Trembley, Rev. Kipp D.

BIOGRAPHY: Kipp D. Trembley is participating in the conference as a student of Fairhaven College, where he will soon graduate from WWU with a B.A. in General Studies. Having the urge to serve the Sacred since childhood, Kipp, now in his thirties, serves as a minister and priest, in the Neo-Pagan Druid path, at Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship, an independent non-denominational Druid congregation based in Bellingham, WA. Cedar Grove Druid Fellowship is organized on egalitarian democratic principles, emphasizing spiritual enrichment through diversity in fellowship. Service through eco-ministry is a central theme of this Fellowship. Kipp is also a Bardic member in the Order of Bards, Ovates and Druids, an international Druid order based in England. Kipp’s post graduation plans tentatively include seminary training, practicing hypnotherapy, and writing on pastoral counseling and eco-spirituality topics within the context of Paganism.

ABSTRACT: What might modern Pagan Druidry have to offer the interfaith dialogue concerning community? Unity and diversity in a global environment challenges us to reach out past our respective comfort zones, our cultural niche, into the unfamiliar territory that is tolerance in global cohabitation. Seeing value in diversity is a key element in meeting this challenge successfully. Modern Druids are well situated to appreciate diversity, as diversity is inherent in modern Druidry. Druidry is as diverse in ideology as it’s adherents, and this diversity is reflected in the cosmology one finds in Pagan Druidry. Generally, those of us who follow an earth-based faith do not have the benefit to reap wisdom from revealed scripture. Many Druids refer to what is metaphorically and affectionately called the Book of Nature. It is through engaging with the natural world, immersing ourselves within the language of the elements, through which one might receive spiritual inspiration, revelation, or a divine guidance from the Divine Principle (however one chooses to define this) immanently present in nature. The wisdom and insight derived from this eco-cosmology may, I suggest, contribute to a universal eco-spiritual model for community to which we, as a species with tremendous diversity, must aspire if we are to survive. The end result being not Druid, not Christian, not Islamic, not any creed, but human.

Paper pending.....