What is OMAPACT?

Myself and five friends (pagan or seeking the path) established PACT as a multi-religious after-school club at our high school (Omaha North) in 2001. Our first official meeting was on October 30th of that year. The group easily caught on and grew. However, personal problems were accidentally brought into the meetings in the Spring and our teacher sponsors decided to cease their support. Fortunately, the period of stagnation following was only as temporary as the tension regarding the problems remained. Eventually, with the threat to civility no longer present, PACT was reformed the following Fall. It has been a fluctuating club for the past year and a half, mostly because half of the founding members and most active members had graduated or dropped out. At one point, the highest attendance was about fifteen students. But, as I said, many of the original members moved on, which seems to have unglued the group. I am no longer at North High, therefore I have very limited influence. The friends I have that are willing to recharge the club also have limited after-school time, but I am hoping it will resume this semester, before even more older members graduate. Along with reviving the original chapter, I've made efforts to encourage students (like some of you reading this) in other high schools to gather supporters to establish a chapter of their own.

OMAPACT was formed, naturally, during the period when we had no sponsor and therefore could not meet in the school building. So, we met outside and formulated a plan to meet somewhere public in order to give other teens like us the chance to experience community with other pagans and their supporters. OMAPACT was to be the place and time for us to coach other students in how to get club status, as well as coordinate the objectives below. We proposed the plan to Charlie at the Next Millennium and he agreed to let us use the other room for meetings once a month. OMAPACT has been meeting inconsistently since the Fall of 2002. As I am the primary coordinator for the group and my schedule has restricted my availability, there haven't been any meetings since, oh, the beginning of Fall this year. That is not a track record I am proud of. Not much headway has been made in spreading to other high schools, as OMAPACT has not had the best turnout. However, other small leaps have been made. The web site we envisioned has progressed, and I would be honored if you signed the guestbook or left a tag board message so that we know you came by.

The main objectives of OMAPACT are:
1) Bringing together teen pagans and their supporters in a safe and friendly community of like-minded persons;
2) Take part in healthy, thought-provoking discussions about news, issues, and subject matter primarliy --but not limited to-- Paganism and the many paths therein;
3) Spread the knowledge gathered to the community at large in a lawful (^_~), positive and safe manner and
4) Prove by example that Pagans care for the Earth and it's creatures by cleaning local parks, volunteering at animal shelters, fundraising for earth-friendly charities and other activities.

Now, numbers one, two and four are pretty self-explanatory, so I'll leave them. Number 3, however, should be explained further, for I'm sure you are wondering how this will be done. Well, the other founders and I have been entertaining the idea of a newsletter for some time, and we feel that this is a great way to bring the pagan voice of the Omaha/Council Bluffs area to the community "at large". Some things (arranged by section [indicated by **]) that would be included in the newsletter are:

**News
--timely articles
--a local events calendar

**Commentary
--polls from the community
--opinion columns

**Facts
--information blurbs
--subject(i.e. pentacle, reincarnation, karma) essays

**Entertainment
--"Creative Corner" for original poetry, prose and artwork
--reviews on (mostly) pagan-based/themed music/art/film/book/etc.

Charlie (owner of the Next Millennium), in addition to letting us meet at the store, had agreed at one point in time to print our newsletter. It would not be very flashy, mostly keeping with a similar layout as his own store newsletter, but likely with more pages. And, of course, we will have an advertisement for the Next Millennium and maybe other ads, depending. The only thing that has really held us back in the process of making this newsletter is our member turnout. We don't get enough. The more people that attend, the faster ideas flow and are turned into reality. Therefore, members are both wanted and needed! A few people can make things happen, but they can't do it fast enough or often enough for it to make a real impact, or so it seems.

Anyway, that's the basic synopsis of my group. I hope I haven't bored anyone! Feel free to ask me questions.

Many Blessings,

Nathan Pappan

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