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We, the Undersigned, endorse the following petition:

Save Our Wiccan Chaplain

Target: US Congress
Sponsor: Dr. David Oringderff, Sacred Well Congregation
  • Signatures: 2,766
  • Goal: 10,000
  • Deadline: 8-13-2007
The Sacred Well Congregation is currently pending as an endorsing body for military chaplains. We need only to be able to present a viable candidate for appointment without waiver.

On July 6, 2006, we received a formal request from US Army Chaplain (CPT) Donald M. Larsen stating that he wished to be considered as our candidate for the AFCB certification process and immediately thereafter to change his endorser to the Sacred Well Congregation.

Before this request was made, CH Larsen was a dedicated and distinguished battalion chaplain serving in Iraq. This request led to unethical, unprofessional and discriminatory conduct on the part of at least two US Army senior officers, resulting in the immediate withdrawal of endorsement of CH Larsen.

There is a clear and present need for a chaplain of the Wiccan faith in the US Armed Services. The Sacred Well Congregation has met every requirement put before us in our quest to become an endorsing body for military chaplains and CH Larsen followed procedure in his attempt to change his endorsing body to the Sacred Well Congregation. This latest roadblock is the result of unethical behavior on the part of biased parties.

This petition is in support of the Sacred Well Congregation’s attempt to become an endorsing body for US military chaplains and CH Larsen’s ability to serve in that capacity.


