All 2018 Sessions
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Musical Performance: Lyric
Fri 9 PM | Main Stage
Lyric performs on the Wild Goose Main Stage
LISTEN
Lyric Leeda Jones
“Forget being signed. Paper fades. Legends don’t. I was born one.” This is what this band lives by. They started out as street musicians, filling downtown Asheville streets corners while touching many hearts . “The streets is where we love to be. We get so much positive feedback that it pushes us to work harder. This is where we started and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” said Leeda Jones(Lyric). With a sound and style that is so unique, they’re sure to please any crowd. Their album entitled, “Guitar Feet.” this album takes you on a walk through the promise of a better day. Through all hardships and struggle, this album has been known to lift people’s spirits!!
Sessions:
3 Musical Performance: Lyric
Session #3
Diana Butler Bass
Sat 10 AM | Main Stage
Diana Butler Bass
Diana is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of nine books, including Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution (HarperOne, 2015) and the widely influential Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne, 2012). Her other books include A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009), and the best-selling Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (2006) which was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and was featured in a cover story in USA TODAY. Diana regularly writes at The Huffington Post and The Washington Post and comments on religion, politics, and culture in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR.
dianabutlerbass.com
Sessions:
4 Diana Butler Bass, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
Session #4
Jen Hatmaker
Fri 10 AM | Main Stage
Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker is the author of eleven books, including New York Times Bestsellers For the Love and Of Mess and Moxie. She is the happy hostess of a tightly knit online community where she reaches millions of people each week. She and her husband, Brandon, founded the Legacy Collective, a giving community that funds sustainable solutions to systemic problems around the world. They also starred in an HGTV series called “My Big Family Renovation” and live in a 105-year-old farmhouse just outside Austin, TX with their five kids. She speaks at events all over the country and hosts the popular podcast For the Love with Jen Hatmaker. Check out her books, schedule, and blog at jenhatmaker.com/
Sessions:
194 Jen Hatmaker – Topic TBD
5 Jen Hatmaker, Topic TBD
386 A Conversation with Jen Hatmaker
Session #5
Musical Performance: Melani
Sat 7 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
Melani Jackson
Melani Jackson is a singer/songwriter, a creator of what she calls “Life” music. She is known for her open and free-spirited demeanor. She has created a cross-cultural array of inspirational songs that everyday people can relate to, regardless of ethnicity or religion. Ms. Jackson has a powerful voice that is only rivaled by her powerful message. Melani is often told that her energy is magnetic. She has been honored at the DMV music awards in 2013 and 2014 for her great music and music videos. She has also been featured in several magazines and she took the cover of Shine on Magazine in 2013. She has shared the stage with names such as Martha Munizzi, Vanessa Bell Armstrong, Michael Jordan, Jester Hairston, “Hannibal” Peterson, and the late Coretta Scott King. One of her most prized accomplishments was her opportunity to do pit singing with a group of 5 singers for the world-renowned Alvin Ailey Dancers’ “Revelations.”
Sessions:
6 Musical Performance: Melani
Session #6
Jacqui Lewis & Ruby Sales
Sat 11 AM | Main Stage
Jacqui Lewis
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a 1000-member multiracial, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City. She is an activist, preacher, and fierce advocate for racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQ equality. Her work has included co-founding The Middle Project, an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a more just society. She has also written three books, hosted a television program, been a frequent contributor to MSNBC, and taught at seminaries across the country.
Jacqui earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and earned a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Jacqui is the first African American and first woman to serve as senior minister in the Collegiate Church, which was founded in New York City in 1628.
http://www.jacquijlewis.com/
Sessions:
281 Sending The Goose
7 Jacqui Lewis, Topic TBD
Ruby Sales
Perhaps no one is more rooted in history, engaged in the present, and leaning more intentionally into the future than Ruby Sales.
Ruby is a public theologian, historian, activist, social critic, and educator. She first answered the call to social justice in the 1960’s as a teenager at Tuskegee Institute to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and work on voter registration in Lowndes County, Alabama. Among her many great achievements since then, she is one of fifty African Americans from the Civil Rights Movement to have her oral history spotlighted at the Library of Congress. She also founded, and still directs, the SpiritHouse Project, a national nonprofit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Sales
Sessions:
366 Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
7 Jacqui Lewis & Ruby Sales
Session #7
Randall Balmer
Fri 1 PM | Workshop
Randall Balmer
Randall Balmer, who holds the Ph.D. from Princeton University, is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College, where he is also Director of the Society of Fellows and Chair of the Religion Department. Prior to coming to Dartmouth in 2012, he was Professor of American Religious History at Columbia University for twenty-seven years and an Adjunct Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary, where he earned the Master of Divinity in 2001. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 2006, he has served as rector in two parishes in Connecticut. He was Visiting Professor at Yale Divinity School from 2004 to 2008, and he has been a Visiting Professor at Princeton, Yale, Northwestern and Emory universities. Dr. Balmer is the author of fourteen books, including Evangelicalism in America and Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter. His second book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fifth edition, was made into a three-part documentary for PBS. Dr. Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for writing and hosting that series. He is a contributor for CNN, and his commentaries have appeared in newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Des Moines Register and the New York Times.
https://www.randallbalmer.com/
Sessions:
10 Randall Balmer, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
Session #10
Jesus and the Disinherited: Taking the Inward Journey to Liberation
Therese Taylor-Stinson
Sat 4 PM | Landing
Through the work of Howard Thurman’s book by the same name, written 41 years ago, we will explore how his words, though dated in terms of language and history, still ring true in the lives of the disinherited of the 21st century. Using Thurman’s broad categories of inward reflection, fear, deception, hate, and love, we will reflect on current events and the lives of the disinherited in present circumstances, making our own inward journey to overcome dominance and oppression. Please bring a journal to write your reflections.
Therese Taylor-Stinson
Therese Taylor-Stinson is a spiritual director in private practice for over 13 years. She is a graduate of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and a member of the Shalem Society for Contemplative Leadership. Therese is also a member of Spiritual Directors International and an ordained deacon and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was the 2016 Moderator for PCUSA’s National Capital Presbytery. Therese is the Managing Member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network, Ltd., and as an editor and author, her most notable works are the groundbreaking anthologies Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Stories of Contemplation and Justice for which she was named 2018 Indie Author Legacy Awards (IALA) Author of the Year in the area of social awareness. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of spirituality and liberating justice. http://sdcnetwork.org
Sessions:
44 Jesus and the Disinherited
48 Centering Prayer
Session #44
Religious Cults Hidden in Plain Sight: How to Detect Them & How to Break Free
Ashley Easter
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 1
When you think of the term “cult,” your mind may flash to walled compounds, poisoned Kool-aid, or secret societies. While these types of cults exist, the truth is that other, less obvious, high control groups are far more common. Cults drain bank accounts, destroy families, entrap members, and cause them to do things they wouldn’t have considered before through manipulative mind-control and fear tactics. There are an estimated 5,000 cults in the US alone. Many of these groups go undetected, attracting members with promises of world-changing purpose and spiritual enlightenment. Once a person dives deeper into the cult, they may begin to see things are not quite right. But how do they break free? With a mix of storytelling and fact gathering, find out how to identify cults, discover who is susceptible, and how to help yourself or others break free.
Ashley Easter
Ashley Easter is an author, speaker, and abuse-victim advocate who educates churches and secular communities on abuse, safe practices, and effective resources.
At 22 she freed herself from a religious group that systematically devalued women.
Now she works to liberate other victims of abuse from toxic theology and encourage them along their journey back to wholeness.
Ashley founded The Courage Conference, a survivor-centered movement focused on self-healing, to empower victims to discover their courage and reclaim their freedom through connection, learning, and advocacy. She is the author of The Courage Coach: A Practical, Friendly Guide on How to Heal From Abuse and Cults: Hidden in Plain Sight.
www.AshleyEaster.com
www.TheCourageConference.com
Twitter: @ashleymeaster Facebook: /ashleymeaster
Sessions:
45 Religious Cults Hidden in Plain Sight
270 Ending Child Marriage In The US
Session #45
Surviving The Tyranny of The Now: Dismantling Christian Supremacy
Fri 5 PM | Workshop
Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Rev. Alba Onofrio, & Dr. Jeffrey Koetje
We are living in what Robyn has been calling Tyranny of The Now in their writing and public talks, and so much of our present moment is created by what Alba calls white Christian Supremacy. Jeff has been fighting his own socializations as white and the ways he has to also confront white supremacy in his religious upbringing and educational training. As Alba has theorized, white Christian supremacy is elucidated in a parasitic relationship that is shared by white supremacy and Christian supremacy. This conversation is designed to expose the contours of these two material realities that are severely impacting all of us.
Alba Onofrio
Rev. Alba Onofrio (a.k.a. Reverend Sex) is a Southern Appalachian First-Gen Latinx Queer Mama Evangelical Femme who lives and loves in la Lucha with QTPOC folks as a Spiritual Healer and Bruja Troublemaker to combat spiritual terrorism, reclaim Guad, and eradicate shame and fear wherever they are found.
As the Spiritual Strategist for Soulforce and a Co-founder of the Sexual Liberation Collective, Rev. Alba Onofrio trains across the U.S. and internationally on decoding white Christian Supremacy and healing internalized religious-based trauma in order to rebuild our ethics and reclaim our sacred desires and spiritual practices. They also serve as Evangelist-Missionary at Jubilee Interfaith Community in Asheville, NC.
www.ReverendSex.com
www.Soulforce.org
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
186 Decolonize-Heal-Reclaim
46 Surviving The Tyranny of The Now
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #46
Noon-day Centering Prayer
Therese Taylor-Stinson
At Noon, we will gather to observe the contemplative practice of Centering Prayer. After some moments of introduction and reflection, we will fall into a period of silence, using our sacred word or our breath to center our intention for companionship with that which some call God.
Fri Noon | Chapel
Therese Taylor-Stinson
Therese Taylor-Stinson is a spiritual director in private practice for over 13 years. She is a graduate of the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation and a member of the Shalem Society for Contemplative Leadership. Therese is also a member of Spiritual Directors International and an ordained deacon and ruling elder in the Presbyterian Church (USA). She was the 2016 Moderator for PCUSA’s National Capital Presbytery. Therese is the Managing Member of the Spiritual Directors of Color Network, Ltd., and as an editor and author, her most notable works are the groundbreaking anthologies Embodied Spirits: Stories of Spiritual Directors of Color and Ain’t Gonna Let Nobody Turn Me Around: Stories of Contemplation and Justice for which she was named 2018 Indie Author Legacy Awards (IALA) Author of the Year in the area of social awareness. She is passionate about exploring the intersection of spirituality and liberating justice. http://sdcnetwork.org
Sessions:
44 Jesus and the Disinherited
48 Centering Prayer
Session #48
Christ on the Psych Ward: Sharing Stories of Mental Health Struggles and Faith
David Finnegan-Hosey
Fri 10 AM | Workshop
“Christ on the Psych Ward” is a story-sharing based on the author’s experiences of mental illness, recovery, and faith. In telling his story, he weaves together threads of personal experience, spiritual reflection, and ministry praxis. By ”going first” with his own story of mental illness and mental health, he opens up the space for other participants to share their own stories of mental health struggles in their personal lives, family lives, and/or communities of faith. Rather than simply a book reading or presentation, we will work together to create a shared storytelling space of courage, lament, vulnerability, and hope.
David Finnegan-Hosey
David Finnegan-Hosey is a chaplain and campus minister. He currently serves as chaplain-in-residence at Georgetown University, having previously worked with campus ministries at American University and the University of Hawaii. He holds an M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary and a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He is certified by Mental Health First Aid USA to provide initial help to people experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance use disorders. In 2011, David was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. You can learn about his book, Christ on the Psych Ward, at christonthepsychward.com, and read more of his writing on his blog, Foolish Hosey. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife Leigh and their dog Penny Lane.
www.christonthepsychward.com
Sessions:
49 Christ on the Psych Ward
50 Crazy Creative
Session #49
Crazy Creative: Exploring Connections Between Creativity and Mental Illness
Mary Button & David Finnegan-Hosey
Fri 1 PM | Studio
There has long been a popular association between mental illness and creativity. The infamous emotional intensity, even instability, of famous creatives – from Vincent Van Gogh to Sylvia Plath to Kurt Cobain – and the perception that creativity involves suffering has strengthened this link in the popular imagination. But is this link real? Is suffering a necessary prerequisite for creativity? Are people with mental health struggles inherently more creative? Artist and organizer Mary Button and chaplain and author David Finnegan-Hosey, both of whom get a real kick out of making stuff and both of whom are diagnosed with bipolar disorder, will facilitate this discussion on mental illness and creativity.
