Wiccan church

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Wiccan churches are a type of organisation found within Wicca, particularly in North America. While Wicca is most often organised into independent covens, some covens choose to combine to form a church. Churches are often formed from hive covens. Each coven in the hive comes together to form a church, and often creates a fixed location for a covenstead. Much like a Christian church, a Wiccan church will organize rituals as well as community events. Forming a church also gives High Priests or Priestesses a much better chance of legally becoming clergy.

1 Legal status of Wiccan churches
2 Neopagan bibliography
3 See also
4 External links

[edit] Legal status of Wiccan churches

Many Wiccan and Neopagan organizations have chosen to achieve formal legal status by becoming non-profit corporations within their states or provinces, and sometimes they additionally obtain tax-exempt status in the United States under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Examples of this are the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, based in the State of Washington with branches in several other states, and Our Lady of the Woods, a coven and congregation in New Mexico.

Frequently Wiccan churches are organized with a coven or inner circle, consisting of initiated priests and priestesses, and a congregation or outer circle, for those who wish to celebrate the Sabbats and enjoy spiritual community. These may or may not seek legal status as corporations.