This page is about the organization, not the history of Pantheism as a belief.

Formation

In 1996 Dr Paul Harrison began posting draft sections from his book Elements of Pantheism directly onto the internet. He included his email address and invited comments. Soon people began to write in, and when the number reached 35 a mailing list was created to facilitate exchange of views. So in September 1997 the first scientific pantheism mailing list was created, on AOL.

When this proved viable, a small group of volunteers chaired by Dr Harrison began to draw up what became the WPM Statement of Principles. Initially, there were 12 volunteers. They had to be in basic agreement with scientific pantheism, believe that these ideas should be spread, and be interested in finding ways of doing so. The group varied between 12 and 18 members. As large numbers proved cumbersome for e-mail discussions, we stuck to this number and filled vacancies by co-option from the main list. It was agreed that the World Pantheist Movement would have some kind of democratic mechanism to represent full members’ wishes.

Activities

The small list began by electing officers and working to agree upon what was being represented. The first version of the belief statement was agreed upon in 1997. We soon incorporated as a charity, the World Pantheist Movement, in the US state of Colorado (where our first lawyer resided).

The World Pantheist Movement

The World Pantheist Movement began accepting members on the 1999 spring equinox. The Ezboard forum was created in October, and the first issue of PAN magazine was published in November.

The Southern California group was the first officially recognized, with its own constitution.

The Board of Directors

As the WPM is led entirely by volunteers, its composition has varied.

Director Role From Until
Paul Harrison President d2000-
Walt Mandell VP Americas s2003-
Bruce Merkle Treasurer s2003-
David Wright Publications s2003-
Thomas Earl Moore VP Americas j2005-
John “Eljay” Love-Jensen   j2005-
Antony van Der Mude   j2005-
Martin Berka  Webmaster Jul. 2011
Rich Blegen  Vice President Dec. 2011
Karis Burkovski   2014
Connie Cuellar   2016  
                            FORMER DIRECTORS
Hilary Caws-Elwitt Secretary s2003-  
Janiece Humble      
Gudrun Schindler Membership Secretary s2003-
Andrew Millard Treasurer, VP Americas d2000- ~Spring 2001
Sue Williams VP Africa d2000- s2003-
Cindy Harmon-Jones Membership Secretary d2000- s2003-
Beryl MacLachlan Legal d2000- a2006-
Oliver Chadwick UK s2003- s2003+
Ray Lee Image galleries d2000- s2003-
Mike Dolph   d2000- a2006-
Steve Cox Treasurer ~Spring 2001 s2003+
Tony Kilner   ~Spring 2001 s2003-
Stuart Stell Information ~Spring 2001 a2006+
Sharon Dobrovitch / Wells Membership Secretary a2006- a2011+
John Hagan Products a2006- w2012+
Heather Cunningham      
Ezella Edwards      
Ron Hooft      
William Garrett      
Jan Edward Garrett      
Jocelyn Lee Markey      
Jeff Pitcher      
Charles Adam Yonce      
Tor Myrvang Former VP Europe s2003 died 2015

Our directors page has more detailed information about the board’s current members.

For more information, please contact.