David Finnegan-Hosey
David Finnegan-Hosey is a chaplain and campus minister. He currently serves as chaplain-in-residence at Georgetown University, having previously worked with campus ministries at American University and the University of Hawaii. He holds an M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary and a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He is certified by Mental Health First Aid USA to provide initial help to people experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance use disorders. In 2011, David was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. You can learn about his book, Christ on the Psych Ward, at christonthepsychward.com, and read more of his writing on his blog, Foolish Hosey. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife Leigh and their dog Penny Lane.
www.christonthepsychward.com
Sessions:
49 Christ on the Psych Ward
50 Crazy Creative
Mary Button
Mary Button was born and raised in the swampy wilds of East Texas, received a BFA in Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and went on to earn a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in American religious history and Christian ethics from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Her artwork has been exhibited across the US and UK, with exhibitions at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC, the Church Center for the United Nations, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Wesley House at Cambridge University, to name a few. She has written curricula for Women of the ELCA on a number of social justice issues and is a frequent contributor to Believe Out Loud. You can find her at marybutton.com
Sessions:
91 Reproductive Justice Is …
92 Crafting Icons of Resistance
50 Crazy Creative
Session #50
Bridges Over Battle Lines: how to move your heated conversations beyond debate
Fri 10 AM | Portal
Kevin Garcia
We live in a world that is more polarized than ever, so how do we live in the tension of people different from us? In this workshop, we’ll talk about strategies and ideas to help move conversations from merely debating differing theologies into meaningful relationships. We’ll talk about healthy boundaries, how to protect your energy, and how to use your story as your most effective tool in building bridges instead of drawing battle lines in the communities we live in and between those we love. Specifically, we’ll talk about how our brains are wired for fear rather than vulnerability, we’ll examine specific conversational strategies to move conversations from debate into meaningful conversation, and discuss how boundaries and self-care are pivotal in this work to bring about more healing and justice in our world.
Kevin Garcia
Kevin Garcia is a speaker, creative, musician, content creator and worship artist based in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2013 with a BM in Music Education and has been everything from a barista to a corporate office worker to a non-profit professional since then. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a gay Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with his blog, theKevinGarcia.com, his podcast, “A Tiny Revolution,” on his YouTube channel where he unpacks theology and addresses life as a queer person of faith, and through speaking engagements at churches, universities, and festivals. Kevin also works with The Reformation Project, an LGBTQ direction action organization with a mission to make the global church more inclusive for queer people. He is presently a candidate for a Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. He believes that by telling our stories, we set others free to tell theirs.
www.theKevinGarcia.com
Sessions:
51 Bridges Over Battle Linesconversation.
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
248 Failed Missionary
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #51
Dreams as a Wisdom Path
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 3
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 3
Darby Christopher
We will start this session with a brief discussion of how our night time dreams can serve as a wisdom path in our lives, laying the groundwork for this possibility, with an eye on how religions across time have valued or not valued dreams. Then we will pick a dream out of a hat to work with, using the “projective dream group” method developed by Jeremy Taylor and others. If you would like to put a dream in the hat to possibly be chosen, please bring a dream to share.
Darby Christopher
Darby Christopher is an ordained Interfaith Minister through One Spirit Learning Alliance in NYC and is a licensed Master of Social Work (LMSW). She gives talks and leads workshops on dreams, and has a passion for prison reform and reading the comics. Learn more about her at www.revdarbychristopher.com.
www.revdarbychristopher.com
Sessions:
52 Dreams as a Wisdom Path
Session #52
The Wisdom of Awareness, Insight, and Mindfulness
Fri 11 AM | Portal
Randy Bell
Today, many spiritual seekers across religious traditions are exploring Awareness, Insight, or Mindfulness practices. Unfortunately, these three terms have become highly overused, and their meanings are often confusing. Thereby, their usefulness to many spiritual seekers has been sorely diminished. In this session, we will take a fresh look at these very important concepts and practices. We need to understand that these ideas are not synonymous. Rather, they are distinct yet interrelated concepts which, when taken together, have great power to guide us in our spiritual quest. This overview session will clarify the distinct meaning and purpose of each concept, and how they work together. Thereby, we will see how they can move us further towards the Spiritual Wisdom we seek. The session is based upon Randy Bell’s book “Awareness, Insight, & Mindfulness: 3 Steps on the Path to Wisdom.” The session will include lecture, everyday examples, group discussion, and Q&A.
Randy Bell
I am the Director of Spring Creek Spirituality based in Asheville, NC, welcoming all faiths and backgrounds as we explore each person’s individual spirituality using our everyday language. My spiritual path has taken me to many diverse sources, though I am principally a follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Lao-Tsu, and have been a Zen practitioner for 40 years. I write extensively on various spiritual topics, including 14 books, 2 blog sites, and various reference materials. I serve as a guest speaker/session leader, lead spiritual and personal growth workshops and retreat sessions, and am a meditation teacher. I provide spiritual direction and companioning, and in 2016 & 2017 was on the Spiritual Direction Team at Wild Goose. I am also a member of North Carolina Writer’s Network and Spiritual Directors International. My personal resume website can be found at www.RandyBellSpiritualTeacher.blogspot.com. Books and publications can be found at www.McKeeLearningFoundation.com.
www.SpringCreekSpirituality.com
Sessions:
53 Wisdom of A-I-M
351 Spiritual Direction
Session #53
Reconciliation Yoga: Align Mind Body and Soul with an all-levels body prayer.
Fri 8 AM | Landing
Smiling Heart Yoga
Join Anita Grace Brown of Smilingheartyoga for an all-levels experience of freedom from the mind’s trappings. Enter the story of the body and allow healing to unfold in the newly created spaciousness. Holy Spirit flows in with healing power as we move and breathe in community honoring our sacred, rejected pieces. We welcome our wholeness to be restored in order to serve our broken world.Live musical accompaniment with Thom Buchanan
Anita Brown
Anita Grace Brown live in NJ with her husband and golden retriever, Sierra while her children are off balancing work hard/party hard at Syracuse U. As a yoga teacher she’s quite proud of this work life harmony they are already exhibiting!! A few months ago Anita birthed her Jesus Yoga podcast “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere!” and has been excited to share embodiment and breath tools in her home church as well. She’s honored to be back offering all-levels morning body prayer at WG for the 4th consecutive year! You can also find her at this year’s healing arts tent assisting with trauma sensitive offerings and a place to find deep rest and release from stress. She’s been healed of decades of chronic PMDD and IBS among other lesser ailments thanks to the pranic balancing that comes with her unique East meets West practices.
Smilingheartyoga.org
It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere Podcast
Sessions:
54 Reconciliation Yoga: A Fresh approach to body prayer
149 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
Thom Buchanan
Thom started playing the guitar at the age of 12, and has been honored to back-up artists such as Jeff Fenholt, Phil Driscoll, Darlene Zschech, Joe & Becky Cruse, Cindy Cruse-Ratcliff, Kent Henry, legendary studio guitarist Mike Deasy, Georgian Banov, JoAnn McFatter, Don Potter, Suzy Wills-Yaraei and Roy Fields, to notably name a fewHe has musically supported ministries such as: TL Osborne, Reinhard Bonnke, Rodney Howard-Browne, Lou Engle, Jerry Brandt and Jerry Saville.
He is the founder of the bands SonsUVthundr, Thom Buchanan Band and (Band dú Soleil – currently). He’s been joined by his life-long friend and bandmate, Juma Sultan (percussionist for Jimi Hendrix), in all three of these bands. He has played on hundreds of other’s albums and has released three LP’s of his own: “”Living On Borrowed Time””, “”Beautiful”” & “”Christmas Revisited.” He is a New York native and is, currently, making his home in High Point, NC, with his wife Caroline and their children.
Sessions:
54 Reconciliation Yoga: A Fresh approach to body prayer
Session #54
Discernment: The Art of Really Living Your Faith
Fri 1 PM | Portal
J. Marshall Jenkins
Do you come to the Wild Goose Festival at a crossroad on your journey? Each direction you turn may look like the right way sometimes and the wrong way others depending on how the light shines and the shadows fall. In addition to courage, you need discernment. More than calculated decision-making, discernment emerges from your true self. More than futuristic speculation, discernment attends mindfully in the present. More than prudence, discernment loves. Participants will learn spiritual practices that support discernment and share stories of Spirit-led moments to validate and support each other on the road.
Marshall Jenkins
J. Marshall Jenkins, Ph.D., is a writer, counseling psychologist, and spiritual director. Through his listening ministry, Marshall strives to facilitate discernment, graced healing, and everyday spirituality. His writing ministry carries that work forward through his Beatitudes Blog (www.jmarshalljenkins.com) and his books, including his most recent one, Blessed at the Broken Places: Reclaiming Faith & Purpose with the Beatitudes (Skylight Paths, 2016). He received certificates in spiritual formation at Columbia Theological Seminary and in spiritual guidance at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Since 1987, he has served as Director of Counseling at Berry College and conducted an evening private practice in psychotherapy and spiritual direction in Rome, Georgia, where he lives with his lovely wife, Wanda Cantrell.
www.jmarshalljenkins.com/
Sessions:
55 Discernment
351 Spiritual Direction
Session #55
The Shift in Language: Creating Intentional Community with those Experiencing Poverty
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 5
Randy Evans
The Shift in Language: Creating Intentional Community with those Experiencing Poverty Why does it matter what words we use? What’s wrong with saying, “homeless?” Why should I look deeper? Is self-satisfaction such a bad thing? Am I actually contributing to someone’s poverty? In the “Shift of Language,” we will see how the words we use affect the way we engage with individuals experiencing poverty. We will discuss how the language we use can cause harm through perpetuating the problem and victimizing the individuals we are trying to live life with or help. We will discuss ways to create intentional community with those in poverty, but also extend a hand to those who are not. This is a great opportunity to expand your reach while creating safe and sacred space for those who are marginalized.
Randy Evans
Walking Tall exists to build interpersonal relationships with individuals experiencing poverty through full access, so that they may experience community through safe, and sacred spaces for healing. They strive to bring awareness to the general public through an important, “shift” in the language used in regard to poverty, and charity. They accomplish their mission and vision through living out the ideas of Language, Mutuality, Abundance, Radical Hospitality, and Justice.
Randy Evans is the founder/director. He lives in Wilmington, NC with his wife Marya, Great-Nephew Jaxon, and two labs Zoe, and Izzy. He moved to Wilmington from Raleigh, NC in the Fall of 2013. He strives to create community with the most marginalized groups through giving full access and offering radical hospitality. He writes a monthly blog for Cape Fear Magazine. In addition to leading Walking Tall, he also enjoys Yoga, Nick Cave and The Bad Seeds, Diet Mountain Dew, and Haunted Houses. Follow him @walkingtallwilmington or at http://
facebook.com/walkingtallwilmington
Sessions:
56 The Shift In Language
Session #56
Faith in a Fat Body: Learning to Love Our Bodies, Our Neighbors, and Ourselves.
Fri 2 PM | Portal
J. Nicole Morgan
So often we look at fat bodies as failures – and that is no different inside the church than out. This session will look at some truths about fat bodies – that they are made in the image of God, tell us something unique about God, and are not a sign of sin. While the world tells us that our fat bodies are too much, the truth is that all bodies are expressions of the body of Christ. We will talk about how our churches and communities can be places where fat bodies are welcome and intentionally included as part of a vibrant community. There will be time for questions and discussion.
J. Nicole Morgan
J. Nicole Morgan is a Christian fat-acceptance advocate, an amateur seamstress, an unlikely hiker, and the delighted aunt of four curious kids. She is the author of Fat and Faithful: Learning to Love Our Bodies, Our Neighbors, and Ourselves (Fortress Press, 2018) and co-host of the podcast Fat & Faithful. Nicole’s writing has been featured in Christianity Today, Sojourners, and other places. She earned her master of theological studies in Christian Faith and Public Policy from Palmer Seminary of Eastern University.
jnicolemorgan.com
Sessions:
57 Faith in a Fat Body
Session #57
Joyful Soul of Grief: a 2-hour Community-Supported Ritual
Fri 5 PM | Bridge
Joyful Soul of Grief Community Ritual
We draw support from song, toning, creative discussion, the presence of minerals, gems and stones, and group ritual to witness what grief is and how it moves in us. In the spirit of Francis Weller’s work, we acknowledge that, “There is some strange intimacy between grief and aliveness, some sacred exchange between what seems unbearable and what is most exquisitely alive.” Grieving is personal soul work for the sake of the world. We were not meant to grieve alone in our little cubicles; coursing in our veins is an ancient connection to tribal wisdom, and this is the medicine needed today to bring healing at individual and group levels. Includes an exercise in forgiveness as part of the grief process.
LISTEN
Sheridan Hill
My career as a biographer has taught me that life is a series of stories that you tell yourself; the mistake we make is believing our stories of victimization and repeating them in our heads, ensuring that we will continue to react instead of respond to each moment. Reactions rush forth out of past pain and are full of self-justification (the moral high horse); responses arise from an inner capacity to be-with-what-is (breathing into the vulnerability that love calls us to). I call myself a grief doula, as I help folks release grief and let vitality in. I’m honored to work with forgiveness activist Lyndon Harris. I believe in the healing power of rituals as simple as lighting a candle with an intention, both as private actions and as moments of community-building and group witnessing.
www.griefcircle.net
Sessions:
58 Joyful Soul of Grief
Lyndon Harris
Lyndon Harris is the Co-director of Tigg’s Pond Retreat Center in Zirconia, NC, where he is developing a Journey to Forgiveness Institute. Harris is also a forgiveness coach, and an inspirational and motivational speaker, having spoken at numerous conferences across the United States and around the world. He served more than 20 years as a pastor and his work at Ground Zero as priest-in-charge of Saint Paul’s Chapel (located directly across from the World Trade Center in New York City) has been written about widely, including the NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Christian Science Monitor. His work in forgiveness is featured in the award winning documentary, “The Power of Forgiveness” (Journey Films 2006). Harris is also the Executive Director of the Gardens of Forgiveness, an educational non-profit dedicated to teaching the way of forgiveness as tool for conflict transformation and peace making.
