Some ideas of what can be done together
(our potential to-do list)

Some things, any one person can do.
Some things, any group can do.
Here are the things that it takes a more than just a group to do.
These are the thing that we can do by reaching our potential!

Dialogue:  One of the first tactics of those who would make conflict is to dehumanize the other side.  Dialogue is two-way communication which fosters understanding and combats dehumanization.  Honest dialogue is our most potent weapon.

Indorsements and certifications:  The need for "qualification" sometimes keeps some of our more qualified from practicing some of the most important parts of what clergy do.  In cases in which a government agency or anyone else needs certification that someone is a practicing member of the clergy, The Grove Union can offer this. 

Chaplaincies: Where are the Wiccan chaplains in the military?  The closest we have at the present time are a few who hold the title of "lay leader", even if to us they are clergy of some standing.  When will those of us who serve in uniform see someone of our faith commissioned as a chaplain or designated as an auxiliary chaplain?  When will the High Priestess of the local coven get the same rights and courtesies from the local hospital as the minister of the local Christian church?  Working together, we can tackle these issues - and win!

Census:  How many of us are there?  Right now, even we can't say how many we are, but there are enough of us to keep some shops in business and to allow some of our more popular authors to give up their day jobs!  An authoritative figure of how many of us there are is one of the roadblocks keeping us from some things which people of most other faiths consider to be their right as a matter of course.  A reasonably authoritative census such as those which other faiths do regularly will remove some of those roadblocks.  What is more, we have the skills and technology available to be able to do it well while not compromising confidentiality.

Facilities: Is there any of us who has never known of a problem about finding a place to meet of arranging a place for a get-together?  Of course, it is very difficult for a traditionally-organized coven to own or lease a place to call their own unless one or more of the coven members happens to be both wealthy and generous.  It is true that some groups could combine their effort into a common venture, but how often has that happened, much less succeeded.  A standard method of how to bring it about might help. 

Standing Together: Anyone who has served in the United States armed forces and is discharged honorably or under honorable conditions has, as a veteran's benefit, the right to a grave marker inscribed with certain identifying information, including a symbol which reflects the veteran's religious faith - unless that veteran is a Pagan or Wiccan.  One of the excuses given by the US Department of Veterans Affairs for refusing to address the issue is that we supposedly have no religious body.  And did you ever notice that if a politician or executive at any level makes an ignorant remark about Catholics, Jews, Hindus, Baptists or Muslims, there will be a delegation meeting with either the ignoramus or the ignoramus' boss - and quickly?  But there was no delegation able to meet and deal with a former governor of Texas who claimed that our faith was not a legitimate religion!  As a body, we can meet such challenges.

Helping The Seeker:  Here is a big task.  How many traditions do you know of?  How many traditions might you be unaware of?  How many covens do you know of in your area?  How many covens might there be in your area that you don't know about?  What is a seeker to do if he or she is exploring but is not sure of where to look?  How is a seeker to know which tradition is the best "fit" for their needs?  The Roman Catholics have an order known as The Vocation Sisters.  Their work consists of helping women who wish to become nuns find the order in which they are best suited.  This is a good idea, since the term "nun" can mean anything from a silent contemplative who never leaves the cloister to a high school basketball coach.  Working together, we could build something like that.  After all, someone who might do very well as an Asatru or following a Celtic path might not fit into a Dianic path - or vice versa.   

Minding Our Own Business:  What you see listed above is the proper business of a larger body.  What is more, it is the sort of business which a larger body is best equipped to handle.  The business of an individual coven or solitary practitioner is their own business and nobody else's, qualified only by the adage: "My right to swing my arm ends where your nose begins".  We have grown accustomed to the autonomy and sovereignty enjoyed by covens and solitary practitioners, and it has grown from being a matter of necessity in the days of persecution to being a matter of right in these days when we are coming out into the open and demanding the rights which all faiths have.  We have no need of "ecclesiastical superiors" minding business which is not their own to mind, but we do have a need for a larger body in which we can all stand together.  And we believe that unity and autonomy do not have to be mutually exclusive. 

Yourself:  There is a reason this is at the bottom - it is often the last thing most folks think of in a list like this.  But what use is all of the rest if you don't also nourish yourself?

All of this can be ours.
We only need to learn to work together.
All that we need to give is that which we would ask to be given unto us.
We must not take from another that which we would not give to another.
Sharing a common bond is how individual bricks become a building
Yet every brick retains its own identity.