Tag: Teisha Magee

After the obituary, a post-mortem on Sacred Paths Center

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“At 6:25 pm (April 25th) the Executive Director dissolved the board of directors,” reads the last entry in the minutes of the final board meeting of Sacred Paths Center, a Pagan community center in Minnesota. A few days later, on Beltane, Executive Director Teisha Magee sent out an email saying the center closes May 31st.

“Why is Sacred Paths Center closing?” is a question asked by Twin Cities Pagans after reading the announcement.  That question is quickly followed by, “What can we learn from their experience?” by Pagan organizations such as Solar Cross Temple in San Francisco and the Open Hearth Foundation community center in Washington DC.  PNC-Minnesota spoke with past and present Sacred Paths Center (SPC) board members, volunteers, and their last financial auditor, looked over financial records and minutes of board meetings, and interviewed Teisha Magee to answer those questions.

Sacred Paths Center cc wikipedia

In short, most everyone interviewed says the center’s Director and Board were not functional, the finances were in disarray, the building was too expensive, and the resulting drop in income after  two years of  road construction right outside their door didn’t help matters.

Despite that, they are united in saying the center almost made it due to the efforts of the Director, Board, volunteers and the most importantly, the community support.  According to the  U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics only 66% of new businesses make it past two years and only 44% celebrate their fourth anniversary.  Sacred Paths Center made it three years and three months.

What Happened?

The public perception of Sacred Paths Center is that it is a non-profit community center with a board.  And normally with something like that the director would report to the board and the board would have something to do with the operation of the center and would have fiduciary responsibilities.  That’s not the case.  – Ciaran Benson, former SPC board member and current volunteer

What happened, the successes and the failures, are of prime concern to Sean Bennett, Vice Chair of the Open Hearth Foundation.  Four months ago they opened a community center and he says his board has been following news of Sacred Paths Center closely. “Even though the center in Minnesota has a different environment and a different dynamic there are lessons we could learn.”  He says they were concerned and disappointed to hear of SPC’s closing, “We wanted to see it succeed.  We want to know more about what happened and we will gather together as a board and see what lessons we can learn.”

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Sacred Spaces Part 5 – Funding and Sustaining a Community Center

Sacred Spaces is a series that looks at successful examples of modern Pagans creating and maintaining permanent places for worship and fellowship. In this segment, we look at how Sacred Paths Center, a Pagan community center in St Paul, made it through a financial crisis that could have closed its doors and emerged financially sustainable.

In Part 6 of Sacred Spaces, we talk with Sacred Paths Center Executive Director Teisha and Board member CJ Stone about the profound impact the community center has had on the Pagan community in the Twin Cities and why it is worth the effort, sweat, and money to have a place where Pagans can be Pagans.

Previous segments of this series can be seen here:
Part 1 – Temple of the River: Getting started
Part 2 – Temple of the River: Challenges and Construction
Part 3 – Temple of the River: Funding
Part 4 – Sacred Paths Center: Birth of a Community Center

Sacred Spaces Part 4: Birth of a Community Center

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Many Pagan groups share the dream of building some type of sacred space.  A temple, a community center, a permanent altar.  It remains a dream because they lack the information, skills, and experience to bring it into reality.  Yet other groups have accomplished what can seem, at times, impossible.  They learned how to raise funds, deal with city inspectors, and overcome challenges that have stymied the rest of us.  We can learn from them and they are eager to share their successes and mistakes so that more Pagans can have their very own Sacred Space.

In Part 4 of Sacred Spaces we talk with the founder and a board member of a Pagan community center in St Paul and learn how they were able to get this project off the ground.  They also offer advice on how your community can start a community center of your own.

In Part 5 of Sacred Spaces, we talk with Teisha and CJ about surviving Sacred Path Center’s first financial crisis and how they developed a financially sustainable model that other communities can emulate.

Previous segments of this series can be seen here:
Part 1 – Temple of the River: Getting started
Part 2 – Temple of the River:  Challenges and Construction
Part 3 – Temple of the River:  Funding