Sessions:
58 Joyful Soul of Grief
Session #58
Dialogue This!
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 7
John H Pomeroy
Presenter will introduce a simple dialogue process with structured listening and speaking, and invite participants to use the format to share with one another on a topic that is pressing for their community – after 20 minutes of sharing, participants will close with a simple reflection on how they experienced the process and where it could be used in their life/work/ministry.Kaleidoscope Institute
John H Pomeroy
John is a Regional Director and Associate with the Kaleidoscope Institute, a consulting group that works with schools, churches, not for profits and other organizations to use dialogue tools to facilitate building relationships for community action, ministry, and collective healing. John works as a UCC pastor, teaches at Claremont School of Theology and lives with his wife and two dogs in Los Angeles, CA.
www.Kaleidoscopeinstitute.org
Sessions:
59 Dialogue This!
Session #59
M-bodied Beauty: Beyond Media’s Portrayal – A Body Image Workshop
Sat 3 PM | Portal
Rev. Sarah Renfro
We are bombarded with 3000 messages a day, which promote an unrealistic “ideal beauty,” and sell us products to lose weight, gain muscle, and change our appearance. Rev. Sarah Renfro was an international fashion model but struggled with eating disorders and negative body image. She was constantly told she was not good enough just as she was. As children of God, made in God’s image with the imprint of the Divine in our DNA, we must counter media’s messages and connect to the Divine-within. As an ordained minister, Sarah seeks to help dispel the myths of media and “ideal beauty” and empower participants to claim their diverse and wonderful beauty given by God. For her interactive presentation, participants cut pictures out of magazines, process the findings, view a presentation of Sarah’s story from artsy-athlete to miserable model to mission-oriented minister. We look at scriptures that promote a positive body image and end with shouting in a mirror, “I am a beautiful child of God!”
Sarah Renfro
Born and raised in Lexington, KY, Rev. Sarah Renfro modeled professionally around the world for 7 years. After struggling with body image issues, disordered eating, and depression, she retired and returned to graduate from the University of Kentucky. Sarah attended Lexington Theological Seminary and was ordained in 2010. She’s been married to Rev. Kyle Brown since 2009, mom to Miriam since 2011, and one of the ministers at Geist Christian Church in Fishers, IN since 2015. Sarah is privileged to share her unique experiences of fashion and faith, modeling and ministry with youth, women’s groups, and cross-denominational gatherings from California to Mississippi to North Carolina. Sarah also has a book under contract with Chalice Press. She bleeds blue for the Kentucky Wildcats, loves dance parties with her girl, likes to eat and drink around town, and does crosswords to unwind.
m-bodied.com
Sessions:
61 Body Image Workshop
Session #61
Community Circle Weaving Project
Sat 10 AM | Studio
Melissa Yoder Ricks
Join in the creation of a woven work of art – no experience necessary! Fiber Artist Melissa Yoder Ricks will guide as participants add their own personal touches to a community weaving using yarn, fiber, or found objects such as feathers or twigs. Fiber arts are good for the mind and soul, creating a mental open space for contemplation and meditation. Creating with natural materials by hand fosters harmony and connectedness to the created world and the creator. Sharing and encouraging creativity creates community.
Melissa Yoder Ricks
Melissa Yoder Ricks has been knitting and crocheting since early childhood, and spinning, dyeing and weaving for most of her adult life. She loves to experiment, innovate and combine techniques to make one of a kind creations. A native on NC and graduate of Duke University, Melissa currently lives in the northern Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. In 2008, she launched Wild Hare Fiber Studio (www.wildharefiber.com) following a time of great personal upheaval during which she discovered the meditative and healing powers of working with yarn and fiber.
www.wildharefiber.com
Sessions:
62 Weaving Circle
Session #62
Creating Street Church–reaching people where they live
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 5
Elizabeth (Liz) Magill
There are more than 100 street church congregations made up of people who do not have homes or are at risk of homelessness in the United States. Using the story of Worcester Fellowship, an outdoor church in Massachusetts, Liz will lead you through the steps to create an outdoor church, or for your indoor church to engage in effective street ministry. Let the people you meet determine the direction of your mission.
Elizabeth Magill
Elizabeth Magill (Liz) is Minister to the Affiliates for Ecclesia Ministries, a network of street churches. With a passion for mission, evangelism, anti-oppression, and small church, Liz helps church leaders to go where the people are, to make space for people to lead, and to create church with food and fellowship. Her spiritual disciplines are knitting, quilting, and painting. She is working on the book Five Loaves, Two Fishes, Twelve Volunteers which explores food ministries where food insecure people are the volunteers. Find Liz @MagillElizabeth and writingfromtheside.weebly.com/
Sessions:
63 Creating Street Church
Session #63
The ART of Daily Living: Spirituality in the Everyday Spaces
Suzanne L. Vinson
Fri 3 PM | Studio
Life as art, a living work of art that is messy and true. We’re all in the same boat, though our perception of what’s around us might be different. Let us choose to see life through a lens of beauty. Even the dust of our days in the pile at our feet can be beautiful. How do you use the time in your kitchen to deepen your spiritual life? How do your interactions throughout the day weave into prayer? suzanne l. vinson will guide you in stories, pondering, and pause to encounter daily living with mindfulness, ease, and a deepening awareness of everyday spirituality. You will be invited into a “sacred pause” to create, reflect, and deepen through your senses. With guided meditation, creativity, poetry, prayer, and story, your spirit will be enlivened. You will depart more renewed than you entered, with insight for how to live into each day with #theartofdailyliving.
Suzanne L. Vinson
Suzanne L. Vinson has spent life collecting memories, recipes, stories, and wisdom as a woman of the Deep South who has offered care through her roles of motherhood, ministry and the arts. She loves gathering folks for good food and meaningful conversation. Suzanne creates soul wisdom art, meant to deepen your experience of life, delight, and connection. She also leads mini-retreats and gatherings in her studio, as well as travels to lead retreats for organizations, non-profits, and churches. She specializes in working with groups who seek healing, wholeness, and slowing down. Learn more about Suzanne, her art and her offerings at www.suzannelvinson.com and follow along at IG @slsvinson and @silvertreeartstudio.
http://www.suzannelvinson.com & http://www.jaymereaves.com
Sessions:
64 Spirituality & The ART of Daily Living
Session #64
#MeToo Jesus: Why Naming Jesus as a Victim of Sexual Abuse Matters
Sat 10 AM | Portal
Jayme R. Reaves
The #MeToo hashtag and its tributary campaigns such as #ChurchToo and #SilenceIsNotSpiritual has confirmed the prevalence of sexual assault, sexual harassment and sexually abusive behavior. As such, the #MeToo movement raises important questions for Christian faith and theology. This session will explore the current context of #MeToo, encounter a closer reading of Matthew 25:40 and Mark 15:16-24, discuss biblical and theological reasons for naming Jesus as a victim of sexual abuse, and consider the ways the Christian community can offer more appropriate and effective responses to sexual violence and victimization.
Jayme R. Reaves
Over the last 20 years, Jayme R. Reaves has worked as a consultant, researcher, lecturer, facilitator and chaplain in the United States, United Kingdom, Former Yugoslavia, and Northern Ireland on the intersections between theology, peace/conflict, memory, and gender. She has an M.Div. from Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond (Virginia, US) and an M.Phil. in Conflict Transformation and Reconciliation and Ph.D. in Theology from Trinity College, University of Dublin. She co-hosts the podcast “Outlander Soul” and lives in Dorset, England.
www.jaymereaves.com
Sessions:
65 #MeToo Jesus
Session #65
Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully about Racism
Fri 2 PM | Landing
Carolyn B. Helsel
Helsel takes a storytelling approach to attend to the emotions people experience when hearing and telling stories about race. Part of the struggle involves remaining compassionate towards ourselves through the journey. Drawing from language of spiritual practices, Helsel encourages participants to deepen their capacity for tough conversations and points to how to have these conversations with others.
Carolyn B. Helsel
Carolyn B. Helsel is the author of Anxious to Talk About It: Helping White Christians Talk Faithfully About Racism (Chalice Press: 2018). Her work focuses on motivating people to have conversations about race through the lens of gratitude. Helsel teaches preaching at Austin Presbyterian Theological Seminary and is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
https://carolynhelsel.com/
Sessions:
66 Anxious to Talk About It
Session #66
The Spiritual Price Of Confederate Symbolism
Sat 11 AM | Portal
Tony Caldwell, LCSW
Ole Miss college professor and activist Tony Caldwell leads a conversation about how our experiences of Confederate symbolism impact our psyches as well as our trajectories. Caldwell starts with his own story of how the view from his window as a child, a segregated cemetery with a Confederate monument as it’s centerpiece, set the tone for a life dedicated to addressing issues at the intersection of race and poverty in the the rural South. The psychological, emotional, and spiritual consequences of Confederate symbolism, though often unconscious and/or unacknowledged, continue to haunt the Southern landscape as well as our internal landscapes, individually and collectively.
Tony Caldwell
Tony Caldwell is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Mississippi, a Jungian psychotherapist in private practice, an activist, and a member of the Red Letter Christian Network. Tony has partnered with The Human Rights Campaign, the W.W. Kellogg Foundation, The William Winter Institute For Racial Reconciliation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Levi Strauss Co., and the Toyota Corporation among others. He and his colleague, Dr. Jandel Crutchfield, have enjoyed success in their grassroots Together Projects promoting interracial and interfaith dialogue around issues of race, privilege, and justice across the state of Mississippi. He is currently leading The Underground Church, a reconciling faith community, in Oxford, Ms. and conducting research linking the nation’s poorest health outcomes in the Mississippi Delta to transgenerational trauma related to slavery, segregation, poverty, and marginalization. Tony writes frequently for RLC and many other publications. See more at: www.tonycaldwell.net
www.tonycaldwell.net
Sessions:
154 Conversations With Silas: Raising The Next Generation
67 The Spiritual Price Of Confederate Symbolism
Session #67
Handmade in the Digital Age: Make a Book and Use It
Kate Elliott
Sat 3 PM | Studio
The only thing I have done religiously in my life is keep a journal. I have hundreds of them, filled with feathers, flowers, photographs, and words – without locks, open on my shelves. – Terry Tempest Williams – In an increasingly digital society, many people are rediscovering the joy and utility of keeping an analog journal. As we enter into the spirit of the Wild Goose, let’s talk about the many reasons – including spiritual growth and mental health – to write and make art by hand, even if only occasionally. Kate will lead participants in making a small book to be used at the maker’s discretion, perhaps as a way to record notes, thoughts, and feelings about the festival. No previous bookmaking experience is needed. All the necessary supplies – paper, thread, and glue – will be provided but feel free to bring any bits and bobs you might like to add to make the book your own.
Kate Elliott
Kate may have a resume full of administrative jobs that pay the bills and provide insurance but her true passion is making beautiful (and sometimes useful) things. Since her early tween years, journaling has been an essential part of her story, helping her process everything life has thrown at her. Along the way, she stopped merely writing in her journals and started making them, teaching herself bookbinding from various blogs and books before YouTube was invented. Kate enjoys any chance she gets to encourage others to document their lives through writing and visual arts. You can find her on Instagram: @kajellio: Come for the art, stay for the cats.
Sessions:
68 Handmade in the Digital Age
415 Handmade In the Digital Age (Youth Tent)
Session #68
Overcoming Sexual Shame through Story, Film and Play
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 4
Ryan Clark
Overcoming Sexual Shame through Story, Film and Play Ryan and Nathan have been exploring how the purity movements of the 1990’s and 2000’s helped to instill deep-seeded sexual shame in many people of faith. Nate and Ryan took different paths of healing and converged to create both a cinematic response to sexual shame as well as a process for reframing our life’s experiences. In this workshop, we will re-write the script of our lives, imagine alternate endings and begin to storyboard a plan for a better future.
Ryan Clark
Ryan Clark, D.Min. is a strategist with over 20 year of experience helping religious organizations and seminaries start something new. A film producer, blogger, prolific speaker, he is the producer and co-host of Touch Podcast: Conversations of Spirit and Body that explores religious America and sex. He is producing a documentary on the impact of Evangelical purity culture and serves as the Manager for Global Resources at the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship. Ryan holds a M.Div. from McAfee School of Theology at Mercer University and a Doctor of Ministry degree in gospel and culture from Columbia Theological. He and wife Cindy have two children, two dogs, two kittens, four chickens and they live in Decatur, Georgia.
www.touchpodcast.com
Sessions:
69 Overcoming Sexual Shame
Session #69
Listening in Crowded Rooms: a Ministry of Presence for Minds Prone to Wander
Sat 3 PM | Landing
Tom Chappell Lewis
The brewery taproom is crowded tonight, and as you relax with beer in hand, you catch snippets of the conversations happening around you. You get the sense there are people here tonight who could use a listening ear, but the steady hum of TVs and talking isn’t the only interference; there’s also the noise of your day still rattling around in your tired, crowded mind. How can we address what’s going on internally while still being present to the people around us? Based in mindfulness and listening techniques, this session seeks that balance.