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Number Date Name Age Gender City Affiliation, if any, with the military (reserve, active duty, dependent, none,etc.)
2,769 4:33 pm PDT, Aug 28 Elizabeth Bradley 0 Female Crossville none
2,768 11:36 am PDT, Aug 18 Bruce Strong Jr. 0 Male Glendale I am a disabled Veteran once served with the United States Army
2,767 12:53 pm PDT, Aug 12 Brandon Graff 25 Male San Antonio Also attempting to enter as a Wiccan Chaplain, though with no such backing.
2,766 7:52 am PDT, Jul 15 Steve Duba 0 Male Eagle River Active duty USAF, and a member of the Sacred Well Congregation
2,765 4:25 am PDT, Jun 30 Rich Gore 46 Male Greeneville None
2,764 11:46 pm PDT, Jun 9 Clifton H Sasser III 23 Male APO Active Duty
2,763 6:24 pm PDT, Jun 5 James R. Van Kollenburg 57 Male Lombard none
2,762 2:53 pm PDT, Jun 5 Krystina Stark 0 Female Beebe none
2,761 1:10 pm PDT, Jun 5 Anonymous 18 Male Easton None-But want to be Reserve.
2,760 6:57 pm PDT, Jun 1 Claire Ellrick 30 Female Etowah Army wife
2,759 11:31 am PDT, May 25 Anna Nyander 27 Female Lawton Active duty military spouse
2,758 9:43 am PDT, May 25 Pamylle Greinke 53 Female Peconic Daughter of a WWII Vet, who insists that this country he fought for perserve one of its basic premises, freedom of religion, in one of its own institutions !
2,757 8:29 pm PDT, May 15 Anita Kofta 47 Female Holmen a
2,756 11:23 am PDT, May 9 Lawrence Ellrick 31 Male Etowah Active Army
2,755 3:30 pm PDT, May 7 Jody Bennett 32 Female South Wales part of the United Kingdom Kimberly Campbell, from Orleans wrote "I have no affiliation but truly believe that Freedom of Religion means ALL RELIGIONS!" I coudn,t have said it better.
2,754 8:16 pm PDT, May 1 Elysabeth TREKKER 61 Female France I am Wiccane of French.ET.
2,753 11:11 pm PDT, Apr 25 Jr. Rodriguez 33 Male San Diego Active National Guard
2,752 12:42 am PDT, Apr 22 Ryan Bailey 27 Female anchorage I am an army vet!
2,751 3:16 pm PDT, Apr 20 Rebecca Hemingway 27 Female Citra I'm a Wiccan Minister myself through the Unitarian Universalist Church!
2,750 3:29 pm PDT, Apr 19 H. Miller 26 Male Winchester Former MST3 in the US Coast Guard, Son of 2 veterans of the US Air Force and many more serving over the past 200+ years
2,749 11:11 am PDT, Apr 17 rei torna 25 Male sahuarita ANG
2,748 9:12 pm PDT, Apr 14 Kricket Kelley 27 Female Panama City discharged from Army, daughter of Navy Vietnam Veteran, grandaughter of 2 Army WW2 Veteran, and great grandaughter of Navy WW2 Veteran.
2,747 3:23 pm PDT, Apr 14 Christopher Mahoney 0 Male Virgina Beach active duty
2,746 3:17 pm PDT, Apr 10 wendy schneider 30 Female Fairview Heights no.
2,745 5:19 pm PDT, Apr 7 michael scott 19 Male sandusky none
2,744 10:41 pm PDT, Apr 4 Anonymous 55 Female Baltimore NONE
2,743 8:35 pm PDT, Apr 4 Jennifer Lyle 23 Female Lakeland Pagan Child of an Army Vietnam Veteran.
2,742 6:00 pm PDT, Apr 3 Amy Secrest 34 Female New Brighton None; I agree that ALL religions should be represented in our military
2,741 10:28 pm PDT, Mar 31 Darlene Davis 46 Female Garden City none
2,740 5:28 pm PDT, Mar 30 Don Gossett 50 Male Ely veteran
2,739 4:03 pm PDT, Mar 29 kimberly dobson-nesti 0 Female West Bloomfield none
2,738 3:21 am PDT, Mar 26 Zhoie Young 20 Female Ballarat good luck
2,737 3:00 pm PDT, Mar 25 Megan Shafer 28 Female North Tazewell none
2,736 1:55 am PDT, Mar 24 Shannon Sultan 24 Female Milwaukee I am a Muslim and I support your cause. You have this right to have your leader. Nobody should be allowed to deny it. You are not causing harm, there is not evil in it. You simply believe differently. I wish you good luck and send you positive thoughts that this petition helps in your quest.
2,735 2:46 pm PDT, Mar 23 Brett Berner 45 Male Palm Harbor 11 YEARS ACTIVE DUTY COAST GUARD 9 YEARS AIR FORCE
2,734 6:43 am PDT, Mar 21 Raven Darkmoon 0 Female Ukraine, Chernigov none
2,733 7:54 pm PDT, Mar 20 Crystal Wittenberg 23 Female APO Active Duty
2,732 9:43 am PDT, Mar 20 Debbie Williams 42 Female Belmont none
2,731 9:09 am PDT, Mar 17 Jennifer Jimenez 22 Female Effort None
2,730 8:23 am PDT, Mar 13 Courtnie Harber 0 Female Hopkins Served in the Air Force. I am a military wife and come from a military family.
2,729 3:12 pm PST, Mar 6 Jason Bourgeois 0 Male Saucier All Americans that serve in the Armed forces sacrifice enough for this great Nation, and they should have the comfort and the strength derived from their individual Religious Beliefs/Practices. I believe this would go along way to attract more carrer soldiers.
2,728 2:59 pm PST, Mar 6 Laurits Thurston 31 Male Lawton Active Duty
2,727 12:50 am PST, Mar 6 Aaron Burkey 18 Male Albuquerque Active duty
2,726 12:44 am PST, Mar 6 Amanda Burkey 18 Female Albuquerque Dependent
2,725 7:06 pm PST, Mar 5 Jane Petty 38 Female Kingwood Major, USAFR
2,724 4:41 pm PST, Mar 5 Wendy Latimore 39 Female Twentynine Palms I spent an entire career in the military being unable to practice my beliefs openly because of the refusal of others to learn about my religion. It is time for the military to step up and provide priests or priestesses to their soldiers, sailors, and airmen! According to military regulations (check the military chaplains' website), anytime there are more than 3 people of the same faith who wish to practice, the base must comply by providing a location for them to practice their faith. The military leaders need to re-read and follow the regulations!
2,723 10:20 pm PST, Mar 4 Anonymous 36 Male Fayetteville CW3, SC XVIIIth ABC, G6
2,722 7:11 pm PST, Mar 2 Ali Brown 54 Female Lillooet daughter
2,721 6:42 am PST, Mar 1 Shayn Lavender 37 Male APO Active Duty Air Force in Okinawa Japan
2,720 12:20 pm PST, Feb 25 sandra lockaby 32 Female north pole army spouse
2,719 9:13 pm PST, Feb 24 Anonymous 36 Female Eagle River Active duty Air Force
2,718 5:12 pm PST, Feb 24 Brittany Bisbee 24 Female Hensley none
2,717 10:07 pm PST, Feb 23 DR NEILSON PHD 0 Female Navarre Beach Come from a long line of those who have served their country & uphold the U.S. Constitution in regards to Freedom of Religion.
2,716 4:04 pm PST, Feb 22 john solomon 21 Male virginia beach Active Duty-Navy
2,715 7:28 pm PST, Feb 21 Gina Callahan 36 Female South Burlington Gina Callahan
2,714 5:03 pm PST, Feb 21 Anonymous 0 Male Lancaster none
2,713 1:23 pm PST, Feb 21 Raven Campbell 18 Female Orleans I may not be a member of the military, but I know amny people who are, and who are Wiccan. They deserve to have Wiccan chaplins, just like the Christians ahve theirs.
2,712 9:21 am PST, Feb 21 Mystical Moon Pandora 30 Female Tooele My brother was over in Iraq. When he did they didn't put the Druid fire, well or tree on his gravestone. Which he told the family to do so. He also told the Sregant to do so. He was not treated nicely either. Specially when he would do "his own rites". This is very sad that our own millitary can't see freedom is for all and for all religions!
2,711 7:54 am PST, Feb 21 barbara terry 53 Female east hartland none
2,710 7:19 am PST, Feb 21 Kimberly Campbell 0 Female Orleans I have no affiliation but truly believe that Freedom of Religion means ALL RELIGIONS!
2,709 5:56 am PST, Feb 21 Elizabeth Ryan 21 Female Portavogie none
2,708 6:26 pm PST, Feb 19 Jhennifer Edwards 0 Female Stockton I am a dependant of a retired Naval Personnel. If our country is truly about religious freedom then why are we having such a huge issue of allowing those of the Wiccan faith the right to proudly wear, show and exhibit their symbol as all others have been allowed.
2,707 12:01 pm PST, Feb 19 Marcie Jellema 42 Female Swannanoa Son is active duty USAF.
2,706 9:42 am PST, Feb 19 Skeeter Sanders 54 Male Huntington None
2,705 6:30 pm PST, Feb 16 Tracy Abbott 39 Female St. Albans Family member of the military members
2,704 12:36 pm PST, Feb 16 Anonymous 44 Female Fair Haven Disabled Veteran Sergeant-Retired USAF and a Pagan
2,703 12:12 pm PST, Feb 16 Victoria Greenia 31 Female Eden A1C Air Guard, daughter of Senior MS, wife of Sergent in Army, and sister to specialist in Army. We all need religion, give us ours!
2,702 4:03 pm PST, Feb 14 Lincoln Crunk 20 Male offutt afb active military/air force/ security forces/ 55 sfs / f flight
2,701 2:42 pm PST, Feb 14 Michael Jellema 19 Male Offutt AFB Active duty

