OPHA was birthed when leaders of the Pagan/Heathen Community in Tulsa, OK decided that they had simply had enough of the petty bickering that all too often accompanies any religious arena.  When everything was examined it was a simple choice, either we united and worked together for the betterment of our community or we would by sheer force rip the community apart beyond repair. 

We chose to put our differences aside.  We came together and signed our Original Alliance.  The results have been more than we could ever have hoped to see.  

OPHA is now the current sponsor for the Tulsa Area Pagan Pride Day, Oklahoma's longest running annual Pagan Pride Event.  Working together there is nothing that we cannot accomplish.  To that end we have looked toward the future and chosen to expand the original scope of the Alliance to include all of Oklahoma through Local Branches. 

ACTION

Together we are far stronger than alone.  Our actions speak louder as we add our voices to the chorus of God and Goddess.  Therefore it is our goal to act as a unified agency to do good within the communities of Oklahoma and to promote the ideas of Paganism/Heathenism both to our own and to help to rectify the negative image that cultures of the past have labeled us with and to show once and for all that we are a bright and shining people filled with the love of our Deity.  Through this community action we are inclusive and not exclusive.  Membership within the Alliance is simple and we do not allow pettiness to stop those who wish to do good to help bring that good to the Alliance and our communities as a whole.

TRUST

In most communities, whether Pagan/Heathen or Christian, there is an amount of distrust.  We teach it to our young and we foster it.  However, we say that it stops here.  We build the trust within our own community.  We don't have to be bosom buddies with everyone, but we extend the same trust we would want from anyone else.  If we feel there is a problem we do not run and spread rumours or attack.  We seek clarification in the spirit of ethical communication.  We work with one another to help keep each of us strong and protected.  We become the guardians of our trust and we make sure that we value it and appreciate when it has been extended to us by another and we hold it sacred.

Through all of the actions mentioned above we cannot help but create a place where an ethical and thriving Pagan/Heathen community can flourish from all aspects.  We are no longer afraid of what can happen because we know that everyone within our community is working toward the same goals as we are.  We know that we don't have to fear betrayal because those actions are not encouraged and are not rewarded.  In essence, we create our own trusting reality.  It is the power of the mind and that is truly the most powerful and lasting thing.

OPHA is legally incorporated within the State of Oklahoma and in the process of filing for its 501(c)3 non-profit status with the Internal Revenues Service.  We feel that by laying everything out on the table for all of our Pagan/Heathen community that there is then nothing to hide.  All of our financial reports will be made public and available.  Copies of our meeting minutes will published as well.  There is nothing that we want hidden and any questions will be met with honest and truthful answers by our duly elected representatives and/or our Board of Directors.
 

Monies raised through OPHA's fundraisers and dues will be re-circulated through our communities in the form of Charities.  We will continue to host Pagan Pride Day Events in Oklahoma.  Those are open to all Pagans/Heathens.  We will also donate from our reserves of funds to other Charities within the State of Oklahoma.  All of our efforts in collecting monies and donations are to create and shape a safe environment for Pagans/Heathens within Oklahoma.

Long term goals for OPHA would be to actually have physical space, community centers, so that Pagans/Heathens would have a place that they could feel free to worship in their chosen manners without fear of recrimination.  Discrimination is sadly still active in our world and many of us have found it to be a real and factual opposition the further we come out to the world.  We hope that this Alliance can help to create safe and sacred space for all that want to see it happen within Oklahoma.