Tom Chappell Lewis
A trained chaplain and amateur mixologist, Tom Chappell Lewis pursues a ministry of presence to Jacksonville’s breweries. In addition to listening on bar stools, Tom co-leads a Beer & Hymns and Brew Theology chapter, consults with churches and bar owners, and writes on chaplaincy, cocktails, and other topics at www.barchaplain.com. Tom recently married his partner in ministry, scotch ale connoisseur Jessi Lewis. For pictures of their dog, Cowbell, follow @barchaplain on instagram and twitter.
www.barchaplain.com
Sessions:
70 Listening in Crowded Rooms
Session #70
Invitation to the Purple Zone – Introduction to Deliberative Dialogue
Fri 10 AM | River
Leah D. Schade
Red state/blue state politics threaten the foundations of our democracy and rend the fabric of our churches. How can people of faith approach the task of addressing controversial issues without causing further divisions or rupturing relationships? In this workshop, you’ll learn a method of civil discourse called “deliberative dialogue” for finding common values among politically diverse people. The session will include an opportunity to participate in a deliberative dialogue forum on the opioid epidemic.
Leah Schade
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for 18 years, Leah has served congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings. She earned both her MDiv and Ph.D. degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her book Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit are available at www.chalicepress.com. Her forthcoming book, Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red/Blue Divide, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019, and explores how clergy and churches can address controversial justice issues using nonpartisan, biblically-centered approaches along with deliberative dialogue. Leah is the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos: www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/
thepurplezone.net/
Sessions:
71 Purple Zone – Deliberative Dialogue
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
117 Preaching as Resistance
Session #71
Graven Images: A Christian Response to Confederate Statues and Symbols.
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 6
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 6
Ben Wright
Over the last decade, flags, monuments and even certain ways of thinking about the past have become central to an increasingly ugly debate about what America is all about. How should Christians respond as their local college campuses, court houses, and other public spaces become cultural battlegrounds over the past and present? Drawing on my own work curating museum-based exhibits of removed confederate statues, this session will address the history of those statues, the motivations of those who erected them, and the meanings/uses of confederate statues today. We’ll also discuss what a progressive Christian response to these issues might looks like. After all, we live in an age where America is planning to build its largest confederate statue to date: the U.S./Mexico border wall.
Benjamin Wright
Ben Wright is a historian, curator, and writer based in Austin, Texas. His professional work involves the relocation of Confederate statues from public spaces to museum settings. Previously he worked as a journalist, a press secretary, and (worst of all) a youth minister. Originally from England, Ben has been in Texas since 2003.
linkedin.com/in/benwrightinaustin/
Sessions:
72 Christian Responses to Confederate Statues and Symbols
Session #72
Refocusing My Family: Coming Out, Being Cast Out, and Discovering the True Love of God
Amber Cantorna
Fri 3 PM | Library
Amber is the home-schooled daughter of a 30-year executive at Focus on the Family and grew up entrenched in the values that the organization embodies. Her conservative Christian parents worked hard to protect her from the outside world, but when Amber came out as gay at the age of 27, she shattered the perfect persona that her family strove to uphold. As a result, she lost everything, and her world forever changed. Join Amber for a time of storytelling and Q&A as she talks about coming out, the meaning of family, and what it means to be an LGBTQ person of faith.
Amber Cantorna
Amber Cantorna is an author, speaker, advisor, and leader in the movement of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. As Founder and President of Beyond, Amber is passionate about dissolving shame, fostering self acceptance, and generating messages of hope for LGBTQ+ people of faith. Her memoir, Refocusing My Family is now available everywhere books are sold and she blogs at AmberCantorna.com.
AmberCantorna.com
Sessions:
73 Refocusing My Family
350 A Conversation on Coming Out to Conservative Families
Session #73
Interact: Engaging Youth to Transform the World
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 1
Shannon LeMaster-Smith
This workshop is for anyone who works with youth (middle/high school) and/or youth themselves; we will examine our values and how we set the space and time of our ministry with youth. “Interact” is a trinity of elements that contribute to our holistic approach of Youth Ministry – cultivating community with youth, teaching youth to think theologically, and empowering youth to use their talents to respond to the needs of the world. We will share (and invite others to share) stories of success and failures and how we’ve learned to involve youth in exploring controversial topics and in sharing their gifts and talents to respond to the needs of their communities. Interact with one another, Interact with God, Interact with the world: Live into the change you wish to see!
Shannon LeMaster-Smith
Shannon LeMaster-Smith is a Deacon in the United Methodist Church, a clergy order ordained to Word, Service, Compassion and Justice. She currently serves in the Western North Carolina Annual Conference. She has a M.A. in Conflict Resolution and 10+ years of experience in youth ministry. Her call is to help people experience the transforming love of God and the power of the Holy Spirit and to equip and empower them to share God’s love and grace with others. She enjoys singing and playing board games and is married to her best friend, Dr. Jonathan LeMaster-Smith.
breathesinglove.wordpress.com
Sessions:
74 Engaging Youth
Session #74
Beer and Hymns 2.0
Fri 2 PM | Episcopal
WGF Beer and Hymns House Band
If you’re already leading a Beer and Hymns gathering, come to learn and share best practices and what works well. WGF B&H Leaders
Session #77
Creating the Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention, Intervention, and Postvention
Sat Noon | Portal
Rachael A. Keefe
Suicide is one of the last taboos of the church. The very mention of it often triggers an uncomfortable silence. It’s time we shatter the stigma and end the silence surrounding suicide in the church. The church is the embodiment of Christ and there are many among us who struggle with suicidality, such that the Body of Christ is suicidal. It is possible for us to respond with love and grace in a way that saves lives and brings hope and healing to the body of Christ. In this interactive conversation, we will explore ways to safely talk about suicide in our churches, discuss the big questions (e.g. Is suicide a sin?), and explore the role of congregations in suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention. Do you want your church to be a lifesaver? Come and join in this conversation.
Rachael Keefe
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the author of The Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention (Chalice Press, 2018), and pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, MN. She’s a favored conference presenter on topics related to and mental health, particularly suicide and congregations. Previously, she served as clinical chaplain at a state psychiatric hospital where she worked with patients, staff, clergy, and churches to increase understanding and welcome of persons living with symptoms of mental illness. She also served on a State Suicide Prevention Council. Since her ordination in 1992, Keefe has served in many different ministry settings. She has graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School (formerly Andover Newton Theological School). She is a painter and a poet, and her other published works are three in a series of theological poetry, which you can find out more on by visiting Beachtheology.com
Sessions:
78 The Lifesaving Church
Session #78
Creating an Authentic Interfaith Community in Today’s World
Sat 1 PM | Portal
Margaret Mathews and Flo Sapp Martin
Hear how a small group of Jewish, Christian and Muslim women meeting for lunch in Central Georgia grew from eight to eighty; from niceties to knowing; from sharing to service; from acquaintances to authentic relationships; from sharing recipes to studying scriptures; from welcomes and goodbyes to invocations and benedictions; from telling stories to transformation. Through stories, visual presentation and group interaction, see the importance of FAITH and how it grows in Interfaith relationships, efforts, and work. The Women’s Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia has been together for eight years and continues to grow. Our stated mission is: “We believe that people who live out their faith are positive contributors to their communities. We hope to promote understanding, respect, prayer, interaction and unity among the various faiths in central Georgia through education, dialog and service.”
Margaret Mathews
Margaret Mathews is a retired school psychologist who divides her time between volunteering, art, and travel. She is a graduate of Wesleyan College in Macon, GA and Georgia State University in Atlanta. An active layperson in the United Methodist Church, her membership is at Trinity UMC in Warner Robins, GA, where she teaches and leads various classes and groups. Margaret is an Associate at Green Bough House of Prayer, an intentional spiritual community in south Georgia. In her role as a founding member of the Women’s Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia she has seen her life long hope for multi-faith understanding come to fruition.
Sessions:
79 Creating an Authentic Interfaith Community in Today’s World
Flo Sapp Martin
As a Christian Educator, Flo Sapp Martin has served as a Curriculum Consultant and national trainer for the United Methodist Publishing House for over 30 years. She has also been involved in children, youth, and adult ministry in various United Methodist Churches in the Southeastern US. An active lay person in the United Methodist Church, she has served and chaired boards, agencies, and committees at all levels of the church. The passion she has for bringing people together and also learning and growing in love and care for one another has come together in the Women’s Interfaith Alliance of Central Georgia in ways that are beyond anything she could hope for or imagine.
Sessions:
79 Creating an Authentic Interfaith Community in Today’s World
Session #79
Body Theology: Exploring the body and communal movement in the church as a way towards liberation
Lois Snavely
Fri 2 PM | Studio
This workshop will be an interactive, movement-based study of where the Church has colonized the body in pastoral leadership, liturgical movement and even the posture of prayer (particularly the bodies of women, POC and LGBTQ+ Christians). We will explore where we hold our own biases around what the body “should” or “shouldn’t” do, and then explore ways in which the body can be liberated in liturgical settings. This workshop will seek to move beyond just the realm of performative movement. Instead, the session will co-create with the participants a safe space where we can find ways to communally liberate the body in everything from preaching to prayer. We will operate around a theological understanding of the body, movement and dance as part of a liberative way to do Church and ministry. Throughout, we will utilize a unique approach to movement and body-awareness as an essential part of leadership training, personal and spiritual development, and community activism.
Lois Snavely
Lois is an MDiv student at McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago and a candidate for ordination within the United Church of Christ. She is a former professional dancer and still loves shaking up the Church and its theology of the body. Lois’s vocation lies at the intersection between spiritual direction and pastoral care, bringing a liberative theology into the corporate workspace, and exegeting the Church and the Bible from a feminist and religious pluralist perspective. At her home of University Church Chicago, Lois is a member of the Social Justice Committee and the Dance Choir. She has toured nationally with the Chicago-based performance ensemble Jump Rhythm Jazz Project, and she has performed, choreographed and taught movement-based awareness workshops at North Park Theological Seminary, McCormick Theological Seminary, Urban Village Church, University Church Chicago, Beloved of God Ministries, The Way International and SALT Performing Arts. Connect with her on Instagram @lsnavely7
Sessions:
80 Body Theology: Liberate!
Session #80
Spiritual Authenticity in a Narrow Land: Navigating the tension between our need to believe and our need to evolve
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 4
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 4
Mark Brouwer
What do you do when your life learning and experiences call into question the things you were taught to believe? What if your spiritual growth takes you to places “outside the camp” of your Christian community? Join pastor / writer Mark Brouwer as he shares his story of a journey though Evangelical Christianity, atheism, Buddhism, Taoism, into progressive, integral Christianity. His wife, therapist and speaker Charlene Brouwer will also talk about her experience of having a pastor husband who seemed to have “lost his faith,” only to emerge with something deeper. They will talk about their work with other spiritual leaders – and now parishioners – to help overcome the damaging misconceptions about how spiritual growth really works.
Mark Brouwer
Mark Brouwer is a spiritual teacher, writer, and spiritual adviser to leaders and activists. He is the pastor of Loop Church in Chicago, IL, and director of Renew Resources, whose mission is to equip people to serve God and others in a way that arises from — and maintains — their spiritual and emotional well-being. He is a contributing author of “A Christian Handbook of Abuse, Addiction, and Difficult Behaviors,” The Ministry Essentials Bible, and is author of The Solid Foundation Journal and the forthcoming Making Your Mark without Losing Your Soul. Mark and his wife Charlene live in Chicago, and have two grown sons. He can be found at lastingleaders.com and the recovery blog sexualsanity.com
http://lastingleaders.com
Sessions:
81 Spiritual Authenticity: when spiritual growth and traditional beliefs collide
Session #81
Stand-up comedy! Take a break and come have some laughs,followed by a discussion: I’m queer – will I be welcome?
Sat 2 PM | Portal
Joyce Hagen-McIntosh
Stand-up comedy! followed by a discussion: I’m queer – will I be welcome? I will share my story of coming out and fitting in (or not) and I invite attendees to share their experiences of being an out (or not) GLBT member of a Christian congregation. I will also provide resources for those seeking the welcome for GLBT Christians.I have shared my Christian journey with PFLAG groups, a teen GLBT group, and for panels including one with the Niebuhr Center at Elmhurst College.”In a world where faith is so often perceived as irrelevant at best and hypocritical at worst, Joyce’s take on being a Christian is fresh air and air gulping humor. Hers is a poignant, relevant, and earthy wit that is built upon sound theology and practical faith. Joyce brings a healthy balance of humor, satire, and irony to narratives of living the faith in the post-Christian age.”- Carly Stucklen Sather, Pastor, First Congregational Church of La Grange, IL
Joyce Hagen-McIntosh
Joyce Hagen-McIntosh
Joyce began the journey of coming out to herself at 9, out to the world at 19, and out as a comedian at 49! Out as a Christian? The whole time, (with occasional tweaks in denomination, faith tradition, and world-religion exploration) she has shared the message of God’s love being meant for ALL people.
As a librarian, she helps people fill information gaps and provides access to accurate information. She currently works with an organization promoting First Amendment education, fighting censorship, and promoting the freedom to read for librarians, authors and publishers, educators, and patrons.
As a comedian, Joyce presents the overlap of faith, GLBT identity, music (she’s been known to pick up her violin during a set), and parenting. She began performing with The Mother Cluckers in April 2017 and believes that social justice through humor can take place in local bookstores, classrooms, over meals, in our churches – basically in any conversation or space!
joycestandsup.com
Sessions:
82 Stand Up Comedy followed by sharing our stories as GLBT Christians
Session #82
Yoga, Spirituality, Religion, and Modern Life: an Exploration of Self-Concept and Community.