Save Our Wiccan Chaplain

The Sacred Well Congregation has been engaged with the Armed Forces Chaplains Board (AFCB) since September 1998 attempting to secure status as an endorser of chaplains to the Armed Services. This would allow us to nominate a member of our faith group to serve as a chaplain in the US military. Through a long series of bureaucratic maneuvers, and both passive and active bias on the part of some key officials, eight years later we still have no Wiccan Chaplain.

The Sacred Well Congregation is currently pending as an endorsing body for military chaplains. We need only to be able to present a viable candidate for appointment without waiver.

In the spring of 2006, US Army Chaplain (CPT) Donald M. Larsen contacted our Congregation to discuss the possibility of changing his endorsement. On July 6, 2006, we received a formal request from CH Larsen stating that he wished to be considered as our candidate for the AFCB certification process and immediately thereafter to change his endorser to the Sacred Well Congregation.

In a deviation from procedure, CH Larsen’s then-current endorsing body, the Chaplaincy of Full Gospel Churches (CFGC) was notified that CH Larsen was considering a change of endorsers and that, also, he was speaking to the Sacred Well Congregation, a Wiccan Church, about becoming his new endorsing body. Within hours CH Larsen’s endorsement was pulled by the CFGC. Without an endorsing body, CH Larsen is unable to act as a military chaplain. Furthermore, with no current endorser, a letter of good standing cannot be issued to the AFCB on CH Larsen’s behalf. This letter of good standing is crucial to his standing as a viable candidate without waiver for the Sacred Well Congregation’s AFCB certification process.

There is a clear and present need for a chaplain of the Wiccan faith in the US Armed Services. The Sacred Well Congregation has met every requirement put before us in our quest to become an endorsing body for military chaplains and this latest roadblock was caused by the unethical, unprofessional and discriminatory conduct of at least two US Army senior officers. This conduct has led directly to the immediate withdrawal of endorsement of a dedicated and distinguished battalion chaplain serving in Iraq.

This petition is in support of the Sacred Well Congregation’s attempt to become an endorsing body for US military chaplains and CH Larsen’s ability to serve in that capacity.

Note: This Save Our Wiccan Chaplain petition was submitted by Dr. David Oringderff. ThePetitionSite.com is a free service provided to help concerned citizens rally support for issues they believe in. The opinions expressed by this petition do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ThePetitionSite.com or Care2.com. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition nor any newsletter offers (except those from Care2.com) by Care2.com, Inc, ThePetitionSite.com, or our sponsors. If you believe this system is being abused, please contact customer support.

Questions about this petition? Contact the petition sponsor: Dr. David Oringderff.
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