natural methods of family planning, both fertility and contraception. For more info, email her
at tabbatcat@yahoo.com.
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