Fri 10 AM | Healing Arts
Chad Hallyburton
Explore your own self-nature and your place in community through the lens of yoga. A yoga practice is, at its heart, a striving towards INTEGRATION; the unification of body, mind, spirit, community, the natural world, and even the divine. In this participatory session, find out how yoga can complement, challenge, and learn from western religious traditions, as it calls us to examine our preconceptions of community. Move, breathe, and open your heart.No yoga experience necessary; all bodies welcome!
Session #83
Improv Shaman – The power of Divine Play
Fri 11 AM | Healing Arts
Keli Semelsberger
Improv Shaman is a high energy interactive workshop using improv techniques to demonstrate the healing powers of cooperative creating, being in the moment, laughter and taking ourselves and other less seriously. Taught by 24 year improv comedy veteran and Shaman. A fun, light hearted and yet deep workshop that will leave participants happily inspired.
Keli Semelsberger
Keli is a 25 year Chicago improv comedy veteran and owner of Charlotte Comedy Theater She is also a medicine woman trained in Native American & Peruvian rites & ceremonies. Keli is the Chief of Medicine Woman Dance, and a sacred fire keeper. Keli’s workshops infuse the fun of improv comedy with the healing properties of native energy medicine to provide an inspired, exciting and healing workshop that connects us to each other and reminds us of the sacred power of laughter and play. charlottecomedytheater.com/
Sessions:
84 Improv Shaman
Session #84
The Potential of Paper: Making Art with the Ordinary
Nicole Farley
Sat Noon | Studio
With so much paper crossing our paths every day, from mail we receive to leftover bulletins to greeting cards, we are constantly supplied generously with an inexpensive medium for art. The workshop will guide participants in ways to use what we have at hand to make art with skills accessible to anyone and on projects which can easily be translated into contexts back at home.
Nicole Farley
Community Artist
The Rev. Nicole Farley is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA). She most recently served a congregation in Waukesha, WI, and now serves as the founder and pastoral artist with A New Creation, an arts ministry which brings communities into the creation of worship-ful art together. She and her husband live in Gurnee, IL, and together they have an adult son named Jim and a greyhound named Buddy. Besides art and lived theology, she’ll gladly have a conversation about books, podcasts, music, and movies.
https://www.hereisanewcreation.com/
Sessions:
85 Making Art with the Ordinary
191 Community Art Project
Session #85
Banquet Tables from Prison Walls (& Other Dreams and Visions that Have Moved Bodies)
Fri 5 PM | Landing
Tom Gaulke
Pastor Tom Gaulke, with members of First Lutheran Church of the Trinity, Chicago, tell the story of the congregation’s journey into growth and works of liberative justice: from winning a local bus to helping to close down two dirty coal plants, to raising the Cook County minimum wage, to co-founding Moral Mondays IL, this small congregation, working in coalition and community, makes a huge impact on the Southside of Chicago—with a particular eschatology and view of that which God calls us to engage—and they hope all church communities will do the same. Hear about that vision, and how one community lives into it (flaws and all). Plus, pick up some useful tools for engaging your community back home!
Tom Gaulke
Tom Gaulke is pastor at First Lutheran Church of the Trinity in the Bridgeport Neighborhood of Chicago whose community-crafted Call to Mission is “We are faith community called to grow in the Spirit, love as Christ loves us, and participate in God’s liberating work of justice and peace.” Tom cofounded Bridgeport Alliance, an organization that, in coalition, shut down two dirty coal-fired power plants on Chicago’s Southside. More recently they won a battle for a 31st Street Bus! Tom is a leader in Moral Mondays IL and Resist Trump Tuesdays, and co-chair of the Faith Liberation Table of the People’s Lobby. He loves direct actions and Civil Disobedience. He loves bringing the crises we feel each day to the doorsteps of the powerful who would choose to ignore them—with our demands. He believes community is sacred. Tom also loves scootering. He has scooted to Wild Goose from Chicago three times. And he is very proud of that fact. He has an incredible spouse named Daisy. And a spunky pup named Samson.
www.FirstTrinityChicago.com
Sessions:
86 Banquet Tables from Prison Walls
Session #86
A Spiritual Response To Religious Dogma: A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
Reverend Trier and Brian McLaren
Fri 5 PM | Library
Based on Reverend Trier’s groundbreaking book, “What’s GOD Got To Do With It?”, moderator Brian McLaren and Rev. Trier will discuss navigating spirituality in religiously polarizing times, exploring the ever-changing face of Christianity. Focusing on religious hypocrisy (and using the Bible as a litmus test of morality), Reverend Trier will engage the audience in an honest, unfettered critique of “the steeple and the damage done”, with an emphasis on the Jesus parable as a spiritually-enlightening alternative to religious dogma. Myths will be shattered, beliefs debunked (“It’s time to accept the fact that the Bible was written by man, and not God. It is not an immaculate tome…”) as Reverend Trier suggests that a return to the tenet of “The Golden Rule” is the fulcrum for redemption and healing, for individuals and by extension, the world.
Reverend Trier
Reverend Trier grew up in a traditional, Roman Catholic household. A ULC-ordained minister, he has studied issues of spirituality, religion and social justice for most of his adult life. He has consulted with and taken part in symposiums presented by clergymen, psychologists, and psychiatrists, worked with homeless charities and the mentally-challenged, and has been a committed advocate for issues ranging from marriage equality and separation of church and state, to those adversely affected by racism, homophobia and serophobia. Outspoken and iconoclastic, Reverend Trier often finds himself at odds with the ‘conventional wisdom’ espoused by liberals and progressives alike. His mission is to initiate an honest, self-critiquing dialogue within church hierarchy and its parishioners, so that we may hold the mirror of truth up to ourselves, as much as we hold it up to others – replacing a literalist interpretation of scripture with a more Jesus-centered ideology of faith, hope and love.
whatsgodgottodowithreligion.tumblr.com/
Sessions:
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Session #87
Al-Anon Meeting
Thurs/Fri/Sat 6 PM | Portal
Anonymous
If your life has been affected by another person’s drinking or drug abuse you are most welcomed to join us for our daily Al-Anon meeting. Al-Anon is an anonymous fellowship. Everything that is said in the group is held in confidence. Al-Anon is not allied with any sect, denomination, political entity, organization or institution; does not engage in any controversy; neither endorses nor opposes any cause.
Session #88
Beyond Mission Trips: Postcolonial mission experiences with youth
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 4
Bill Buchanan
What are we teaching our young people when we take them on “mission trips”? What are the most helpful ways of engaging youth in the brokenness of the world and God’s call to justice and compassion? We will discuss recent critiques of traditional mission trips and look at some evolving models of mission experiences with youth that are designed to go beyond colonial mission mentality.
Bill Buchanan
Bill Buchanan is the Executive Director of the non-profit ministry Youth Mission Co, which includes the programs Asheville Youth Mission (in Asheville, NC), Raleigh Youth Mission (in Raleigh, NC), and Memphis Youth Mission (in Memphis, TN). His passions are to engage young people in issues of social justice through mission immersion experiences and to lead youth toward hearing God’s call to action in their own lives and contexts. He is an ordained pastor in the Presbyterian Church (USA), a husband, father, stepfather, and co-owner of several pets. He lives in Asheville, NC.
youthmissionco.org
Sessions:
89 Beyond Mission Trips
Session #89
Godly Play: Approaching Scripture with Wonder
Sat 4 PM | Portal
Godly Play Foundation Trainers
Is it possible to play with Scripture? Godly Play invites imagination, stillness, and spirit to coalesce in a variety of ways. Inspired by Maria Montessori’s deep trust of each child’s inner teacher, this method of spiritual guidance invites all-comers of any age to listen and play with the Bible in fresh ways and is most at home with those who value story and wonder – families, churches, hospital bedsides and so much more. Join Godly Play Foundation Trainers as we share a Godly Play-style story from Scripture, wonder verbally together, make individual art responses, and share resources for developing this approach in your setting.
Emily Griffin
Director of Children’s Programming
Emily will be co-leading children’s activities at Wild Goose again this year. She’s an Episcopal priest at St. Alban’s in Washington, DC and a trainer in Godly Play – a hands-on, creative method of spiritual guidance used primarily but not always with kids. When she’s not in a circle sharing stories, she’s either reading voraciously, attempting French cooking with her husband, or brushing up on her Spanish. She’s most at home in the mountains and can’t wait to sing and work and pray and play again this year at the Goose.
www.godlyplayfoundation.org
Sessions:
90 Godly Play, Scripture and Wonder
408 Kids Tent Program
Nancy St John
Co-Director, Children’s Programming
Nancy is very much looking forward to joining teammates in co-leading children’s activities at Wild Goose this year. She is a trained early childhood Montessori teacher at a Montessori school in Scituate, Massachusetts. Nancy is also a trainer for the Godly Play, a religious method that helps children explore their faith through story. Both these passions compliment the other, as she sits on the floor with children most Sundays at a nearby Episcopal church telling stories. Nancy lives along the rocky Massachusetts seashore, where she marvels at its beauty and loves walking along the beach any chance she gets in search of “treasure.”
Sessions:
408 Kids Tent Program
Sally Thomas
Co-Director, Children’s Programming
“Sally is the most irreverent reverent person” a childhood friend proclaimed. Yep! Since her own children declared their innate theology as tiny sage ones, Sally has been attuned to the spiritual wisdom children offer in this wondrous world. She currently serves as the Missioner for Children & Families at Holy Communion (Episcopal) Church in University City, MO and is a D. Min. student at Eden Seminary. She has been in cahoots with circles of children and their families using Godly Play for twenty years and is thrilled to join Emily Griffin and Nancy St. John for Godly Play’s 3rd year at the Goose.
Sessions:
408 Kids Tent Program
Session #90
Reproductive Justice Is _______: Moving Beyond the Pro-Choice/Pro-Life Binary
Sat 5 PM | Portal
Mary Button, Emilie Bowman, Rachel Ankney
This interactive conversation will offer a variety of diverse perspectives and practices around the issues surrounding reproductive justice. Looking beyond the pro-choice and pro-life binary, the conversation partners will include abortion doulas, members of a collective that agitates for childcare in movement spaces, and labor activists advocating for a higher minimum wage. Rather than focus solely on abortion, the goal of this conversation is to engage the full spectrum of issues related to Reproductive Justice, which means engaging the many social injustices that people face when making decisions about their reproductive health.
Mary Button
Mary Button was born and raised in the swampy wilds of East Texas, received a BFA in Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and went on to earn a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in American religious history and Christian ethics from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Her artwork has been exhibited across the US and UK, with exhibitions at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC, the Church Center for the United Nations, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Wesley House at Cambridge University, to name a few. She has written curricula for Women of the ELCA on a number of social justice issues and is a frequent contributor to Believe Out Loud. You can find her at marybutton.com
Sessions:
91 Reproductive Justice Is …
92 Crafting Icons of Resistance
50 Crazy Creative
Session #91
Crafting Icons of Resistance
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 2
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 2
Mary Button
In this interactive art workshop, artist and iconographer Mary Button will lead participants in the creation of an icon for personal devotion. Creating icons is an important spiritual practice that offers people a creative outlet to lament and lift up people, places, and moments important to them. In recent years, Mary has created icons of contemporary martyrs, like Heather Heyer, as well as everyday heroes like the crowds of people who gathered at Women’s Marches across the world. Mary will provide materials and guidance so that every participant — regardless of drawing/painting skills — will leave the workshop with their own icon.
Mary Button
Mary Button was born and raised in the swampy wilds of East Texas, received a BFA in Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and went on to earn a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in American religious history and Christian ethics from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Her artwork has been exhibited across the US and UK, with exhibitions at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC, the Church Center for the United Nations, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Wesley House at Cambridge University, to name a few. She has written curricula for Women of the ELCA on a number of social justice issues and is a frequent contributor to Believe Out Loud. You can find her at marybutton.com
Sessions:
91 Reproductive Justice Is …
92 Crafting Icons of Resistance
50 Crazy Creative
Session #92
A Jew & A Gentile Walk Into a Bar…Mitzvah, The Podcast
Sat 4 PM | GooseCast
A Jew & A Gentile Walk Into a Bar…Mitzvah
Join the live “studio” audience at the GooseCast Stage for this interfaithED discussion on the nexus of faith and mental health issues. There will also be cigar reviews and perhaps a surprise guest or two. A Jew, & A Gentile smoking cigars, drinking whiskey, talking theology & mental health. What could possibly go wrong?
