Texas Local Council Covenant of the Goddess
COG National Bylaws - Reference Material for Membership into COG
ARTICLE 2. MEMBERSHIP
A. CLASSES OF MEMBERSHIP
There shall be three classes of membership in the Covenant: Regular, Provisional, and members of Assemblies of Solitaries. These shall be conferred, and have associated rights as is provided for in this Article of these Bylaws. Once duly admitted, all Member Covens shall have equal rights, including voting, holding office, and on all other matters. The Council may also create classes of non-voting Associates of the Covenant.
B. CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP
1. CRITERIA FOR COVENS: In order for the Covenant to be viable as an instrument of the joint will of its Members, a Coven, to be eligible for membership in the Covenant, must meet the following criteria, which must be addressed in each applicant’s Statement of Practice.
a. be recognized as being in fact a Coven of members of Our Religion by whichever Regular Members are already familiar with it and its members; and proclaim themselves as Witches or Wiccans in the Statement of Practice;
b. be a cohesive, self-perpetuating group fully able to practice and preserve its Tradition of Our Religion;
c. subscribe to a code of ethics compatible with that in Article 9, Section B, of these Bylawshr>
d. generally focus its liturgy, theology, and so on around the worship of the Goddess or the Goddess and the Old Gods;
e. have three or more members who have been Formally Accepted into Training for the Clergy;
f. have at least one member who is eligible to receive Elder Priest/ess Credentials according to the provisions of Article 7, Section B.2. of these Bylaws;
g. have been meeting monthly or more often for at least six months in order to conduct worship services;
h. pledge to abide by all the provisions of the Charter, these Bylaws, and all policy decisions of the Council; and
i. agree that the Coven and all its members will hold harmless any Committee of the Covenant and all Committee members acting in their official capacities.
2. CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP IN AN ASSEMBLY OF SOLITARIES:
In order to be eligible for membership as a member of an Assembly of Solitaries, a solitary practitioner of Our Religion must meet the following criteria which must be addressed in each applicant’s Statement of Practice.
a. be recognized as being in fact a member of Our Religion by whichever Regular Members are already familiar with the practitioner and proclaim her or himself as a Witch or Wiccan in the Statement of Practice;
b. subscribe to a code of ethics which is compatible with those in Article 9, Section B, of these Bylaws;
c. generally focus its liturgy, theology, and so on around the worship of the Goddess or the Goddess and the Old Gods;
d. be eligible to receive Priest/ess Credentials according to the provisions of Article 7, Section B.1. of these Bylaws;
e. pledge to abide by all provisions of the Charter, these Bylaws, and all policy decisions of the Council; and
f. Agree to hold harmless any Committee of the Covenant and all Committee members acting in their official capacities.
C. APPLICATION PROCEDURES: NATIONAL
In areas where no Local Council exists, the procedures for application for Membership in the Covenant shall be as follows:
1. The Coven or solitary practitioner shall submit an application and a statement of practice specifying that it meets the criteria in Section B of this Article and two letters of recommendation to the Membership Officer. The letters of recommendation shall be from members of two different Covens or Solitaries that are known to the Covenant.
2. If a Coven or solitary practitioner has obtained only one recommendation, that Coven or solitary practitioner may apply as a Provisional Member. Provisional Members have one year and one day to complete the process of application for Regular Membership or membership in the Assembly of Solitaries. If that application process is not completed within one year and one day, the Provisional membership shall lapse.
3. A copy of all pertinent documents, including the Membership Application, shall be forwarded to the Publications Officer. All statements of practice and the names of those recommending admission shall be published in the next issue of the COG Newsletter.
4. If, at the termination of a 90-day review period after publication of the documents as specified in Section C.3 above, no objections to the application have been received, the Membership Officer shall approve the application no longer than 15 days after the termination of the review period. If there are any objections, the Membership Officer shall take whatever action she or he deems in the best interest of the Covenant. Decisions of the Membership Officer may be appealed to the Council.
5. Final action on the application shall be announced to the Covenant in the next issue of the COG Newsletter.
D. APPLICATION PROCESS: LOCAL COUNCIL
In areas where a Local Council exists, the procedures for application for membership in the Covenant shall be as follows:
1. A Local Council may establish its own procedures for application for membership in the Covenant. Such procedures shall not violate these Bylaws. In addition to any established procedures for application for Membership in the Covenant, each Local Council shall also comply with the provisions of Section D of this Article.
a. A Local Council which has established its own procedures for application for membership in the Covenant shall publish those procedures in the Samhain issue of the COG Newsletter each year.
b. Any Local Council which does not publish procedures in the Samhain issue of the COG Newsletter will be deemed to have accepted the procedures established in Section C of this Article, until Samhain of the following year.
c. A Local Council may amend its published procedures for application for membership in the Covenant by publishing such amendments in the next issue of the COG Newsletter. No amendment shall be valid until published in the COG Newsletter.
2. The Membership Officer and Board of the Local Council shall act on each application for membership in the Covenant which is received. If the Membership Officer or the Board of the Local Council have doubts or reservations about the applicant they may recommend the applicant for Provisional Membership or take whatever action on the application they believe to be in the best interests of the Covenant and the Local Council.
3. The Local Council Membership Officer shall forward one set of the completed application materials as specified in Article 2. Section C. 1. To the National Membership Officer. A copy of all pertinent documents, including the membership application, shall be sent to the Publications Officer. Statements of Practice and names of sponsors of an applicant shall be published in the next issue of the COG Newsletter.
4. If any Member has any objection to this application, that Member may communicate such objections to the Membership Officer of the Local Council, who shall take whatever action she or he deems to be in the best interest of the Covenant and of that Local Council.
5. If the application has received the approval of the Local Council Membership, and after the termination of the 90 day Review Period following publication as specified in Section D. 3 of this article, no objections to the application have been made, the Local Membership Officer shall approve the application, and so advise the National Membership Officer within two weeks of the Local Council’s decision to admit the application.
6. Final action on the application shall be announced in the next issue of the COG Newsletter.
E. RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE MEMBERSHIP OFFICER
1. REGARDING APPLICATIONS: The Membership Officer shall be responsible for ascertaining, as best she or he can, whether applicants that apply for membership in the Covenant meet the criteria in Section B of this Article. Evidence concerning the qualifications of any applicant for membership may be submitted to the appropriate Membership Officer by any person who has first-hand information concerning such qualifications. In applying the criteria provided in this Article, each Membership Officer shall exercise her or his discretion in the most holistic and intuitive manner possible, in order to arrive at better decisions than mere logic would allow. In such decision making, each Membership Officer should also beware of establishing precedents or creating trends that might at some future time lead to results that could disrupt the ordinary functioning of Covens or the Covenant, or which could lead to potential ethics conflicts. The Covenant affirms the right of member Covens to admit to membership whomever they choose and the Covenant shall not exclude applicants solely because of the age, race, gender, sexual orientation, disability, or country of origin, residence, or citizenship of Coven members. The Covenant shall not exclude applicants solely because their Traditions of Our Religion differ from those of current Members.
2. REGARDING NEW MEMBERS: Upon acceptance of new Members into the Covenant, the Membership Officer shall:
a. obtain from the new Member the name, mailing address, telephone number, and confidentiality level(s) of the new Member's contact person; and
b. cause a Certificate of Membership to be forwarded to the new Member. In order for a Certificate of Membership to confer any legal status on the Coven or person who receives it, certain information may have to be filed with the state or local government. The Membership Officer will undertake such filing only when requested to do so in writing by the Coven or person in question.
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