Last Fall, I was invited to join the 300-member Parliament Assembly, in preparation for the upcoming Parliament of the World's Religions (PWR) in Cape Town. (Deborah Ann Light had been a member since 1993.) As a member of the Assembly, I was asked to answer the Millennium Questions, posed by Dr. Gerald Barney in his "Threshold 2000" report. These were 32 questions about the state of the world and what our faith tradition has to offer to make it a better place. Only 34 members of the Assembly replied; our answers will be published as a book sometime this year. 

In early October, Rowan Fairgrove and I represented CoG in a "Gathering of Blessings - Sharing Our Blessings" ceremony, rededictaing the Interfaith Center at the Presidio (ICP) on the anniversary of its founding.

 In November, I worked with NorCalCoG (NCLC) to host a reception for the international Board meeting of the United Religions Initiative (URI) at the ICP Chapel. Rachel Watcher, Anna Korn, and Laurel Olsen arranged a marvelous spread for the very tired delegates, funded by NCLC. Rachel's bilingual abilities were very helpful, as the Native representative from South America spoke no English. The URI was very appreciative and we scored major points with both them and the ICP.

 In December, I attended the PWR with several other Pagans, including CoG members Deborah Ann Light, Rowan fairgrove, Catherine Starr, and Adrienne of Coven labyrinth Dancing. I won't repeat my 8 online reports here. Suffice to say that 7500 people from all over the world attended 800 programs over 9 days. Pagans were well represented. CoG gave financial assistance to myself, Rowan Fairgrove, and Catherine Starr, making it possible for us to attend, for which we are all deeply grateful. 

A highlight for me was being part of a panel on the Millennium Questions, moderated by Dr. Barney. (My comments are available online at http://members.xoom.com/Muttonhead/pwr.html) 

Another highlight was the meeting of the Parliament Assembly, composed of 300 invited global "leaders" from the worlds faith traditions and many participant observers. During the Assembly, I created a new interfaith project called the Lost & Endangered Religions Project (LERP). The Assembly was very enthusiastic about this project. The LERP is just getting off the ground, but 34 people and 4 native tribes have already asked to be involved and it will soon be incorporated. (More info on LERP at www.crseo.ucsb.edu/~frew/private/lerp/) 

Later in December, I worked with the URI and the ICP to develop programs for the "72 Hours for Peace". The "72 Hours" involved over 200 projects around the world during the period from Friday, December 31st 1999 to Sunday, January 2nd 2000. I coordinated the participants with daily email updates. In San Francisco, we had a very full schedule and CoG was well represented:

 Friday
Tea Ceremony & Chinese exercises at the ICP Chapel
Interfaith Peace Walk to Fort Point (the site of the first Spanish presence in San Francisco) then to the wet land restoration project at Crissy Field (overseen by local Native Americans)
Community Services (1-hour each)
Buddhist service at the Chapel
Wiccan Service (led by Rowan Fairgrove, Catherine Starr, and myself)
Jewish Service
Christian Service
Sufi Sacred Offering
Brahma Kumaru Meditation
Interfaith Meditation at Midnight

 Saturday
New Millenium Celebration at Chapel
(music, prayers, etc. including a Wiccan blessing by me)
human peace sign around flagpole in center of Presidio

 Sunday
Interfaith New Year's Service
preaching by Bishop William Swing (URI)
Wiccan prayer by Catherine Starr
Pagan music by Deborah Hamouris & Robin Dolan

 In January, I was invited to join the Board of the ICP. The Board of the ICP meets monthly. Currently, we are very focused on a $2.5 million fundraising campaign to "rehabilitate" the chapel building that houses the Center. The Main Post Chapel at the Presidio was built in 1931 by the Sixth Army. As a government building, it managed to avoid being brought up to code, until the Presidio was decommisioned as a military base and handed over to the US Park Service in 1992. Now, with a mandate from Congress to be "self-supporting", the Presidio is requiring that all of its buildings be brought up to code and expecting the tenants to foot the bill. Local CoG members have already contributed to this effort and we seem certain of reaching our goal. (You can see the Chapel at the ICP website, www.interfaith-presidio.org, and please email me if you are interested in helping with the rennovation.)

 When NCLC had trouble finding a location for our Janurary meeting, the ICP stepped in a donated the use of the Chapel. They said that "Pagans are always welcome at the ICP" and hoped that we would do more programs there.

 Shortly after joining the ICP Board, I was asked to become Secretary of the Board. This means that I am on the ICP Executive Committee, which also meets monthly, independently of the Board.

