Radical Inclusion 

• The Assless Chapel welcomes everyone on his or her own merits.  We have no requirements other than those set down in here.

• Decisions on who will be a part of our camp will, ultimately, be made by The Assless Chaplain, in consultation with established campmates, particularly those who are critical to the success of the Assless Chapel.

• SAPs and DGS tickets will be allocated by The Assless Chaplain, but the whole team will work together to obtain all necessary tickets and to distribute them fairly.  To be clear, this means that even campmates who already have tickets will try their best to obtain as many tickets as possible, through legitimate Burning Man channels, until enough are obtained for the whole camp.  Specific details will be provided each year.

• We will view one another through the lens of a generosity of heart; try hard to be good campmates; and give of ourselves, to one another, the camp and the Playa.  If a problem develops with someone else in the camp, then try to work it out with him or her directly, with humility and civility, and in a spirit of understanding, love and generosity.  If this does not work, see our guidelines for conflict resolution at the end of our Agreements and in the Red Folder.

 

Gifting

• We each give what we can and want in order to make The Assless Chapel happen.  Gifting involves no expectation of financial or material reimbursement.

• There are no expectations of what you give to the camp, except that together we make it happen and everyone is part of the gift we give to the Playa.

 

Decommodification

• The Assless Chapel charges no camp fees.  The Assless Chapel experience will not be commodified.

• The Assless Chapel does not use any Off-Site Services, nor any other form of diet Pay-for-Play.

• Any financial transactions between campmates are exclusively between campmates and not the responsibility or at the direction of The Assless Chaplain or any members of The Assless Chapel not directly involved in the transaction, except a group agreement made for the purpose of allocating tickets.

 

Radical Self-Reliance

• As part of your acceptance of these agreements, you are also making a legal commitment to take responsibility for yourself and waiving any legal recourse to sue The Assless Chaplain or any of your campmates for any action related to (a) the design, building, transportation and operation of The Assless Chapel; (b) actions taken or not taken while heading toward, being present at or heading back from Black Rock City for the Burning Man event, including build week (except where such an agreement would be circumscribed under local, state or federal law); and (c) the transportation, care, maintenance and assembly of any equipment, gear, tools or other personal property being used for or transported to the Burning Man event.

• You are responsible for your own burn and your own needs.We each make our own Burn great and do not rely on others to make it great.  If you want something for yourself or The Assless Chapel, take it upon yourself to get it done.

• Sometimes the Playa can be harder on you than you expected, remembered or are able to deal with.  If you need some extra help, love, patience or understanding, let The Assless Chaplain or someone else know with a spirit of gratitude before you end up in an unhealthy or dangerous place – mentally or physically – so you can get what you need.

• Every member of the Assless Chapel must review and act upon the following, basic self-reliance guidelines from BORG:

  • Every section of the whole Survival Guide.

  • All sections of the Playa Living Guide that are relevant to you.

  • All relevant sections of the LNT Guide.

  • All relevant sections of the Health and Safety Guide.

• We are each committed to caring for ourselves.  We will each show up to the Playa with the will, skill and supplies to safely survive without relying on others, including, but not limited to:

  • Sufficient food; this food will be packed in a way meant to obviate the possibility of rotting and/or creating gray water issues.

  • Sufficient water for drinking and, to the extent desired, bathing and cooking; this water will be packed and stored in a way that will keep it from going bad.

  • A plan to deal with gray water that does not include dumping it on the Playa, pouring it into the Port-a-Potties or using someone else’s evaporation solutions without that person’s prior approval.

  • We will each familiarize ourselves with our neighborhood and know where first aid supplies are and how to get to the nearest medical station.

• Many of your campmates, particularly Curtis and The Assless Chaplain, bring resources for the camp, including a very basic kitchen, shade, tools and supplies, a grey water system, solar power and a shower.  If you plan to use these, please ensure that you are familiar with expectations on how to share these resources.  Note that the camp does not plan shared meals, nor guarantee the availability of any of these resources.  You are welcome to coordinate with other campmates to share resources and responsibilities with them and to check in with The Assless Chaplain to understand what is likely to be available to the whole camp.

 

Radical Self-Expression

• Every member of The Assless Chapel must be committed to a culture of consent:

  • Never take pictures of someone else without that person’s enthusiastic consent.

  • Never touch someone else in a sexual manner, without that person’s enthusiastic consent.

  • Never commodify someone else’s sexuality, without an enthusiastic invitation to do so.Don’t be the creep who asks women to flash them before serving a drink, etc.

  • Always take “no” for an answer and make sure you thank someone who tells you no for making his or her boundaries clear.

• Communicate your boundaries and give people the benefit of the doubt when interpreting their actions but do not tolerate behavior that clearly should not be tolerated.

• Every member of The Assless Chapel is required to read this; it is a good set of guidelines on consent from some other camp that was shared with me.

• Now, with that all said, everyone should feel comfortable expressing his or her true self at The Assless Chapel.  This means that you should expect to be sharing space with naked, intoxicated humans doing some weird shit and saying things that might not be appropriate in most off-Playa situations.

• The Assless Chapel belongs to all the campmates.  Share your thoughts and, better yet, do your thing to make it special.  Within the confines of our space and shared culture, there is a lot of room to express yourself through the planning, building and operating of The Assless Chapel.

