Category: News

Pagan Chaplain Receives International Award

via PNC-DC

Patrick being presented the award by Suhag Shukla. Photo courtesy of the Lady Liberty League.

On Tuesday, September 14, 2010, Wiccan minister Rev Patrick McCollum received the Mahatma Ghandi Award for the Advancement of Religious Pluralism from the Hindu American Foundation (HAF).  The award was presented during the seventh annual Capitol Hill reception sponsored by HAF.  This year’s reception was held in the Gold Room of the US Congress Rayburn Building.  Patrick was one of four award recipients.  Neal Katyal, Acting Solicitor General of the United States received the Pride of Community Award.  Community activist Vishal Agarwal received the Dharma Seva Award.  US Congressman Edward R. Royce (Republican, Orange, California) received the Friend of the Community Award.

“Patrick is not only the first Pagan to receive this award, but the first Pagan to receive an international interfaith advancement award.  This is an important milestone in Pagan interfaith relations,” said Rev. Selena Fox, Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary.  “I am glad that Patrick and his work to build bridges of understanding and collaboration among those of many faiths was honored.”

In his remarks upon receiving the award, Patrick expressed appreciation for this recognition, and also spoke about the importance of respecting diversity and sacredness of human beings.  “We are all part of the human family and we must learn to respect each other and live in harmony.”

David Salisbury from the Pagan Newswire Collective’s Washington DC bureau will be at tonight’s Lady Liberty League 25th Anniversary Reception, where Mr. McCollum is also to be honored,  so please check out their site for full coverage. Additionally, The Wild Hunt is providing more information on this event throughout today and tomorrow.

Lady Liberty League Celebrates 25 Years Tonight!

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LADY LIBERTY LEAGUE CELEBRATES 25 YEARS OF PAGAN RIGHTS ENDEAVORS

Pagan Liberty ImageOn Wednesday, September 15, 2010, Lady Liberty League will be celebrating its 25th Anniversary with a reception in Washington, DC. The reception is free and open to the public.

It will be held from 7-9 pm at the Universalist National Memorial Church, 1810 16th Street Northwest, Washington, DC

National and regional Pagan Rights activists, spiritual leaders, and practitioners of many traditions will be taking part in this interfaith celebration. Participants include those from Washington, DC, Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina, California, Illinois, Kentucky, Wisconsin, US Virgin Islands, and elsewhere.

Founded in 1985, Lady Liberty League (LLL) is a national and global Pagan civil rights and religious freedom organization. LLL is coordinated by Circle Sanctuary, an Ecospirituality center and Shamanic Wiccan church that has been serving Pagans worldwide since 1974.

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Minnesota Governor’s Debate Tonight

Tom Horner, Mark Dayton, and Tom Emmer square-off at the Pantages Theater tonight at 7 p.m. While the environment and other perennial issues are sure to come up, the candidates are expected to spend most of their time framing and attacking each other’s plans to fix the state’s $6 billion budget problem.

The debate is sold out, but you can watch the debate and even participate on BringMeTheNews.com

PNC-Minnesota is interested in getting your perspective of the debate.  For those of you who watch or attend the debate this evening, please comment to this story or send us an email letting us know your thoughts on the candidates and their stances on issues important to you.

PNC Expands

PNC-Minnesota: First, I would like to announce a new addition to the PNC-Minnesota, Diana Rajchel.  Diana has a background in Hard News and Editorial and is writing a book about divorce and Neopaganism.  Look for her contributions to the PNC to appear shortly.

If you are interesting in joining the PNC-Minnesota, please contact us!

PNC launches new bureaus: PNC National is proud to announce two newly-launched PNC bureaus, PNC-Iowa and PNC-Florida.

In addition, PNC-Atlanta has recently re-organized and is expanding to cover all of Georgia. Iowa, Florida, and Georgia join already established bureaus in Maine, Washington DC, and Minnesota, forming the backbone of a new kind of Pagan news organization.   If you’d like to help promote the PNC in your neck of the woods, download our easy-to-print informational brochure to hand out at the next gathering or event you attend.

Already our bureaus and journalists have done some excellent reporting and ground-work that will change the way our communities approach and consume news. The Washington DC bureau will be at the 25th anniversary ceremony for the Lady Liberty League, PNC-Minnesota has done amazing work covering Paganistan, independent PNC-affiliated reporters are covering events, and the PNC along with its media partners at Proud Pagan Podcasters and Patheos.com are beginning the work of establishing regular coverage at major Pagan events. – The Wild Hunt

PNC National is developing their web site for a Fall release. Those who’ve been following our progress will be able to see how the bureau system, our blogs, and other projects integrate to create a news and information hub that not only benefits readers, but creates more content options for Pagan media outlets. Our organization will be having an official “coming out” at the 2011 Pantheacon in San Jose in February. There will be a meet-and-greet and several PNC members, including two from the PNC-Minnesota, plan to be in attendance. We hope to see some of you there!

Written in association with The Wild Hunt