Charles Bretan
Charles Bretan is the Jewish half of the interfaithED blog and podcast, A Jew & A Gentile Walk Into a Bar … Mitzvah. He is also an adjunct professor at Guildford Technical Community College. With degrees in education from the University of Florida and from Nova Southeastern University, Charles has taught almost everything from composition to scuba diving and from leadership to life saving. Born and raised in Miami, FL, Charles now lives in Greensboro, NC with his wife, Gail.
charlesandchris.net
Sessions:
93 A Jew & A Gentile Podcast
Christopher Henson
Chris is the Gentile half of A Jew and a Gentile walk into a Bar…Mitzvah the blog and podcast. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from North Carolina State University and an M.Div from Duke University. He is an ordained elder in the United Methodist Church. He served as a pastor for 17 years, first in Oldham, England (a suburb of Manchester) followed by appointments in the Piedmont-Triad of NC. He was Pastor-in-Residence with the Wesley-Luther Fellowship at UNC Greensboro. Presently, he works as a chaplain caring for persons struggling with substance abuse and/or mental illness. He is a certified NC peer support specialist and uses both his lived and learned experiences to help others who struggle with substance abuse and/or a mental illness return to health and wellness. He is husband to Summer, father to Sophie, admitted cigar-arsonist, creative, subversive, and living with clinical depression.
www.charlesandchris.net
Sessions:
93 A Jew & A Gentile Podcast
Session #93
Queer Liberation in Poetic Narrative
leea allen
Sat 1 PM | Studio
More than words written on paper or spoken aloud, poetry is living testimony. Poetry has been a necessary art for me as a marginalized queer person of color, particularly in spaces that do not always acknowledge and affirm queer and trans voices. This session will offer you the tools to honestly articulate your suffering story in creative and powerful ways through narrative poetry. I encourage you to be vulnerable in sharing from your context and perspective in a safe, healthy, inclusive atmosphere. As we make space, queer and trans voices will be centered as we bear witness to our collective liberation. Poets will also have the opportunity to see their poetry featured in an upcoming chapbook. Come ready to be seen, be heard, and be transformed.
leea allen
leea is a Black singer-preacher-poet living in Atlanta. As a faith leader and freedom fighter, they work to bring Black and Brown queer and trans people in the South into real community in the body of Christ — particularly those living in poverty. leea is a 3rd year Master of Divinity student at Emory University and currently serves as a Worship Leader at Park Avenue Baptist Church, in addition to working for the Poor People’s Campaign and Presbyterians for a Better Georgia. Follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Medium @leeavallen.
Sessions:
94 Queer Poetic Liberation
Session #94
Living Into a New Reality as United Methodists
Fri 10 AM | Bridge
Rocky Mountain Conference Panel
In 2016, the Western Jurisdiction of The United Methodist Church elected Rev. Dr. Karen Oliveto as the first openly LGBTQ Bishop in the history of the UMC. Her election, although unanimous, sparked a season of soul searching for many United Methodists living in the West, and it has forced us to re-imagine how we can more effectively live into what MLK referred to as “Beloved Community”. The panel will include a cross-section of laity and clergy, from both urban and rural settings, who are active in the Rocky Mountain Conference of The UMC. Together, panelists and participants will have the opportunity to share hopes, fears, and dreams about the future of United Methodism in particular, and mainline Protestantism in general.This panel is made up of leaders from across the Rocky Mountain Conference of The UMC. Andy Millman is located in Denver, CO and currently serves as both Young People’s Ministry Developer and Mission & Ministry Project Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Conference. Rev Margaret Gillikin serves as District Superintendent for the Trinity District of the RMC, covering approximately 55,000 square miles of rural southeastern Colorado. Rev Angie Katzmoyer serves as the Associate Pastor at Park Hill UMC and has been heavily involved in work around the Sanctuary Movement and the full inclusion of the LGBTQIA community into the life of the church. Rev Tom Henderson Owens was formerly a member of the pastoral team at Trinity UMC in downtown Denver, and has recently switched his clergy membership to the Western North Carolina Conference of the UMC.
Andy Millman
Andy Millman is the Young People’s Ministry Developer / Mission & Ministry Project Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UMC, and as such he works with and advocates for young people throughout Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. He grew up in an interfaith household and has spent most of his adult life working for the church in various contexts. Before working for the RMC, Andy served for 2 years in Moscow, Russia working with West African asylum-seekers and migrants to address racially-motivated violence and xenophobia.
https://www.mtnskyumc.org/
Sessions:
95 Living Into A New Reality – UMC
288 Bonhoeffer and Base Communities
Rev. Angie Heesacker
Rev. Angie Kotzmoyer was born and raised United Methodist in a small town of 600 people, called Hay Springs, in Nebraska. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre Performance and a minor in History from Chadron State College in 2011. From there, she went on to attend the Academy of Arts University in San Francisco for a Master of Fine Arts in Acting. While in San Francisco she became a member and worshiped at Glide Memorial UMC, where her now Bishop, Rev. Karen Oliveto, was serving as Senior Pastor. However, her call to ministry was stronger than her passion for theatre and after a year in San Fran she decided to apply to seminary. She was accepted into Iliff’s Master of Divinity program and moved to Denver in August of 2013. She graduated from Iliff on June 8th, 2017 with an MDiv and on July 1, 2017 she was appointed as the Associate Pastor at Park Hill UMC in Denver, CO. In her spare time she loves hiking and camping with her wife, Colleen, their dog, Callie, and cat, Carl.
Sessions:
95 Living Into A New Reality – UMC
Tom Owens
Tom Henderson Owens is a pastor, social justice advocate, hospitality veteran, trail running addict, and modern theologian. A Virginia native, Tom moved to Denver CO where he received a Masters of Divinity with distinction at the Iliff School of Theology, was pictured in 5280 magazine for his work with Euclid Hall bar and restaurant and served as the Associate Pastor at Denver’s very first congregation, Trinity United Methodist Church. He is moving to the Asheville area with his partner, Ann Henderson Owens, to become the Executive Director of Open Door Ministries in Waynesville, North Carolina. His call is to bridge the chasm between “liberal” and “conservative” Christian theology and use his life experiences with both to help create a more unified Church mission based on dignity, respectful dialogue, and radical inclusion. He finds that in addition to cultural competence, compassionate missional work can be paramount to that effort as it fulfills the greatest of all God’s commandments to simply love others
Sessions:
95 Living Into A New Reality – UMC
Session #95
Prophetic Care: Embracing the Difficult Work of Following Jesus
Fri 11 AM | Bridge
Derek Penwell
The current political climate has prompted people to get involved in activism and advocacy. Unfortunately, inexperienced people often don’t know where to begin to get engaged on issues they care about. To the extent this is true, the church has failed a crucial part of its mission. Historically, the church has focused on pastoral care and evangelism—how we take care of church people and how we make non-church people into church people. But what it has failed to devote much thought to is “prophetic care”—how we amplify the voice of Jesus for justice in an often hostile world. This workshop will explore practical ways to embrace our calling to live like Jesus in public.
Derek Penwell
Derek Penwell is an author, speaker, pastor, and activist. He is the senior pastor of Douglass Boulevard Christian Church in Louisville, Kentucky and a former lecturer at the University of Louisville in Religious Studies and Humanities.
Derek has a Ph.D. in humanities from the University of Louisville and has authored articles ranging from church history to aesthetic theory and the tragic emotions. He is also the author of The Mainliner’s Survival Guide to the Post-Denominational World, about how mainline denominations can avoid despair in an uncertain world. His newest book, Political Subversive: Why Jesus Was a Lousy Messiah, focuses on understanding the political nature of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection as a model for forming communities of resistance capable of challenging oppression in the pursuit of peace and justice.
He is an activist and advocate on local, state, and national levels on issues of racial justice, LGBTQ fairness, interfaith engagement, and immigrant rights.
derekpenwell.net
Sessions:
96 Prophetic Care
Session #96
Abstract Art as Meditation
Fri Noon | Healing Arts
Sacil Armstrong
Meditation is a mystery for many, but the Zentangle® Method makes it simple and fun! If you can write your name, you can create beautiful abstract art while achieving a state of calm and focus. Use 5 basic shapes to create repeating patterns. By concentrating on each mark you make, you bring yourself into the present and create a piece of unique black and white art to document your meditation journey. With regular practice, you can develop your own artistic style and enjoy some of the scientifically-proven benefits of meditation: stress and anxiety relief, improved work efficiency, healthy blood pressure, increased creativity, improved cognitive function, and good sleep.
Sacil Armstrong
Sacil Armstrong is an Intuitive Coach based out of Roanoke, VA. She helps individuals break down inner barriers that block personal growth and slow down progress towards their goals. She also facilitates corporate and community groups to reduce work stress and improve communication. She is an award-winning grassroots community leader and owner of art & being, where she leads clients through self-discovery and provides remote energy healing. She can be reached on social media at @artbeingva or at artbeingva.com.
artbeingva.com
Sessions:
97 Art Meditation
Session #97
“The Power of Story to Interrupt Entrenched Injustice”
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 3
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 3
Micah Royal
During “The Power of Story to Interrupt Entrenched Injustice” we will be exploring the ways in which the gift of story – both listening to others’ stories and sharing our own – can help disrupt patterns of injustice. You will also be invited to explore your own stories and experiences disrupting patterns of injustice in your community.Our presenter Micah Royal has served in various contexts working to tear down barriers between people and working to speak up against injustice. On his podcast the Progressive Redneck Preacher, Micah tries to continue this process by lifting up voices and stories often overlooked here in the south.
Micah Royal
Micah Royal has served in various contexts working to tear down barriers between people and working to speak up against injustice. Previously he has worked as a pastor working to tear down barriers of racism and homophobia and currently he serves as a hospice chaplain, interim pastor, and as Vice President of the Eastern NC Association of the United Church of Christ. On his podcast the Progressive Redneck Preacher, Micah tries to continue this process by lifting up voices and stories often overlooked here in the south.
During “The Power of Story to Interrupt Entrenched Injustice” we will be exploring the ways in which the gift of story – both listening to others’ stories and sharing our own – can help disrupt patterns of injustice. You will also be invited to explore your own stories and experience disrupting patterns of injustice in your community.
progressiveredneckpreacher.wordpress.com
Sessions:
99 The Power of Story
Session #99
From “Love Thy Neighbor” to “Make America Great Again”: Difficult Conversations in a Difficult Time
Fri 1 PM | Bridge
The Praxis Forum
During difficult and divided times it can be hard to engage in meaningful conversations centered around religious, social, and political topics. However, it is in these exact times when these conversations are most important. In this workshop we will discuss the disconnect between the biblical decree to “love thy neighbor” and the political rhetoric of “Make America Great Again.” We will engage in a discussion as to how important it is to have difficult conversations with family members, friends, and co-workers. We will then move to a share-out where we will give some guidance and tips as to how to hold difficult discussions and provide a space for everyone to practice them. Finally, we will reflect on our experience through a worshipful debrief.
Stephen Tickner
Stephen Tickner is a founding member of the Westar Institute’s The Praxis Forum and is currently serving as the vice-chair. Stephen is the Senior Pastor of Central Christian Church in Danbury, CT. In addition to his pastorate, he also serves as the chaplain at Wooster School – an independent K-12 school in Danbury. Originally from Oklahoma, he now resides in New York City. He has his Masters of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary and is ordained into the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ).
Sessions:
100 Difficult Conversations in a Difficult Time
Julia Khan
Julia Khan is a writer, preacher, educator, and chaplain. Her work appeared in an edited anthology, Orthodox Monasticism Past and Present. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York, she has served as a Chaplain at Soldier On, a non-profit providing housing and services to homeless and struggling veterans. Julia is currently embarking on a new ministry project which melds an intellectually engaging and spiritually challenging online video series to on-the-ground chaplaincy which seeks to meet the community where they are. In her spare time, she enjoys practicing and teaching martial arts, a passion of hers for thirty years.
Sessions:
100 Difficult Conversations in a Difficult Time
Session #100
Taizé Prayer Around the Cross Join us for an hour of quiet contemplative sung prayer and silence – a quiet time and place to catch your breath and be re-connected to your God.
Sat 11 AM | Chapel
Taizé Baltimore
An hour of contemplative sung prayer and silence. A space to enter into silence with your God.Duffy Laws and Lisa O’Reilly are women of spirit and prayer, both living in Baltimore, MD. Duffy is a mother and grandmother, environmentalist and retired teacher who holds a Masters in Spiritual Ministry; Lisa is a teacher and has a Masters in Pastoral Ministry having worked for the Catholic Church for 15 years. Both know that silence and reconciliation are needed in our busy world and have found a space in the Community of Taizé, France, an ecumenical monastic community of brothers who welcome often 7000 young people in prayer. The community has developed a style of worship that brings all into a common space of peace and reflection. Using aspects from all the Christian rituals, including icons, scripture, chant and silence, Taizé Prayer around the Cross is a time for folks to rest in the still small voice of God.
LISTEN
Duffy Laws
Duffy Laws actively facilitates Taizé prayer and spiritual direction groups in the Baltimore area as well as leads groups to Taizé, France. She holds a teaching degree and a masters in Spiritual Ministry. A backyard farmer at heart, she cultivates human, plant and animal life with her husband and fellow beekeeper. She is an activist for her family and the environment, and drinks deeply from the joys of life.
www.facebook.com/Taiz%C3%A9-Baltimore-134141239966039/
Sessions:
101 Taizé Prayer Around the Cross
Lisa O’Reilly
Lisa O’Reilly came to Baltimore MD in 2001 after 10 years of teaching Religion and History in Irish schools. She holds a degree in catechetics and a masters in Pastoral Ministry. She has been a youth minister in 4 different Baltimore City Catholic churches. Her passion for Taizé came from visiting the Community for the first time at the age of 16. She likes playing her guitar, travel and drinking beer, often at the same time!
Sessions:
101 Taizé Prayer Around the Cross
Session #101
Re-imagining Redemption: A Feminist perspective
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 2
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 2
Rev. Adele Henderson
As the #MeToo movement started picking up steam John Piper decided to speak a word to women that redemption would come from an earthly Boaz just as it did for Ruth. As a Divinity school graduate who has study scripture and continues to study the Bible as a minister I want to offer an alternative and more accurate view of redemption. This view will help to bring healing for women part of the #MeToo and #ChurchToo movement. Participants will have an opportunity to write and read their own poetry of redemption. The session will then close with communion and a blessing.