 

Civic Responsibility

• We are committed to being responsible campmates and responsible citizens of Black Rock City, who keep each other safe:

  • We light up our guy lines and other hazards and keep each other safe from sharp objects, by doing things like bending and capping rebar and cleaning up broken glass immediately.

  • We take care of one another by doing things like reminding one another to drink water, rest as needed and use sunscreen; tending to one another when sick, injured or distressed; and lending a hand to make sure no one is taking on too much during build or break.

  • We take care of and respect one another and each other’s gear.

  • We care for our guests and neighbors in a comparable manner.

  • We familiarize ourselves with the guidelines laid out in the Red Folder.

 

Communal Effort

• Anyone who receives a SAP will contribute to build wholeheartedly, working all day until the work is done; staying sober-ish, even in the evenings; and doing his or her best to never be idle when others are working, while also taking care to avoid harming oneself.

• Everyone is expected to be a part of break.  While we know this is not always possible, leaving before break is over should be pre-arranged with The Assless Chaplain, so alternative ways of contributing can be agreed.

• Do the things you’ve committed to while on the Playa and contribute generally to us pulling this off.  Expect to be a part of all weddings, unless otherwise agreed with the Assless Chaplain.  Plan to do two ice runs during the week.  Do not expect others to remind you to do your part.

• If you see something that needs to be done, please do it.

• If you’re not sure about something, do ask questions and do ask for help, but try to learn how to do it yourself.  Remember: see one, do one, teach one.

• Please read the newsletter.  If you want to just skim the flowery sections, that’s fine, but do check the informational and imperative sections, so you know what’s going on with the camp, you know what feedback the camp needs from you and you know what you need to be doing to contribute to the camp.  You should also read the Camping Together page of the website.

 

Leave No Trace

• Everything LNT is covered in the required reading for being part of the camp, but here are a few points of re-emphasis:

  • We will all clean up garbage every day, all day long.  Know where the trash receptacles are and know what goes into each.  Everything that is made by humans is MOOP and needs to be cleaned up.  Everyone should do one MOOP patrol every day and, while you’re at it, look at our infrastructure to make sure it’s safe and secure.

  • Do not leave stuff lying around.  As hard as it is, we should all strive to make sure everything has its own place in order to keep our supplies from turning into MOOP.

  • MOOP is best prevented in advance.  This is particularly true with food.  Whatever you plan for food, make sure that you plan how to keep it from becoming a problem.

  • I mentioned this under Self-Reliance, but let’s emphasize it again: we do not want anyone trucking water to the Port-a-Potties or leaving water marks on the Playa.  If you need help planning for how to deal with grey water, please ask The Assless Chaplain or another campmate.

  • If anyone is staying later than The Assless Chaplain, someone must take responsibility for ensuring that we absolutely leave no trace!  Keep this in mind when making your plans.

 

Participation

• Every member of the Assless Chapel will contribute to planning, individually and/or as part of the group to delivering on the commitments made to Black Rock City in our Placement Application, which is required reading and will be emailed to you when available.

• We will all make sure to contribute to running the Chapel, keeping our camp LNT and performing day-to-day tasks, like updating the chalkboard, MOOP patrols and getting ice.  We will do what we say we will do.  We will know and live up to our expectations for The Assless Chapel’s interactivity offerings.  Information on these tasks will be provided via the newsletter, Red Folder and/or website.

• Plan on a daily family meeting at 745a during Build Week and 10a during Burn Week.  These are generally required.  If you miss a meeting or two, that’s fine, but please check in with The Assless Chaplain or, if you can’t find him, another campmate, to learn what you missed.  We also do a family Playa Shabbat ceremony both Friday nights around 7p.

 

Immediacy

• We are all here for our own reasons but will endeavor to be present for our campmates and our guests.

• We will engage with one another and our guests and focus our full attention on creating memorable and beautiful weddings.

 

Tickets

• We will all commit to clearing our calendars for every opportunity to obtain tickets, until the Assless Chaplain lets us know that we have all the tickets we need.

• Anyone who is part of the camp who gets a chance to purchase tickets will purchase the maximum number up to the total needed for the camp.

• Anyone who is part of the camp will only sell any excess tickets to other members of this camp, until everyone has a ticket.

 

Conflict Resolution

• Most on-Playa conflicts can be resolved directly.  Take a break, eat a pickle, drink water, sober up and/or get some sleep; then put yourself in the other person’s shoes and try to listen first, then express your needs clearly, calmly and without recrimination.

• If you need help, do come see The Assless Chaplain or another campmate who you feel can help.  In general, you should not involve another campmate to shame someone or in the hopes of adjudication, but with the expectation that the Chaplain or other campmate can help you directly and, possibly, help mediate a conflict.

• If you feel that another person’s behavior is unacceptable and cannot be resolved as indicated above, let The Assless Chaplain know immediately or, in his absence, Curtis or another senior campmate, such as Peaches, Stupid or Red.

• If you have an issue with The Assless Chaplain that you do not feel comfortable addressing directly, communicate this to Curtis, Peaches or another senior campmate, such as Red or Stupid.

 

Agree to this agreement by emailing the following statement to The Assless Chaplain at TheAsslessChaplain@protonmail.com:

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“I have read the Assless Chapel Agreements for 2025 in full.  I agree to them in full.  I understand that they are legally binding.”

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This is required each year from everyone in the camp!