COLUMBIA, SC — Cherry Hill Seminary denounces an assertion that Christianity is the only faith protected by the U.S. Constitution, made in a friend of the court (amicus) brief filed this week in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. The brief is part of a years-long struggle by the Seminary Director of Chaplaincy, Rev. Patrick M. McCollum, to compel the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to eliminate its discriminatory policies and practices.

The CDCR has argued before the court that Pagans are not deserving of equal civil rights. In one of their first arguments to the court, the defendants said that certain “traditional” faiths are “first-tier faiths” which merited equal rights and protections under the U.S. Constitution. Faiths other than “Christianity, Catholicism and Judaism” were designated as “second-tier faiths,” with no right to protection or accommodation. Islam and the Native American Church were later added to this list, hence the term “five-faiths policy.”

The amicus filed this week in support of the CDCR is submitted on behalf of WallBuilders, Inc., an organization known for promoting a dominionist “Christian Nation.” WallBuilders claims that the definition of the word “religion” at the time the Constitution was written included only monotheism, and therefore other religions are not protected by the Constitution.

“To make such an assertion is not only outrageous, but it reveals the irony that this country is fighting a war against religious extremists in one part of the world, while government officials in California are willing to deny religious freedom to their own citizens,” said Rev. Kirk Thomas, recent Past President of Cherry Hill Seminary. “We stand by our faculty member, Rev. McCollum, in full support of his brave fight for religious liberty for all in this country.”

“Pagan religions have always existed alongside Christianity, as well as throughout human history and around the world,” said Holli Emore, Executive Director of Cherry Hill Seminary. “The many religious groups and leaders who joined Cherry Hill in signing an amicus understand that we live in a plural society. Indeed, this is one of the strengths of our country, not something to deny or oppose. Our students are a testament to that plurality; they represent the growing need for Pagan ministers who are prepared to serve not only the public sector, but institutional settings such as the California prisons.”

McCollum has a long and successful history of ministering to those unable to practice their faith in institutional settings. He a member of the American Correctional Chaplain Association, a statewide Wiccan chaplain for the California Department of Corrections since 1997, has served as a Wiccan chaplain in the Federal Bureau of Prisons, has helped mentor chaplains from many faith traditions across the country, and has advised state and federal correctional institution officials on religion issues across the nation.

On February 5, 2008, Rev. McCollum testified before the U.S Commission on Civil Rights, and his remarks were widely quoted in the Commission’s report entitled “Enforcing Religious Freedom in Prison.” As a member of the National Advisory Council of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, McCollum was closely involved with efforts by that group which resulted in a policy change within the U.S. Department of Veteran’s Affairs to include the pentacle symbol on the list of approved symbols permitted to be inscribed on the headstones and markers of fallen soldiers.

Cherry Hill Seminary provides education for Pagan ministry, including master’s degrees and practical training, through its distance education program. For more information about this story, please contact Holli Emore, Cherry Hill Seminary, at 888.503.4131, or CHS@cherryhillseminary.org.

Columbia, S.C. – M. Macha NightMare, a longtime teacher and administrator at Cherry Hill Seminary, will resign as Chair of the Public Ministry department and take a position on the Board of Directors, effective Oct. 31.

Nightmare in 2002 designed and taught the online course, “Call of the Dark Mother: Working with Death and Dying.” “Call” has consistently remained one of the most popular courses offered by Cherry Hill. During that time NightMare also served as Public Information Officer and as Chair of the Department of Public Ministry. She helped raise funds and recruit many faculty and board members to the first graduate-level Pagan seminary in the United States.

NightMare says she has felt useful, appreciated and satisfied in her work with Cherry Hill. “I have found working toward growing the first viable online NeoPagan seminary to be tremendously rewarding,” says NightMare. “As we approach the goal of accreditation, I believe I can better use my peculiar set of gifts by serving on CHS’s Board of Directors, where I wish to continue my work fundraising, recruiting faculty and general networking. I’m both dazzled and humbled by the Pagans who affiliate with CHS, either as faculty or students.”

Holli Emore, CFRE, Executive Director of Cherry Hill, says she looks forward to continuing her work with NightMare in her new role as board member. “Working with Macha has been an amazing privilege. She genuinely loves meeting people and making the introductions which help people enhance their own best qualities. While we will miss her dedication and drive as a member of the management team, Macha’s command of the overarching issues in the national Pagan community, plus her widespread connectedness makes her an ideal board member.”

