Mark Green's Atheopaganism Blog

It’s that time of year again, and I thought I’d share my opinions about how our community is coming along. To be clear: this is just my take, and not “official” in any way. But I like to reflect at the beginning of the year on what’s happening and what I expect to happen in the coming year. Comments welcome, as always!

Our community, between Facebook and Discord members, podcast listeners and YouTube subscribers, is now well over 5,000 members, even if we assume heavy overlap between those channels.

Going into 2024, we have the largest and strongest Atheopagan Society Council to date. Currently numbering twelve, the Council contains a broad range of backgrounds, skills and perspectives, which makes for a great group to work with.

We held a well-attended and generally celebrated Web Weaving online conference last spring, and plan to do one every other year, alternating with the Suntree Retreats. The conference was a great opportunity for online socializing and fun, and for sharing information and practices.

THE WONDER podcast continues to be ranked #3 among Pagan podcasts according to FeedSpot. And this year we added regular updates to the YouTube channel on a wide range of topics of interest to Atheopagans, and exceeded 1,000 subscribers.

The Atheopagan Society Council has just completed a Strategic Plan identifying 3 main goals for our next two years: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB); Fostering Community Connection; and Supporting Volunteers. We have DEIB experts working with us to ensure that our spaces are as welcoming as possible, and in the area of fostering community connection we have multiple initiatives:

• Our twice-weekly Zoom Mixers continue to thrive and provide opportunities for face-to-face interactions among community members;
• Though we paused them for awhile, the Adult Salons have restarted on a quarterly basis, creating a safe and confidential space for discussion of sensitive topics;
• The AP Book Club has restarted with an exciting lineup of books to discuss this year;
• We started a new tradition of the Atheopagan libation this year–a ritual we can all do throughout the world on the 13th of each month;
• We will hold a second Suntree Retreat this year, August 30-September 2, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA;
• And finally, I am excited to report that we are starting a Spiral Scouting program for Atheopagan families! More news on that as we get closer to launch, which is planned for July of this year.

As for supporting volunteers, we are doing our best not to load too much on any one person, myself included. Two members of the Council interviewed me about the various things I do for the Atheopagan community, and the plan is to distribute some of those tasks to spread them out and lighten the load.

I’m feeling positively for 2024. My new book, a guide to rituals and celebrations for nonbelievers, will come out on April 8, which will be a source of much rejoicing on my part–it’s taken a lot time to get this one to market. The scouting program will spin up. And I can’t wait to see folks at Suntree Retreat!

So the state of the community is…exciting! There is so much to look forward to, and there are so many resources now that new Atheopagans can access to grow their practices. Thanks and kudos to everyone who has contributed and continues to work to improve our community for all.