 In February, Rowan Fairgorve, Catherine Starr, and I gave a presentation on the 1999 PWR at Pantheacon 2000 in San Francisco. NCLC, aided by National Officers Rachel and Garth, sold extra copies of the special Parliament issue of the CoG Newsletter at the NCLC booth, raising $110 for CoG.

 In March, I attended a program at the ICP bringing together attendees of the 1999 PWR (and folks who wished they had been there) for a sharing of memories and stories. In subsequent meetings, this group decided to become the Bay Area Friends of the Parliament CC of the URI (BAFo/tP). The BAFo/tP currently meets every few months.

 In April, the URI held another international Board meeting in San Francisco. The URI asked if I would arrange another reception. NCLC had no more funds to contribute to this, so Rachel and I funded it ourselves. The reception was another success!

 The major purpose of this Board meeting, we found out only the day before, was to approve founding Cooperation Circles (CCs) of the URI. In a flurry of international phonecalls and emails, I worked with Betsy Stang of the Wittenberg Center to contact the folks who had attended our "Pagan Lunch" at the URI Summit in 1998. We pulled together enough people (11 people on 3 continents representing 7 faith traditions) to create the Spirituality & the Earth CC of the URI, the only founding CC focused on the Earth. The S&ECC meets by primarily by email, which I coordinate. (I can email info on the S&ECC to anyone interested.)

 In May, I was asked to revive and Chair the ICP's Program Committee. We are developing and will coordinate programs that will serve the dual function of advancing the interfaith goals of the ICP and helping to raise the $2.5 million. The Program Committee meets monthly. I also serve as Chair of the Liturgical Subcommittee, meaning I coordinate all events that are focused on interfaith worship. Therefore, the needs and interests of the Earth-based religions are represented in these programs.

 In June, I flew to Pittsburgh for the 2000 Global Summit of the URI. The conference was a week long, but the highlight was the signing of the URI Charter. (A full report, like my previous URI Summit reports, is forthcoming.) 300 delegates representing over 40 faith traditions came from 44 countries to participate. By the end of this conference, the URI Interim Global Council had approved 85 local and regional founding CCs around the world. 

The Spirituality & the Earth CC met several times during the Summit, and almost doubled our numbers! We are now 19 individuals from 5 countries representing 10 faith traditions.

 A highlight for me was being asked to perform a "traditional Wiccan foundation blessing" in the closing ceremony, to which I said "Sure!" and went back to my room to write one. What made this special is that, up 'til know, we had always used fairly generic terms like "Lady" and "the Goddess" in our public interfaith blessings. In this one, I specifically invoked Hekate and Hermes by name, and Bishop Swing was right there raising his arms in invocation with the rest of the Circle! We have, indeed, come a long way.

 CoG assisted me financially by paying for my URI conference registration, for which the membership has my sincere thanks. 

In early July, I was asked to serve on the Planning Committee of the BAFo/tP. We hope to function as a bridge between the URI and the Council for a Parliament of the World's Religions (CPWR). The Planning Committee meets monthly.

 In mid-July, the CPWR asked me to come to Chicago for a small one-day meeting to work on how the CPWR could best serve the interfaith projects developed in the Assembly at Cape Town. I was one of four folks outside the CPWR staff who attended. (A full report on this is also forthcoming.) The meeting was very productive and will lead up to a two-day meeting with a larger group this coming October, hopefully at the ICP Chapel.

 The next day, I had a private meeting with Jim Kenney, Director of the CPWR, acting as a liason from the BAFo/tP. We explored ways that the URI and CPWR can best work together. This, too, was a very productive meeting, but will require substantial follow-up.

 Tomorrow, I leave for Southern California to attend the annual meeting of the North American Interfaith Network. As a member of the BAIC, CoG is technically a member of NAIN. NAIN is primarily oriented towards interfaith staff people. As my bookstore is very likely going out of business soon, this is a field that I might someday enter professionally. Certainly, it would help with some of the considerable personal financial outlay involved in doing interfaith and would end the problem of constantly getting days off from work to attend meetings.

 There are several folks in Southern Califonia who are doing interfaith and will be at the NAIN conference. I look forward to introducing them to the many frinds I have made in the interfaith community. The more of us involved, the more effective we can be.

 Once again, my heartfelt thanks to the Covenant for its continuing support for CoG's interfaith efforts. It is a privilege and an honor to serve the Covenant in this endeavor.