Adele Henderson
Adele Henderson is an ordained minister serving as The Director of Christian Education and Chaplain at HopeTree Family Services in Salem VA. Outside of work she provides pastoral care at LewisGale Hospital with other local clergy. Adele believes authentic community is fostered through story and the creation of art in community. For fun she hikes the many trails in the Roanoke Valley, sings in the choir at her local church and occasionally reads poetry at a local open mic.
Sessions:
102 Redemption by Faith
Session #102
Learning to Listen: An Exploration of How We Can Hear and Heed God’s Call
Fri 2 PM | Bridge
Kate Rademacher
How can we faithfully listen for God’s call? How do we respond when our sense of vocation contradicts – or is even diametrically opposed – to another person’s understanding of their calling? During this session, we will explore the topics of discernment and vocation. Author and facilitator Kate Rademacher works in international public health with a focus on increasing access to contraception in developing countries. Yet with birth control remaining a controversial topic in the religious landscape, understanding this work as a vocational calling raises challenging questions about how we can responsibly and accurately discern a sense of God’s call for us. Participants will be invited to share their own experiences with discernment, and we will discuss approaches to prayerfully listening for God’s voice in our own lives.
Kate Rademacher
Kate Rademacher grew up outside of Boston and now lives in Chapel Hill with her family. In her debut memoir, Following the Red Bird, Kate describes how she came to embrace a relationship with God after maintaining a pick-and-choose approach to spirituality for many years. Married to a devout Buddhist, Kate was sitting on a cushion at her husband’s meditation center one day when Jesus appeared unexpectedly in her consciousness and called her to follow him. She was baptized a year later to the day. Kate has over fifteen years of experience in non-profit management and group facilitation. Visit her at www.katerademacher.com
https://www.katerademacher.com
Sessions:
103 Learning to Listen for God’s Call
Session #103
(In)Sufficient Words: Using the Tools of Poetry & Jewish Midrash To Make Space for Justice & Redemption
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 1
Judith Kunst
Learn techniques from the ancient Jewish creative writing tradition called Midrash to play with, pull apart, and find transformative space within ordinary language we use everyday. Using hand-bound notebooks instead of handouts, we’ll talk and write together towards a poem like this: Not much was harder than saying out loud / “You’re right, we got it wrong.” But in / out-louding the “wrong,” we were also saying / “You’re right” and “We got it.” And though / you insisted that we’ll never get “it” / —and there are signs to suggest “you’re / right”—still, that day, “we got,” somewhere, / somehow, trying to “right” our “wrong.” / A little bit closer to “You are,” maybe. / A little bit closer to “we.” (Rock & Sling 2017) No prior writing experience is required for this workshop–just honesty, open eyes, and a willingness to believe that what we’ve been given can, with love and imagination, be made into what we need.
Judith Kunst
Judith Kunst is a poet and lifelong student of language and how it can work in the world. Her book The Burning Word: A Christian Encounter with Jewish Midrash celebrates the amazing Jewish idea that God intends the Bible as a conversation starter: that God eagerly awaits our arguments and questions and stories and poems. Some of Judith’s poems have appeared in The Atlantic, Poetry, Image, and other places. She and her husband and their three sons have just moved to Evansville, Indiana after a three year adventure in rural southeastern North Carolina. This is Judith’s first WGF, but since geese have been showing up in Judith’s writing for decades, she expects to feel right at home.
judithkunst.com
Sessions:
104 (In)Sufficient Words Poetry Workshop
Session #104
Being a Native American Christian in 2018: Reckoning With the Church’s Past to Create a More Hopeful Future
Kaitlin Curtice
Fri Noon | Greater Things
As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and a Christian, I often feel a lot of tension within the institutional church. As a result, many people ask me what it’s like to be a Native American and a Christian. Because we are a country that has swept crimes done against indigenous peoples under the rug, the church is still trying to figure out how to have the conversation about where we go from here to truly build a community of shalom across racial and cultural divides. Addressing issues of our time, misconceptions and stereotypes surrounding indigenous peoples and our history as a country, I want to describe what it’s like to be a Potawatomi woman and Christian in America in 2018 and my hope for the future church.
Kaitlin Curtice
Kaitlin Curtice is a Native American Christian author, speaker and worship leader. As an enrolled citizen of the Potawatomi Nation and someone who has grown up in the Christian faith, Kaitlin writes on the intersection of Native American spirituality, mystic faith in everyday life, and the church. Her recently released book is Glory Happening: Finding the Divine in Everyday Places. She is a regular contributor to Sojourners, and was most recently a speaker at the Why Christian? Conference and the Lynchburg Revival. You can also find her story featured on CBS Religion’s Race, Regligion and Resistance documentary. When she isn’t work on her second book or spending time with her family in Atlanta, Kaitlin writes at www.kaitlincurtice.com
Sessions:
105 Being a Native American Christian in 2018
Session #105
Native Americans, the Mainline Church, and the Quest for Interracial Justice
Fri 3 PM | Bridge
David P. Hansen
This workshop involves participants reading a script in the voices of Native Americans, Christian missionaries, Indian boarding school stories, press releases, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The goal is to raise awareness about the ongoing impact of the doctrine of discovery and Christian domination and inspire participants to take action toward healing among all people.
David Hansen
David Hansen has served in ministry in the United Church of Christ and more recently in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for more than 40 years. His studies at the Pacific School of Religion and the Graduate Theological Union focused on religion and society and economic policy. He has served as campus minister in Oregon and Saskatchewan, and in congregations from Wisconsin to Hawai’i. He served as the conference minister of both the Hawai’i Conference of the United Church of Christ and the Kansas-Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ. He and Sally, his wife, are parents and grandparents of an interracial, multicultural family that includes Christians, Muslims, and atheists, as well as French and Turkish citizens. His passion is to create a society in which interracial and multicultural justice and peace are normative.
davidphansen.com
Sessions:
106 Interracial Justice
Session #106
Finding Beauty + your Greatest Worth in Budgeting
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 6
Nicole + Sam of Greatest Worth
This session provides an introduction to Nicole’s + Sam’s tested process of creating a budget that not only sticks, but also empowers you to live grounded in the truth of your deepest callings, dreams and values. By exploring the power of Awareness, Values and Integration, you will leave the session with a new understanding of how budgeting is a beautiful way to move toward deep transformation.
Nicole + Sam Rule
Nicole + Sam Rule believe that active, aware management of personal finances is a subversive and spiritual act. During their personal journey through the process of paying off $100,000 in debt, they learned that creating and living by a budget that aligns with their values is the key to sustainable resistance against the status quo of mindless consumerism. After years of guiding individuals and groups from their church community through their process, Nicole started Greatest Worth.com as a platform to engage women in the wild and holy work of finding beauty in their personal finances.
www.greatestworth.com
Sessions:
107 Finding Beauty in Budgeting
Session #107
Experiments with Faithfulness
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 1
Releasing Ministry Alliance
Based on practices from traditional spiritual direction and today’s cutting edge teachings in human development, we’ll use individual and small group activities to accompany one another as we listen for and discern next steps to follow the Wild Goose/ Holy Spirit in our lives.We’ll practice a method of spiritual accompaniment and, depending on our interests, we’ll explore ways to facilitate personal growth, such spiral dynamics, MIT’s u.lab, horizon analysis, and other methods. These practices have offered other people much-needed, steady guidance while they pursued a wide variety of callings.Participants are encouraged to come with a particular question and a willingness to share openly about their faith journey now and going forward.Lola Georg (counselor) and Viv Hawkins (spiritual director) will facilitate this interactive session where all will be co-learners and co-teachers. They pray this session will serve you and other people with whom you may share what you come to know.
Session #108
Introducing the Religiosity Uncertainty Principle: A Conduit for Ecumenical and Interfaith Connection
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 4
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 4
Larry C. Dickinson
This interactive session will explore the idea the God is so awesome beyond human understanding that God can be honestly understood differently by different humans. Examples of scripture will be presented to help make the case that we humans can’t fully see/know/understand God from our limited perspective. This religious “uncertainty” will be paralleled with the “Heisenberg Uncertainly Principle,” a well-known and famous principle in modern science (i.e. Quantum Mechanics/Physics). The resulting “Religiosity Uncertainty Principle” will be articulated in several ways with participation from the audience. The concluding discussion will examine 1) how this basic principle can be understood in fundamentally different ways, and 2) how those different understandings can be used to facilitate dialogue and connection across deeply differentiated Faith groups: religions (Christian, Muslim, etc.), denominations (conservative, progressive, etc.); and un-religions (Atheist, Spiritual, etc.)
Larry Dickinson
Larry Dickinson is an Entrepreneur, Engineer and Lay Leader based in western NC. He earned his PhD in Applied Science and has a career of 25+ years in Research & Development and commercialization of new advanced materials. He has experience from both large (e.g. NASA, Lockheed) and small organizations. Owning his own business for more than 10 years he now claims to have the worst boss he’s ever had; himself. He grew up in a small UCC church in rural NC and has been active in lay leadership in different congregations where he’s lived. He has facilitated numerous classes ranging from Bill Hybel’s Contagious Christian; to multiple courses out of the Living the Questions series. He has taken formal facilitator training for the Methodist Disciple series and has lead/co-lead four different 30+ week Disciple bible study classes. His ongoing Faith Journey began in a conservative congregation of a progressive Christian denomination (UCC) and is now exploring broader perspectives with an interest in Mysticism.
Sessions:
109 The Religiosity Uncertainty Principle
Session #109
When One Dream Ends: Finding Healing and Purpose After Trauma and Loss
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 7
Michelle Schumacher
Every Day, You Are Loved conveys to adoptive children that they will always be loved…on the good days, the bad days, and all the in-between days. While I originally wrote the book for my then seven-year-old son, its message has helped me find healing, as well, from the abuse in my families of origin and by marriage, and even my church family. Rather than turning my back on God, I drew closer to Gawuh’s (God as we understood him) infinite love. In doing so, I was led to resources that helped me transform my traumas and losses into healing and purpose. As an instructional designer and a licensed massage therapist; a Hospice volunteer; a Wild Goose Festival Staff Volunteer; and an active member of Al-Anon, the Methodist church, and a Buddhist meditation center following the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh, today my life’s purpose is to serve by helping others live all their days well. This presentation will provide direction to help others find their healing and life’s purpose, as well.
Michelle Schumacher
Venue Producer
Having had the greatest spiritual experience of her life at her first Wild Goose Festival in 2016, Michelle is incredibly thankful for the opportunity to give back as part of the WGF Staff/Support Team. Through her current work as a geriatric licensed massage therapist, instructional designer, author, and community volunteer, Michelle seeks to be the change she wishes to see in her own little corner of the world by helping others live all their days well. She is most grateful when she has the opportunity to work with and for other individuals and organizations that are choosing to do the same.
www.michelleschumacher.com
Sessions:
110 When One Dream Ends
Session #110
Sabbath for the Activist: Fuel for the Fight
Fri 10 AM | Episcopal
J. Dana Trent
Thomas Merton wrote “Action is the stream and contemplation is the spring.” Effective activism requires both action and contemplation. As activists, we must consistently reflect on our values and ethics—the “why” of what we do. Jesus was an activist, yet he was contemplative. Sabbath, in the form of rest, reflection, worship, and community, connect us with the ethos of the Gospel: service and activism. Sabbath for the activist is a labyrinth: we enter from the outside world where we work tirelessly to foster equity, diversity, inclusion, and justice. We then turn inward toward the center to be refreshed, refueled, and reconnected with the intention and purpose of our service. We return back to the world more engaged with God, in touch with our motivations, and focused on the needs of those whom we serve. But sabbath for the activist is easier said than done amid endless and expanding needs. This workshop will help participants embrace sabbath as an essential tool for their service.
J. Dana Trent
The Rev. J. Dana Trent is a graduate of Duke Divinity School, Baptist clergywoman, award-winning author, speaker, and workshop facilitator. She teaches World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Technical Community College. Her work has appeared in Sojourners and The Christian Century, as well as on Time.com, Religion Dispatches, and Religion News Service. Her third book, “One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation,” releases in January 2019. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, a devout Hindu and former monk. Their Christian-Hindu interfaith marriage is chronicled in Saffron Cross: The Unlikely Story of How a Christian Minister Married a Hindu Monk. Her second book with Upper Room Books, For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest, Worship, and Community, explores the how and why of slowing down for spirituality in a 24-7 world. She loves naps with cats, vegetarian food, and teaches weight-lifting for the YMCA.
http://jdanatrent.com/
Sessions:
111 Sabbath for the Activist
340 One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation
Session #111
Musical Performance: Joshua Long
With special guest Martin Camper
Fri 10 AM | Café
What are you searching for? What is spirit saying to you? Do you feel called to be with the least of these? Many are searching for answer questions that tug at their heartstrings, yet those answers may be right in front of you. We all have a mountaintop we are trying to reach. We all have this race called life that we are in some way, shape, or form trying to win. Can you even win at the game of life, or do we just get better at experiencing this profound mysterious gift? When we think about justice, how many times have we reached the mountaintop and have yet to break into the promised land? Singer/songwriter Joshua Long and special guest Martin Camper will perform original music from Long’s albums “All God’s Children,” “All in You,” and his newest project “The Mountain Top.”
