A religion is a method or set of methods by which humans manage our relationship
with the spiritual, or the numinous,
or whatever term one likes (even ‘God’… not a term I use). Religions arise
through a folk-process, like styles of music or art. Like those, major
practitioners can shape practice or invent ‘schools’ of practice. In religious
matters those often become more easily identifiable as ‘religions’. However
most traditional religions don’t have ‘founders’, but rather grow out of the
soil of their originating culture.
People join religions when they actively
take up the practices of those religions, and play with approaching the world
through the assumptions of related philosophies.
Neopaganisms have been that
way, growing out of the culture of the late-20th c post-modern ‘West’. That
said, ‘Churches’ are organizations created to promote the practice of a
religion or religious tradition. Most churches do not contain all the members
of the religion it practices – that’s kinda the mark of a ‘cult’, perhaps.
Even the Roman Catholic Church is far from the only organization working the
religion of Western Sacramental Orthodox Christianity (if you will…
Christianity is complicated). There are numerous unrecognized apostolic lines,
funny little garage-chapels, etc, across the world.
A church is a religion-club; a group of interested, even passionate folks
who want to pursue a spiritual work. People join churches because they are
identified with or interested in the related religion, or because of their neighbors, or
families. Like any club, just the interest in the topic may or may not be
enough to bind a group of strangers or acquaintances into a creative circle.
The same problems that attend a local arts group or little-league will exist
for attempted churches. Rules, by-laws, budgets… there’s more work in doing a
Church than just having a religion, and no degree of spiritual growth makes people suitable to keep the books.
Joining a religion-club is not the same as
joining a religion, nor is leaving the club equivalent to leaving the religion. You cannot ‘become a Druid’ by
paying your annual donation to ADF Inc. (my home club) You participate in
Druid religion by working Druidic spiritual methods for yourself. ADF has
placed our most recent basic instructions for working the religion outside our
paywall as our Hearthkeeper’s Way instruction. Someone recently
called it the ‘D&D Starter-box’ for a home Pagan religion. Those looking for a
walk-in guide to establishing a Pagan practice should have a look.
I suppose, then, that we expect (even hope) that our style of Paganism will be available
as religion regardless of individual membership in our club. Conversely since
we are the largest (though not only) fellowship for this style of Paganism we
hope that by generating more members of our religion we can, in turn, recruit
members for the club.
But if someone takes up the work, creates a shrine,
offers to the Kindreds, studies the Old Ways and makes an effort to live by
virtue, they are practicing our religion, whether they ever join our
fellowship, or not.
No big wrap-up, except maybe to say that joining or
leaving a church should not generally be equated with joining or leaving a
religion. The choices are separate.
