Ásatrú Free Assembly

The Asatru Folk Assembly, or AFA, an organization of Germanic neopaganism, is a US-headquartered, but international folkishÁsatrú organization, with chapters worldwide, founded by Stephen A. McNallen in 1994.

The AFA is recognized as a 501(c)(3) non-profit religious organization, or church and is headquartered in Grass Valley, California. The organization denounces racial supremacism. Still, McNallen believes in an "integral link between ancestry and religion, between biology and spirituality," and according to Jeffrey Kaplan the organization was founded in part to counteract rumored "universalist" tendencies he discerned in Ring of Troth.

The Asatru Free Assembly has its roots in the Viking Brotherhood which was founded by McNallen in 1972. McNallen was one of the earliest advocates of reconstructing Germanic Paganism in modern times. The Viking Brotherhood later evolved into the Asatru Free Assembly.

A group called the Asatru Free Assembly founded by McNallen and Stine in 1974 was disbanded in 1986, splitting into two successor organizations, the "folkish" Ásatrú Alliance, and the "universalist" The Troth. In 1986 the Asatru Free Assembly ceased operations, due to burnout and disputes within the membership. McNallen says that despite reports to the contrary, it was not due to racial politics, but that he worked as a peace officer in Stephens County Texas sheriff's office jail and Sheila kept books for an oil company, and both were logging around sixty hours and forty hours per week, respectively, on Asatru-related matters. Both knew that they could not continue putting out this effort without financial compensation, which would allow them to cut back on these mundane jobs. When they approached the membership, the general reaction was negative. Some accused them of trying to "establish a priesthood" or of being "money hungry." Surprised and bruised by this rejection, they tried cutting back on membership services to make the job more manageable. This in turn caused more complaints among members. Realising this was a losing battle, both at the end of their financial and emotional resources, the AFA was disbanded, with the ashes turned over to Valgard Murray, leader of the Arizona Kindred, who used them as the foundation for the Asatru Alliance. McNallen took a sabbatical for several years, resuming publication of The Runestone in 1994 and forming the Asatru Folk Assembly in 1995. He continues to lead this organization today.

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