Who’s at Wild Goose Festival This Year?
The eighth in a series of many!
Karen Swallow Prior, Ph.D., is a professor and acclaimed author with titles such as “The Evangelical Imagination” (2023) and “On Reading Well” (2018). She contributes to publications including The New York Times and The Atlantic, writes a monthly column for Religion News Service, and has roles as Contributing Editor for Comment, founding member of The Pelican Project, and Senior Fellow at the Trinity Forum. She also co-edited “Cultural Engagement: A Crash Course in Contemporary Issues” (2019) and hosted the “Jane and Jesus” podcast, establishing herself as a prominent voice in both academic and public spheres.
Julian J.Kwest DeShazier, an Emmy Award-winning musician and national speaker, has been featured on major media outlets like ABC, CBS, and FOX, and on Dr. Maya Angelou’s Oprah & Friends radio program. As a Chicago native and pastor of University Church, he actively campaigns for social issues, including a trauma center on Chicago’s South Side, while teaching at the University of Chicago Divinity School and McCormick Theological Seminary. His contributions extend to documentaries such as “The Line,” addressing poverty and violence, and he is a regular contributor to Sojourners and Huffington Post.
Rob Schenck, a former prominent figure in the U.S. evangelical movement and now a Christian progressive, has been active in religious circles for nearly 50 years, with 35 years as a religious right activist. Ordained and trained within evangelical institutions, he has shifted to critiquing his religious tribe through works like his memoir, “Costly Grace: An Evangelical Minister’s Rediscovery of Faith, Hope and Love.” Schenck’s transformation and critiques of evangelical gun culture and Christian nationalism are highlighted in Emmy-winning “The Armor of Light” by Abigail Disney and Rob Reiner’s “God & Country.”
Rev. Jonah P. Overton (they/them) is a queer and trans community organizer and the founding pastor of Zao MKE Church in Milwaukee, which began in their living room and now occupies a historic church building. Passionate about making scripture accessible and relevant, Jonah hosts two podcasts, “Jonah & the Peacock” and “Christian Queeries,” exploring faith through an inclusive and trauma-informed lens. They cherish leading a church that empowers historically marginalized voices and enjoy life with their spouse, Cameron, and daughter, Micah, dreaming of paddle boarding and reading in their scarce free time.