Caution traversing the belt buckle of intolerance

Rome has St. Peter's Square and Springfield has the Blue Vatican. It also has a lot of let us say "people rough around the edges."   In planning the Church, it has got to be remembered that the property we're proposing to open up to the Pagan Community is our home. It's private property and that needs to be respected.  We will go quietly about our business, enjoying the freedom and privacy and safety in celebrating our faiths but the one thing we must not do is advertise there whereabouts to the general public.  Access to the property will be restricted to the Church membership - there will be not gadflies, gawkers, sightseers, or "half drunken college kids" standing by watching any of our celebrations.

While right now it is not a major concern, we do have to face the reality that there is always the chance of vandalism when one lives in an area such as ours. People don't like change, and people fear what they don't understand.  We are situated in an area where one doesn't just "happen to drive by."  To get here you must purposefully drive here.  While there is no way to competely prevent people from the general public from knowing we exist, there's also no need to offer them directions on how to get here.  We are hoping that those who would become members of the Church will respect that. In facilitating that, any advertising we do within the Pagan community will simply refer to "Middleworld Woods" without any directions, GPS coordinates, helium balloons or search lights pointing the way.  The last thing we want is to have a Murfreesboro, Tennessee type scenerio right here in good old Springfield, Missouri.

Of course there has been talk of building some sort of building - a sanctuary, a temple, whatever one would call it.  Yes, that's an eventual goal, but the Church must plan for a time when it as an entity can buy its own property and build, or buy a prebuilt property somewhere to fulfill that goal.  Part of what we are doing will allow the Church to start raising funds to that end. None of this is going to magically pop up overnight - it is going to take some real work and real dedication to bring it all to fruition.  Each journey starts with a single step - we have now done that.  As with any infant, the first few steps are always tentative and awkward until we achieve a balance.
In organizing the Board, we need to discriminate between those who truly wish to have the privacy to worship freely and safely, and those who would have a platform from where they could flaunt it in the face of all of Christendom.  We as human beings have forgotten the value of piety. This is not a "we" versus "them" organization. This is  "we" among "them" organization.  The goal of the Church is to peacefully coexist with other people of faith, regardless of what that faith may be, to be able to express ourselves in worship in an organized, peaceful, and lawful manner.  It is also meant to be a retreat where one or all came get away from the daily stressors, spend some time out in nature, and re-energize their spiritual batteries.

Here's hoping to have a wonderful and productive autumnal season.