12 Pre-Festival Events
Why wait until Friday to jump into the Wild Goose spirit? Join us on Thursday, August 28, 2025 for a full day of deep dives, playful experiments, and spirit-stirring conversation. These one-day intensives are your chance to connect, learn, and cultivate fresh insights before the main festival roars to life. Space is limited—reserve your spot today!
Wisdom Camp 2025: Radical Mysticism
Facilitators: Debonee Morgan & Carl McColman
Explore how mystics like Howard Thurman, Teresa of Ávila, and Dorothy Day fueled radical social change. Through guided contemplative practices and storytelling, Debonee (“contemplative troublemaker”) and Carl (spiritual author) will help you discover how deep inner work sparks collective transformation.
Eden Camp: Garden Transitions
Facilitators: Michael Morrell & Aline DeFiglia
Feeling at a crossroads of sexuality, spirituality, or relationship shifts? Michael (award-winning author and Wild Goose organizer) and Aline (licensed psychotherapist) guide you through embodied practices to recover exiled parts of yourself and sow seeds for a fuller, more integrated life.
Don’t Skip Recess 2025
Facilitator: Matthew Ray Lyda
This magic medicine is for anyone interested in returning to the wisdom of childlikeness. Drawing on Rumi’s invitation to stay “playfully childlike,” Matthew blends games, experiential experiments, and Brené Brown’s shame research to help you reconnect with joy and presence.
Sowing Seeds in the Sand: Transforming the Way You Find Yourself in Antiracism
Facilitators: Jennifer Holt Enriquez, William Bouvel, Crystal Elliott-O’Connor, and Beth Hunt
Dive into antiracism from a relational, embodied perspective. This is a brave space for unlearning, identity reflection, and generational storytelling—equipping you with the tools to cultivate lasting personal and community transformation.
It’s a Neurodiverse Universe
Facilitators: Sarah Frinks Morgan & Jillian Morgan
Celebrate the beauty of diverging brains and learn how to make every space—worship or workplace—truly inclusive. Through hands-on activities, Sarah and Jillian showcase sensory diversity and neuroaffirming practices that deepen empathy and honor minds of all kinds.
LeadNow! 2025
Facilitators: Jacqui Buschor and Jones
Designed for First-call Pastors & Seminarians (full scholarship; application required)
If this is your first Wild Goose as a newly ordained pastor or seminarian, welcome to your tribe. LeadNow! covers your registration, grants free access to all pre-festival camps, and offers year-round mentor gatherings—setting you up to lead with resilience in “ministry on the margins.”
Peace in a Violent World
Facilitators: James Warren, Jennifer Garcia Bashaw, Ellen Corcella, and Paul Nuechterlein
Wrestle with René Girard’s mimetic theory to understand how sacred nonviolence can flourish amid systemic violence. Through scripture, case studies, and embodied practices, this workshop equips you to embody peace in your church, community organizing, or everyday relationships.
Ancient Wisdom in a Modern World
Facilitator: Chebon Kernell
Discover how early Christian practices and Indigenous spiritual traditions can dance together today. Through storytelling, ritual demonstrations, and cross-cultural dialogue, you’ll gain practical ways to weave ancient rhythms into contemporary life.
Music and Liturgy for Resilience and Resistance
Facilitators: Ken Medema, Rev. Lisa Janke, Richard Bruxvoort Colligan, and Travis Beck
Explore how congregational song can be both balm and battle cry in turbulent times. Learn to craft liturgies that uplift marginalized voices and fuel justice movements—then leave with fresh songs and tools to lead your community toward resilient, prophetic worship.
Responding to Christian Nationalism: A Faithful Way Forward
Facilitators: Doug Pagitt, Lisa Sharon Harper, Rev. Paul A. McAllister, and Rob Schenck
In an era when faith is weaponized for power, this interactive workshop unpacks the rise of Christian nationalism and models a gospel-centered resistance. Engage historical context, articulate counter-narratives, and practice faithful witness to stand for liberation and solidarity.
Hands-On Experiments in Climate Science
Facilitator: JD Stillwater
Science can be both playful and urgent. In this small-group workshop, JD leads you through hands-on demonstrations: greenhouse-effect models, carbon-cycle simulations, and DIY experiments that reveal practical insights—and give you climate projects to share at home.
Faith-Rooted Organizing on New Terrain
Facilitator: Lisa Sharon Harper, with Kristen Irving and Jennifer Butler
This workshop will equip participants to analyze their community, strategize, build collaborative networks, and take action inspired by their faith! We are entering new terrain. For that we must also turn to our brothers and sisters whose faith-soaked actions won their fights against authoritarian governments. It’s time to get ready.
Ready to dive in? Visit each link to learn more, grab your ticket, and we’ll see you Thursday for a day of inspiration, hands-on exploration, and community.
Pre-Festival event tickets are $59 (in addition to your regular admission ticket).
Peace, play, and pre-festival vibes,