What are the criteria and expectations for a Pagan Priesthood that might best serve our community? To address these needs, Pagan groups have developed Clergy training programs based upon their respective Traditions, Visions, and Missions. These range from the three-tier system of many Wiccan Traditions to the elaborate scholarly programs of Druid orders. The Aquarian Tabernacle Church, the Fellowship of Isis, Ceremonial Magick lodges, and other groups all have their own systems, with emphasis ranging from lore mastery and spellcraft to ritual adeptship and from individual psychic development to group leadership.

Although one may become a Priest or Priestess of a Deity merely be establishing and maintaining an altar or shrine to that Deity, and performing the appropriate rites, an ordained Priest or Priestess must also be in service to the community. Within the Church of All Worlds there has been much discussion about what qualities, both tangible and intangible, might fulfill the needs of a Priesthood in our Church. Out of this we have developed our own training program for ordination and service as a CAW Priest or Priestess. These criteria are intended to be a guide for prospective candidates for ordination as well as for the continuing development of current members of the Priesthood.

The Neo-Pagan religious movement is growing fast. Deep within in it is the founding and seminal influence of the Church of All Worlds and the generations of Pagan leaders it has produced. This Clergy Handbook is meant as a guide not only to the Ministers and Priesthood of CAW, but to aspiring Pagan Clergy of any Tradition.