MEMBERSHIP

SPA offers membership of different levels based on specific criteria with benefits and responsibilities. 

Members of SPA are required to operate their sacramental church/community in a manner that is consistent with the SPA Member Criteria and SPA Member Obligations and Responsibilities, including SPA’s Ethical Guidelines, and will receive SPA Member Benefits.

SPA MEMBERSHIP CRITERIA

1. Disciplined Practice and Sincere Belief

  • SPA is an association of religious communities with diverse religious beliefs, rituals, and backgrounds, but what unites SPA is its Members’ serious devotion to their spiritual and ceremonial work and ethical practices.

  • The ceremonial use of sacraments is important and integral to SPA Members’ practices and belief systems.

  • Each sacramental community has its own religious beliefs, ritual norms, and history.

2. Health & Safety Protocols

  • SPA Members will ensure that those who are ordained to conduct ceremonies have significant and appropriate training and supervision to do so.

  • SPA Members are dedicated to appropriate screening and emergency protocols to promote the safety of all members of their own congregations.

  • SPA Members are dedicated to transparency and clear informed consent in all practices. 

  • SPA Members will establish clear guidance on congregant participation screening and safety policies, as well their a process, rights, and responsibilities for their congregations.

  • SPA Members are dedicated to spiritual support of its congregation.

  • SPA Members are encouraged and expected to discuss concerns, challenges, and successful procedures with other SPA Members to provide learning and improvement opportunities to the association as a whole and further develop best practices over time. 

3. Ethics & Accountability

  • SPA has a code of conduct that prohibits ethical, sexual, physical, and emotional misconduct, abuses of power, and discrimination.

  • SPA has adopted an accountability system with a mechanism that allows individuals of a SPA Member’s congregation to contact SPA to support in issues related to concerns, alleged abuses, or misconduct to create self-accountability and regulation within SPA.

  • SPA Members commit to financial transparency and organizational accountability.

  • SPA Members risk losing membership in SPA if any of the Ethics and Accountability standards are violated.  

4. Diversion Control: Tracking and Security

  • SPA acknowledges that SPA Members are committed to sacramental use as sacred and best practices would require sincere religious use of any sacrament and to keep them stored appropriately. 

  • SPA Members agree that any sacraments would be carefully documented with respect to storage, use and disposal

  • SPA Members source their sacrament(s) in a manner consistent with their religious beliefs.

5. Commitment to self-regulation, peer-review and improvement:

  • SPA Members will make efforts to communicate to SPA and attend meetings to collaborate and to learn from shared experiences.

  • SPA is committed to admitting additional Members in order to include more religious organizations in the collaborative effort to establish best practices.

  • SPA Members commit to continually improve their best practices, share resources with and receive feedback.

SPA Classes of Membership & Benefits

  • FULL MEMBERS

    SPA Full Membership is a corporate member status with voting rights and benefits.

    • Founding members and Initiate Members with at least one year of membership at Sacred Plant Alliance and review and approval

    • Established sacramental church/community with extensively experienced leaders

    • Articulated and demonstrated sincerity of religious beliefs

    • Financial accountability, stability & transparency

    • Dedication to compliance with existing exemption requirements (safety of congregation members through pre-screening and safety protocols and prevention of diversion)

    • Commitment to SPA’s ethical guidelines

  • INITIATE MEMBERS

    SPA Initiate Membership is a corporate member status with voting rights and benefits.

    • Established sacramental church/community with experienced leader(s):

    • Approximately 4+ years of organized community with well-developed procedures; and

    • Minister/religious leader with extensive experience (at least 7 years experience of leading ceremony/apprenticeship)

    • Articulated and demonstrated sincerity of religious beliefs

    • Financial accountability, stability & transparency

    • Dedication to compliance with existing exemption requirements (safety of congregation members through pre-screening and safety protocols and prevention of diversion)

    • Commitment to SPA’s ethical guidelines

  • COMMUNITY MEMBERS

    SPA is now offering this honorary membership status and its benefits.

    • More recently established sacramental church/community with experienced leader(s):

    • Existence of religious organization with developed procedures; and

    • Minister/religious leader with extensive experience (combination of leading ceremony/apprenticeship)

    • Working towards:

    • Articulated and demonstrated sincerity of religious beliefs

    • Financial accountability, stability & transparency

    • Dedication to compliance with existing exemption requirements (safety of congregation members through pre-screening and safety protocols and prevention of diversion)

    • Commitment to SPA’s ethical guidelines

Membership for Full/Initiate Members

Rights & Responsibilities:

  • Corporate Membership in Sacred Plant Alliance, Inc.: Corporate voting rights in SPA, including the right to vote for members of the Board of Directors, changes to the Bylaws, the disposition of all or substantially all of the SPA’s assets, on a merger or dissolution of SPA.*

  • Can serve on the Board of Directors as the representative of a SPA Member.*

  • Invited to attend all SPA Board meetings.

  • Stays in this category unless leaves SPA or reclassification is determined appropriate by the Board of Directors due to violations of Ethics & Accountability Standards or breach of the Membership policies.

Full/Initiate Membership Benefits:

  • Member Meetings (monthly).

  • Invited to attend monthly meetings of committees and expected to serve on such committees: such as Membership, Ethics, Health & Safety, Community Outreach & Reciprocity.

  • Private communication via email and communication channel for Full/Initiate Members.

  • Educational content shared at meetings and otherwise.

  • Access to shared forms of procedures or protocol for collaborative improvement

  • Annual peer check-in’s with assigned other Full and Initiate Members for review and development of practices.

  • Annual ethics training program.

  • Use of Ethical Accountability System that SPA Members share with its congregation members.

* Only Full Members may serve on the Board or vote on certain corporate matters.

Honorary Membership for Community Affiliates - Available as of May 2024

SPA is currently offering this honorary membership status and its benefits as of May 2024. Please contact us to be considered for this opportunity.

Rights & Responsibilities:

  • Honorary Membership: No voting rights. This is an honorary membership of the nonprofit corporation, not a corporate membership.

  • Community Member stays in this category until evaluated for Initiate Membership status.

Community Membership Benefits:

  • Member Meetings (monthly).

  • Monthly educational seminars with information tailored to Community Member expertise and discussion. Recordings saved for review.

  • Educational content shared at meetings and otherwise.

  • Connection opportunities with other Community Members

  • Annual peer check-in’s with assigned other Community Members for review and development of practices.

* Opportunity to apply in the SPA Educational Program, which is cohort based educational courses on sacramental church/community operations and information around legal issues, and may not be created until 2025.

Contact us

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