Litany of ADF Elevated Priests

Many are the names of those who have been elevated before me, and many are the gifts they have left us along the way:

• Rev. John Fox Adelman, Keeper of the Sacred Flame, who taught us the rewards of study;
  
  
• Rev. Isaac Bonewits, Founder and Visionary, who gave the gift of our Sacred Fire to the community at large;
  
  
• Rev. Ian Corrigan, Magician, Musician, and Liturgist, who taught us reverence through sacred music and the power of words;
  
  
• Rev. Robert Skip Ellison, Historian and Scholar of Secret Languages, who brought others together when division threatened our leadership;
  
  
• Rev. Earrach Canali, Keeper of Sacred Time, who taught us the lore of the moon and the power of a captured moment;
  
  
• Rev. Bryan Perrin, Sacred Artist, who deepened our connection to the Natural World;
  
  
• Rev. Kirk Thomas, Sacred Architect and Master of Ritual Theater, who taught us presence: to stand in our power on the stage of the world as we speak our praise to the Kindreds;
  
  
• Rev. Michael J Dangler, Master of Liturgy and Piety, who taught us the power of intention and simplicity such as that of a single flame as meaningful ways to connect to the divine and to one another;
  
  
• Rev. Jessie Olson, Nonprofit Scholar, who brought professional influence to our administration.
  
  
• Rev. Jean Drum Pagano, Diviner and Poet, whose prose connected us to nature;  
  
  
• Rev. Carrion Mann, Devoted of the Ancestors, who taught us the power of honoring our roots and those who have gone before us;
  
  
• Rev. Ayliah Cannon, Creative Spirit and Humanitarian, who built bridges in the greater spiritual community;
  
  
• Rev. Robert Lewis, Siedhr Worker and Mentor, who taught us to use the power of our minds to connect to the Kindreds.
  
  
• Rev. Christopher Temple, Diviner and Fire Priest, who taught us the fruits of perseverance;
  
  
• Rev. Gwernin Grove, Scholar, Master Storyteller and Bard, who taught us the depth and relevance of ancient lore made new; and
  
  
• Rev. Amber Doty, Community Builder, who fostered fellowship among Solitaries and across distances to bring far-flung folk to the fire.

These are those whose footsteps fell before mine on this path.
These are those whose lights and lessons have guided my way.
These are those with whom I now stand as I take my place among them
To continue to love the land, to serve the folk, and to honor the deities 
As a Senior Priest of Ár nDraíocht Féin.

What are you known for?

 As part of the elevation ceremony for ADF, the candidate for Senior Priest lists off all the Senior Priest elevated before them with a short description of their contributions to ADF. 

As of this writing, the list of priests* who have been elevated before me totals 13.I have had the privilege of meeting all of these individuals in person, and not everyone has this blessing available to them as reference for creating this piece.

This exercise has provoked quite a bit of reflecting on what I have brought to the org. After my elevation, those after me will include my name in this list of folks, and I am pretty sure the one thing they will list as my primary contribution will be liturgical music. This definitely confirms my understanding of the unseen nature of "boring writing" and how undervalued this important work can be. It also created feelings of...inadequacy? in relationship to the other work I do. I need to sit with this for a while and find my peace.

I don't know a lot about all of these folks, and I make up part of this work is to invite relationship between myself and the other Senior Priests. I am planning to reach out to each of them, because I am interested in what they would say about themselves. How does one go about reducing themselves to a bulleted list of accomplishments?

Here is what I would say at this time about the Senior Priests of ADF:

• Rev. John ‘Fox’ Adelmann - completed the "Super Druid" study program. Sacred Fire Priests
• Rev. Isaac Bonewits - Vision of public, mainstream paganism made reality
• Rev. Jeffrey ‘Ian Corrigan’ Wyndham - Magician, Musician, and Liturgist
• Rev. Robert ‘Skip’ Ellison - Historian and Scholar
• Rev. Eric ‘Earrach’ Canali - Keeper of Sacred Music and Time
• Rev. Bryan Perrin - Creator of Sacred Art
• Rev. Kirk Thomas - Sacred Architect and Master of Ritual Mechanics and Theater
• Rev. Michael J Dangler - Master Liturgist and Social Media Content Creator
• Rev. Jessie Olson - Nonprofit Awareness
• Rev. Jean ‘Drum’ Pagano - Diviner and Poet
• Rev. Kelly ‘Carrion Mann’ Kingston - Senior Priest of the Ancestors and Religious Education
• Rev. Ayliah Cannon - Creative Spirit and Humanitarian
• Rev. Robb Lewis - Seidhr Worker, Mentor, Brewer
• Rev. Christopher Temple - Diviner and Fire Priest
• Rev. G. R. (Gwernin) Grove - Scholar and Master Storyteller and Bard
• Rev. Amber Doty - Senior Priest of the Solitaries

This will evolve in the coming weeks, and I will share my final draft prior to the Summerland Gathering where my Elevation is scheduled to take place. Blessings on the continued work of our Senior Priests in ADF.