Molly, hello!

Stacey suggested a couple of applicable books on this thread:
http://fireflyhouse.org/mod/forum/discuss.php?d=2806

I would also recommend Wicca Covens: How to Start and Organize Your Own by Judy Harrow. Brilliant woman.

A couple of things that I have recently learned is that you cannot please everyone. People will come and go, and not because you're not doing a good job. While we don't want to loose members, it is somethings better when people leave who do not fit the mold of the group. The hope is that eventually, we will be better at determining who will be a good fit once we have really understood who we are as a group.

There have to be boundaries and understood expectations, which is hard to manage. Covens members are supposed to be like family that we can count on when we need a hand. However, just like families, we can overextend ourselves to take care of them.

Oo. And, we talked about coven-building exercises, too. Doing non-ritual activities, such as movies and games, to help the group become closer. In other words, to get to know everything about everyone in the group.

Some questions to ask yourselves:

• What is your mission statement?
  
• Who will be the members of your group?
• What is the purpose or activity of your group?
  
• When will you meet?
• Where will you meet?
• Why are you meeting?
• What is your tradition? Are you Wiccan? Eclectic? Traditional?
  
• This is important, because if most of the group expects it will be an eclectic coven, but there are a couple folks who are traditional Gardnerian, that might cause issues later that could be resolved now.
• When I started the DC coven, it was with the intent that it was an eclectic Wiccan coven. However, it turned out that as they discovered their own spiritualities, not all of us were exactly Wiccan. And, those of us who were Wiccan came from different traditions that were most likely also eclectic. So, we became an eclectic witchcraft coven. It has worked really well for us so far. We do have a standard practice based on Firefly teachings, but the rule is that whoever leads the ritual gets to go by whatever tradition they are comfortable with.
  
• How many degrees will you have?
• Most groups have one or three.
  
• What are the clear cut requirements for initiation to each degree level?
• For an example of requirements, all of the Firefly covens are required to have a program that would make their coven initiates also initiates of the Firefly tradition.
  
• What are expected of your members each month and each year?
• Will you gather for rituals on the full moon, new moon, and/or sabbats?
• Are you open to new members? If so, how will they find out about you?
  
• What is the maximum number of people you would be willing to take in?
• The general number is 13, though most have less.
  
• Who is responsible for bringing and maintaining the tools for each ritual?
• Who will call the quarters and invoke the God/Goddess for each ritual?

Just a mention that if you would like Firefly support and sponsorship for starting your group, we do have a program for starting community meetups and then transitioning into covens: http://fireflyhouse.org/course/category.php?id=10

I wish you and your group the best of luck!

Iris