Press Release - February 2, 2003 

The Covenant of the Goddess Sponsors Wiccan Youth 
Interfaith Essay Contest

The Covenant of the Goddess is offering a grant opportunity for a young Wiccan to attend the Parliament of the World's Religions in Barcelona, Spain in July 2004. The Interfaith community has many avenues for youth to get involved and is open and encouraging of the participation of young people. There will be special programming and many opportunities to interact with young people of all the world's religions in Barcelona. The Covenant would like to see Wiccan youth involved in this historic occasion.

In order to award this grant the Covenant is sponsoring an essay contest. In order to qualify for this grant, the young person must:

(a) be between the ages of 18 and 26 and have a valid 
    passport
(b) have submitted on their behalf two letters of 
    recommendation  written by Wiccan Elders. If under 21, 
    please also provide parental permission.
(c) write a cover letter with a self-description, why you  
    want to attend the Parliament and what the Craft and 
    Interfaith mean to you.
(d) demonstrate an interest in Interfaith (An interest in  
    interfaith might be shown by doing local interfaith work  
    in their community or joining the URI Global Youth CC and 
    participating in its mailing list.)
(e) write an original essay (3 pages or less) relevant to 
    the Interfaith Movement, perhaps discussing the movement's 
    history, Wiccan involvement in interfaith or related to 
    the theme of the 2004 Parliament - "Pathways to Peace: the 
    Wisdom of Listening, the Power of Commitment."
(f) Agree to write an article for the COG newsletter upon 
    their return.

A grant committee of CoG Elders will judge the applications and essays and award one grant to the winning young Wiccan. All contest entry materials must be submitted to Covenant of the Goddess, Interfaith Essay Contest, P.O. Box 1226, Berkeley, CA 94701 by October 31, 2003. The award decision will be announced by December 21, 2003.

About Covenant of the Goddess - http://www.cog.org/

The Covenant of the Goddess is one of the largest and oldest Wiccan religious organizations, with members in North America, Europe and Australia. The Covenant is an umbrella organization of cooperating autonomous Witchcraft congregations and individual practitioners with the power to confer credentials on its qualified clergy. It fosters cooperation and mutual support among Witches and works to secure for them the legal protections enjoyed by members of other religions.  The Covenant of the Goddess has supported the United Religions Initiative from its inception and has participated in the Parliaments of the World's Religions. CoG has been a member of the Berkeley Interfaith Council for over 25 years.

About the Parliament of the World's Religions -
http://www.cpwr.org/2004Parliament/  

The Parliament of the World's Religions is an international interreligious gathering to be held in Barcelona from 7-13 July, 2004. All people of faith, spirit and goodwill are welcome to encounter the vast diversity of the world's religious, spiritual and cultural traditions, to listen to each other with open hearts and minds, to dialogue for mutual understanding, to reflect on critical issues facing the world, to celebrate the richness of our spiritualities, and to commit to discovering and creating new pathways to peace.

About the Grant for Attending the Parliament

End of Release