This page offers help in contacting local pantheist groups and also creating, organizing and publicizing local meetings.
World Pantheism is using Upcoming.org to galvanize the creation of local groups.
[If you belong to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, check here for advice on forming a Nature-Reverence/Pantheism group in your congregation.]
To maximize potential attendance we have called our Upcoming group Nature Reverence. It is open to all people who feel that reverence for nature and respect for naturalism are central to their spirituality, whether you call yourself world pantheist, eco-atheist, naturalistic pagan, religious naturalist, or religious humanist.
Nature Reverence is an umbrella group for meetings that fit the bill. It’s up to users to create events for people in their area, what Upcoming does is act as a public notice board and organizing facilitator.
Upcoming.org allows individuals and groups to organize and publicize events and get-togethers. Although the company was acquired by Yahoo late in 2005, the service is completely free and commits itself to remaining so. Costs may eventually be met by ads relevant to your groups and locations, but we haven’t see any yet. You can join interest groups, search for events by place and topic, create and add events, and add venues of your own choosing.
Note: World Pantheism previously used Meetup.com. We were doing well there, growing very fast, and things were rolling. But then Meetup introduced steep fees ($144 – $228 per year) for anyone wanting to organize a group in their locality. Without an organizer no events could happen.
While large existing groups could agree to a small fee to meet the organizers’ expenses, it was no longer realistic for anyone to start new local meetings on the offchance that people might turn up.
Join Upcoming.org’s Free Nature Reverence Group
Step 1: Register with Upcoming.org
Step 2: Click on the activation link sent you by mail
Step 3: Log in
Step 4: Read Upcoming’s FAQ about First Steps
Step 5: Choose your town and nearby cities. You can choose any number, all around you.
Step 6: Join the Nature Reverence Group
Search for events in your area.
Be patient, we only started at the end of February so this will take a while to come together.
Better still, plan and start your own event, it needn’t be elaborate, it can be just a getting to know people thing.
Read the planning section below for more developed or regular meetings.
When you feel ready, create an event
Step 1: Read Upcoming’s FAQ about adding an event
Step 2: Go to your Metros page
Step 3: Click “Add New Event” next to the location where you want to hold one.
This will bring up a form to fill in.
[You can add it to more than one location.]
Step 4: Add date, times, event name, and description. Description is important as it’s used for keywords, here’s a good one that covers buzz words:
[Place etc] meeting of the local Nature Reverence group, featuring sharing of views and experience, discussion of our spirituality, and occasional outings. Intended for all those who feel that reverence for nature and respect for naturalism are central to their spirituality, whether you call yourself world pantheist, eco-atheist, naturalistic pagan, religious naturalist, or religious humanist. [Pantheism, humanism, naturalism, atheism]
Step 5: Choose a venue or add a new one.
This can be a cafe, park, public building or private home
Step 6: Review your event and add it
NOW LOOK AT THE OTHER MENUS ON THE EVENT PAGE YOU HAVE JUST CREATED
Step 7: Add tags, eg Nature, pantheism, humanism, naturalism, atheism, environment
Step 8: Send to groups: Choose “Nature Reverence”
Step 9: Publicize your event on your local WPM state or country list
Also take a look at Starting or joining a group
