One of the core guiding principles of The Satanic Temple Ministry is the value that we place on community. It is important that our ministers reflect this by having ongoing connections and collaborations with other members. One way to establish such a connection is to go to local congregation meetings. If that is not available to you, you may also volunteer for one of The Satanic Temple’s ongoing campaigns. The requirement that ordination candidates receive a Letter of Approval, and that ministers receive a new Letter of Approval each time they renew, is a reflection of this principle.

This principle also informs the restrictions on who is eligible to write a Letter of Approval. We require letter-writers to be vetted and active members of leadership within the organization as a way of ensuring that they have a strong current and ongoing functional tie to our community. We do not allow people who are “internal leadership” in positions defined by their congregation or campaign, but not defined by TST as a whole. For example, if someone approaches the Ordination Council claiming to be the Campaign’s BIPOC Issues Director or a Congregation Division Leader, they may very well be viewed as leaders in their community and required to do a great deal of work in connection with that role. However, the Ordination Council has no way of knowing whether that’s true. Both congregation heads and campaign directors go through a vetting process by one or more people who are external to the group they have been nominated to be in a leadership position in.

There is nothing wrong with being an ordained Minister of Satan who is off “doing your own thing.” We expect our ordained members to all participate in our ministry in their own way. However, if a member has no contact at all with our organization’s member groups, then that member will not be able to reflect the values and religious culture of The Satanic Temple in the way that we require of our ministers.