Constellated Ministry: A Guide for Those Serving Today's Pagans by Holli S. Emore (review)

For at least twenty years now, sociologists of religion have been observing the growing routinization and societal integration of modern Pagan communities, at least in the United States. We can now find Pagans serving as prison chaplains, sitting on interfaith councils, and establishing institutions like the Cherry Hill Seminary in South Carolina. It is, in fact, the executive director of this seminary, Holli S. Emore, who has written this short book, in which she sets forward recommendations for those modern Pagans seeking to minister to their religious community. Rather than outlining methods of potential Pagan proselytization, which is often discouraged in modern Pagan circles, Emore notes that her book is aimed at those "with a genuine desire to support Pagan spiritual needs" (2).

Emore notes that ministering to modern Pagans poses challenges that those catering to larger or better-established religious communities are less likely to face. The majority of modern Pagans in the United States are solitary practitioners, rather than members of a group congregation, and tend toward a more individualistic ethos. This means, as Emore notes, that ministering to these communities is unlikely to ever become a paying job. To deal with this unusual situation, Emore sets out what she calls a "constellated ministry." Although I did not feel that the reader is given a crystal-clear definition of this concept, it appears to entail involvement in a broad network of groups rather than leadership of a single congregation, as well as a strong emphasis on operating online as a means of engaging with geographically scattered practitioners. Emore also stresses the need for modern Pagans to move away from the more secretive approaches that they have taken in the past and be more public, for instance, by building strong ties with other religious communities and with various non-religious interest groups.

As part of her approach, Emore describes having interviewed around twenty-five Pagan leaders and devotes one of her chapters to including the comments that they have given her regarding their experiences. Through this, she highlights that few actually wanted to become leaders but found themselves falling into this position by chance, perhaps because of their own innate leadership abilities. Her research also included a Pagan Engagement and Spiritual Support Survey, conducted in 2016, the results of which she discusses in greater depth in an appendix. This offers us more data on why many Pagans choose to be solitaries, and usefully complements Helen Berger's book Solitary Pagans: Contemporary Witches, Wiccans, and Others Who Practice Alone (2019; reviewed in Nova Religio 23, no. 4, April 2020).

Many Pagans interested in ministry will undoubtedly find this a useful guide, especially if based in the United States. For scholars of new religions, this book offers an interesting insight into how modern Pagans in the United States are responding to their growing presence in the country's religious landscape and adapting to the challenges posed by their community's sociological makeup. Constellated Ministry can also be seen, along with the work of Michael York, as a move towards publishing theological and other insider-focused literature through established scholarly outlets, which can probably be seen as further evidence of the growing maturation of modern Paganism as an established part of the American religious landscape.