NightMare holds Elder and ministerial credentials through The Covenant of the Goddess. She is a former National First Officer and has served the Covenant in many other capacities since 1981. She is a member of the Biodiversity Project Spirituality Working Group, the Sacred Dying Foundation Advisory Council as well as the Nature Religion Scholars Network. NightMare is author of “Witchcraft and the Web: Weaving Pagan Traditions Online” and “Pagan Pride: Honoring the Craft and Culture of Earth and Goddess,” and co-author of “The Pagan Book of Living and Dying: Practical Rituals, Prayers, Blessings, and Meditations on Crossing Over.”

Cherry Hill Seminary provides quality higher education and practical training in Pagan ministry. CHS is the only graduate-level education for Pagan ministry in the world, through online distance-learning classes, regional workshops and intensive retreats. More information is available online at www.cherryhillseminary.org.

COLUMBIA, SC — Cherry Hill Seminary is pleased to announce that the South Carolina Commission on Higher Education has notified the school of the religious exemption which allows the Seminary to grant master’s degrees. Beginning in September 2009 Cherry Hill Seminary will offer the following Master’s degrees.

• Master of Divinity (72 hours). Basic professional ministry degree, balancing Pagan academics, personal spiritual development, and Pagan ministerial practice. Most professional religious positions, such as chaplaincy, certain types of counseling, and other ministerial activities require a Master of Divinity degree.
• Master of Pagan Pastoral Care and Counseling (60 hours). Specialty degree, (pastoral care, religion and psychotherapy, or Pagan marriage and family) offers reflection, study and supervised practice which prepare the graduate to pursue various aspects of Pastoral Care and Counseling.
• Master of Pagan Ministry (48 hours). Preparation for specialized ministry in such areas as education, media, the arts or other practices, combines Pagan academics with practical and/or pastoral experience with diverse Pagan populations.
• Master of Pagan Studies (48 hours) Pagan academics degree, focusing on study and research in any one curriculum concentration major.

“As Paganism becomes an increasingly recognized and influential religion, we are delighted to be able to offer higher education for those who would serve as clergy professionals, whether as scholars, mentors, counselors, teachers, artists, organizers, leaders, chaplains and/or advocates in local, regional, national and international settings,” said the Academic Dean, Cynthia Jane Collins, M.Div., M.S. “A challenge we face is to integrate academic excellence, practical supervised training, individual responsibility and personal and community spiritual development from a Pagan perspective. We seek to enhance and expand our depth and breadth while finding ways to serve others, Pagans and non-Pagans alike. “

Originally founded in Vermont in 1997, and now based in South Carolina, Cherry Hill Seminary provides the only graduate program of Pagan seminary studies in the world. The distance education program holds twice-yearly intensive retreats, with all regular classes being held online. Faculty include such notables as Michael York, Ph.D., founder of the first Pagan graduate studies program in the world (at Bath Spa University, England), Grove Harris, M.Div., former managing director of the Harvard Religious Pluralism Project, now program director for the Parliament of the World’s Religions, and Dr. David Oringderff, founder of Sacred Well Congregation, sponsor of the well-known Wiccan circle at Fort Hood, Texas.

“We now enter a crucial period in our development,” said Kirk Thomas, Cherry Hill Seminary Board of Directors President. “Our next hurdle is to meet the requirements for accreditation, a process which normally takes several years.” Thomas, current Vice-Archdruid for Ár nDraíocht Féin: A Druid Fellowship (ADF), noted that Cherry Hill students tend to be mature adults with considerable life experience, who often already possess graduate degrees and professional credentials in such fields as social work, counseling, or psychology.

By spring, Cherry Hill Seminary will announce an invitation to apply for admission to the master’s programs, including transition information for existing certificate program students who wish to pursue a master’s degree. The rollout will include information about a new Department of Pagan Community Education for Lifelong Learning (PCELL), an enhanced replacement of the current certificate program.

“Recent studies such as the U.S. Religious Landscape Survey by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life clearly indicate the rapid growth of Pagan practice throughout the country and beyond,” said Holli Emore, Executive Director for Cherry Hill Seminary. “With that growth comes the acute need for individuals who are adequately prepared to provide Pagan ministerial services, counseling, chaplaincy, and community leadership. As the modern Pagan movement comes of age, it is important to set standards of excellence for ministry. Cherry Hill Seminary is at the forefront of setting those standards.”

Cherry Hill Seminary is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, incorporated in the state of South Carolina, providing education in Pagan ministry and studies to students throughout the U.S., Canada, the U.K., and other English-speaking areas. For more information, visit www.cherryhillseminary, or contact Holli Emore at 888.503.4131, CHS@cherryhillseminary.org.