LISTEN
Joshua Long
Joshua Long grew up in Baltimore, Maryland, in a pastor’s family of seven. His love for music began at the age of ten when he started taking private piano lessons. Over the years, this led to his graduation from the University of the Arts with a bachelor’s degree in music in 2008. Josh’s ministry has led him to the Unitarian Universalist Church of Annapolis, where he serves as the Director of Contemporary Music and Membership Coordinator. Josh is also a student at Wesley Theological, Seminary studying to be an ordained UU minister. He lives in Severn, Maryland, with his wife, Tabitha, and their cat, Calypso.
www.jlongmusic.com/
Sessions:
112 Musical Performance: Joshua Long
Martin Camper
In another life, Martin Camper was in a band, where he played piano, sang, and co-wrote the group’s songs. He has also played music for churches, mostly piano, but sometimes drums, glockenspiel, and organ. Currently, he is a professor at Loyola University Maryland and teaches courses in writing, rhetoric, and argument. He is the author of Arguing over Texts: The Rhetoric of Interpretation (Oxford University Press, 2018), which presents a theory for understanding the roots of our disagreements over texts, from scripture to laws to novels, and how we use argument to resolve those disagreements. In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, visiting art museums, hiking, cooking, trying new restaurants, and writing short stories and poems. Martin lives in Baltimore, Maryland.
Sessions:
112 Musical Performance: Joshua Long
Session #112
Contemplative Prayer, an Alternative Approach
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 6
Jim Canup
This participatory session will use research based techniques along with Tai Chi to quiet the brain for prayer. After the mental alter is set, traditional Christian Contemplative prayer will then be introduced to the participants. This session is targeted for those who have little experience or success in quiet prayer.
Jim Canup
Retired Clinical Counselor and Employee Assistance Professional, Jim is now a Work Team Consultant and Trainer. Jim also teaches Tai Chi, Mindfulness Meditation and Contemplative Prayer. His interest is in the practices and truths of Christian Spirituality, often overlooked in the modern Christian Church. He loves integrating concepts and practices from various sources.
Sessions:
113 Contemplative Prayer for the Chatty Brain
Session #113
Life Compass Living: Stop surviving and start THRIVING!
Aline Defiglia LCSW, CSA
Fri 11 AM | Library
Life Compass Living begins with who you are, who your people are and where you want to be as your life unfolds. It helps you:• Take responsibility for your life choices• Get comfortable having crucial conversations with those you love• Actively share life with your core relationships and community• Become well informed about the complexities of maturing in a complex, modern lifestyle• Set and accomplish realistic goals for securing your future in relation to your current life stageLife Compass Living is for everyone! Come identify vulnerabilities and opportunities that need to be addressed in your life stage and leave with more resources on how to continue the process.
Aline Defiglia
Aline Defiglia is a licensed psychotherapist adventuring at the intersection of health, healing, and the restoration of connection with self, others, and the sacred. Her practice specializes in mind and body healing modalities, life coaching, hypnotherapy, and team performance consulting. Aline is also a Certified Senior Advisor and serves as a foundational partner and facilitator with the Life Compass Living Community. She and her husband are currently in the process of moving from Chicago, IL to Chattanooga, TN. Discover more at ABWellness.life.
https://lifecompassliving.com/
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
114 Life Compass Living
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
Session #114
Screaming and Shouting Until We Are Heard: Subversive Liturgies In Action
Jessi Knippel
To Lament is a deeply subversive action, especially in a cultural context where the push is to move away or negate the process of lament, and live in an idealized construction of exceptional reality. Lament asks us to enter into deepest of heartaches and the spaces where things are not as they should be, it is the upside-down spaces where the s**t hits the fan and seems to desecrate everything. Through an interactive panel/audience conversation constructed in the form of a liturgical lament, we hope to offer space to talk about our current work (#churchtoo, religion, gender/sexuality, racism, and social justice) as well as help others explore ways to creatively engage lament as a catalyst for action in their own lives, work, and communities. The panel will include Emily Joy, Hannah Paasch, Tamisha Tyler, & Jessi Knippel
Jessica (Jessi) Knippel
academic, writer, artist originally from the Pacific Northwest who now lives in the promised land of Southern California with her partner. She is currently working on a intersectional (Religion, Gender & Sexuality, Media) PhD at Claremont Graduate School.
A muralist at heart she pieces together project, events, thoughts, and people in her work and non work life. You can find her popping in and out of social media on these platforms: Instagram- @seattlerainartist, Twitter- @jessiknippel
www.jessiknippel.com
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
Tamisha Tyler
Tamisha A Tyler (she/her) is a Ph.D. student at Fuller Theological Seminary studying Theology and Culture with a minor in Ethics. She was born and raised in Long Beach, CA but currently resides in Pasadena. She works with several arts organizations and projects including Listen Los Angeles (a listening project featuring an all African American cast reflecting on the current state of the country through art), Level Ground (engaging empathy across difference) and ARC Art | Religion | Culture. She also co-hosts a podcast entitled Why Were Friends
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy is a spoken word poet and yoga teacher RYT 200 whose work focuses on the intersections of faith and sexuality, spiritual deconstruction, and creative writing. Emily has released two studio albums of spoken word poetry, and travels the country performing at churches, schools, conferences, and festivals like Wild Goose. She also teaches yoga every week in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work as the co-creator of the #ChurchToo campaign exposing sexual abuse in faith communities has been featured on websites such as Time, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. Emily is passionate about helping others, especially other women, make spiritual and creative progress in the wake of religious trauma, painful past experiences, and self-doubt.
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo
133 Poetry Open Mic w Emily Joy
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
384 Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Session #115
Epiphany Collection: Interactive Stories with Face Paint and Body Art
Sat 2 PM | Bridge
Epiphany Team
Heaven and earth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in “thin places”, that distance is even shorter. An epiphany is a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being. Each of us experiences “thin places” and Epiphanies in very different. The Epiphany Collection hopes to collect your stories of “thin places”. Come with a friend or on your own. When you come with a friend, we will provide you with discussion questions and face/body paint. While you share your Epiphany or “thin place” your partner, they will try to recreate your story with face or body paint. If you come on our own we will interview you while painting your face or body. **If there is any part of the process that makes you feel uncomfortable, please let us know. We understand that face or body paint or photography is not for everyone. Please feel free to share your story with us in any way that you want.
Linda ClenDening
Linda and Andie are a mother-daughter team fascinated with storytelling. They both really enjoy podcasts like This American Life and Serial. It’s amazing how vulnerable people are willing to be when sharing their stories. Both mother and daughter love listening to others to understand. Linda lives in Nashville, TN and Andie lives in rural Colorado. Last year Andie took Linda to a music festival in Colorado and they hope to attend more together. They love chatting about music, philosophy, and religion.
Sessions:
116 Interactive Stories with Body Art
Session #116
Preaching as Resistance
Fri 4PM | River
Phil Snider
In the wake of the nationalism, nihilism, patriarchy, and alt-right fear-mongering that’s accompanied the surprising rise and valorization of Donald Trump, many pastors and faith-based leaders find themselves drawn toward acts of resistance—sometimes even from the pulpit—in ways they perhaps hadn’t previously considered, at least not with the same sense of urgency they now feel. This session will reflect on the kind of preaching that not only resists, challenges, and troubles the problematic structures of authoritarianism and oppression crashing in from all sides, but also invites listeners to experience the transformation, possibility, and hope stirring in the gospel of Christ.
Phil Snider
The Rev. Dr. Phil Snider is an activist, pastor, writer, and teacher. His books include Preaching as Resistance (forthcoming, 2018), Justice Calls: Sermons of Welcome and Affirmation, and Preaching after God: Derrida, Caputo, and the Language of Postmodern Homiletics. In addition to teaching at Missouri State University, his vocational heart is at the intersection of congregational ministry and community organizing. He’s a pastor at Brentwood Christian Church in Springfield, MO and is perhaps best known for the 15 minutes of fame he experienced when one of his speeches on LGBTQ rights went viral, leading to over five million views on YouTube.
www.philsnider.net
Sessions:
117 Preaching as Resistance
Leah Schade
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for 18 years, Leah has served congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings. She earned both her MDiv and Ph.D. degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her book Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit are available at www.chalicepress.com. Her forthcoming book, Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red/Blue Divide, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019, and explores how clergy and churches can address controversial justice issues using nonpartisan, biblically-centered approaches along with deliberative dialogue. Leah is the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos: www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/
thepurplezone.net/
Sessions:
71 Purple Zone – Deliberative Dialogue
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
117 Preaching as Resistance
Rev. Alexis James Waggoner
Rev. Alexis James Waggoner is a theologian and educator working as the Marketing and Digital Education Director for the Westar Institute, an interfaith organization dedicated to bridging the gap between religious scholarship and culture. She is also an adjunct professor of religion, and a minister with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). When she’s not rabble-rousing for progressive theology, she serves as a Chaplain in the Air Force Reserves.
Sessions:
117 Preaching as Resistance
Session #117
The Women Experiencing Faith Project
Sat Noon | Bridge
Janel Apps Ramsey
Come hear about the Women Experiencing Faith Project. “How has being a woman (or interacting with women) impacted/influenced my faith journey?” Hear excerpts of how an intersectional group of (primarily) Christian women have responded, and get early insights into the themes that will be in the book. The session will include time to reflect on your own journeys of faith, and hear about plans for the book and podcast. Throughout our time together we will also reflect on the way bias and discrimination have shaped our stories and discuss the ways we can transform these issues in our own faith communities. You can learn more about this project at www.womenxfaith.org.
Janel Apps Ramsey
Janel Apps Ramsey is the Co-Director of Brew Theology (please come see us at our booth). She is the lead editor of Women Experiencing Faith with Dr. Thomas J. Oord, and holds an MA in Theological Studies. Raised in a conservative evangelical tradition, she now considers herself a progressive Christian. She leads interfaith discussions and participates in a weekly podcast. She also has a small house church of people in faith transition. Janel has served in ministry for 20 years and is learning how to do ministry outside of traditional structures. Janel is married, lives in Denver, CO, and loved participating in WGF last year. You can see more of her work at www.womenandchurch.com, www.brewtheology.org, and www.womenxfaith.org.
Sessions:
118 Women Experiencing Faith
179 Brew Theology
Session #118
#MeToo – Revelation, Reckoning, Revolution, Lament. A panel of survivors discuss their experience of the social media phenomena and whether the hashtag has become the modern-day equivalent of a lament.
Sat 1 PM | Bridge
Laura Parrott Perry, Matt Bays, Shannon Dingle, Brittany Pashcall
The #MeToo movement, originally created by Tarana Burke to support survivors in underserved communities, evolved into a phenomenon on social media. The simple hashtag became a courageous eruption of truth-telling, a powerful expression of anger and frustration, and a call for societal change. It was also an expression of grief. A panel of survivors discuss #MeToo; how it felt to participate in and bear witness to the public reclamation of stories of assault, abuse, and harassment, and how sharing their own stories publicly has shaped their ability to grieve, heal, and reclaim them.
Laura Parrott Perry
Laura Parrott Perry is the author of She Wrote it Down; How a Secret-keeper Became a Storyteller, a speaker, and co-founder and CEO of the non-profit Say It, Survivor – an organization devoted to helping survivors of child sexual abuse reclaim their stories as part of the path to healing. Her work has been featured on Trigger Points Anthology, No Make-up Required, Parenting with PTSD, Huffington Post and in Boston Magazine. Laura is a frequent public speaker on the topics of story, child sexual abuse, addiction, and shamelessness, and was a contributor at Wild Goose Festival 2016 and 2017. She is the single mother of two incredible human beings and the devoted servant to a glorious dog.
lauraparrottperry.com
sayitsurvivor.org
Sessions:
119 #MeToo Panel Discussion
Matt Bays
Matt Bays is a sought-after speaker and nationally published author of the book, FINDING GOD IN THE RUINS: (How God Redeems Pain), which New York Times bestselling author, Ann Voskamp, has described as “Rare, raw, gorgeous writing—profoundly moving.” With a passion to call people out of their hiding places, Matt joins the ranks of writers such as Ann Lamott and Donald Miller in offering readers an honest, raw, funny, and insightful compassion for sorting through the struggles and joys of life. He is also a life coach and freelance musician in the Indianapolis area and has 2 creative and amazing daughters.
mattbayswriter.com
Sessions:
119 #MeToo Panel Discussion
Shannon Dingle
Shannon Dingle is a freelance speaker and writer who talks about all the topics we’re taught to avoid in public settings, from politics and privilege to trauma and pain She’s written for The Washington Post and Teen Vogue, and is Managing Editor of SKEW, a monthly publication of Level Ground. Her passion is to educate faith and secular groups to be live-affirming, inclusive of disability and other marginalized identities, and trauma-informed. She draws from her life as a survivor with PTSD and her experiences as a disabled woman, with a professional background and master’s degree in disability education, now raising kids living with disability and trauma histories. Her work and story have been featured by the Today show online, The Atlantic, the Wall Street Journal, NPR, Slate, Sojourners, and The Daily Kos. She, her husband, and their six children live in Raleigh, NC where they’ve found a home in the faith community SouthEast Raleigh Table. You can find her @shannondingle or at shannondingle.com
Sessions:
119 #MeToo Panel Discussion
Brittany Paschall
Brittany T. Paschall is a radical liberator, ally, and friend. Brittany is committed to justice as Gospel work and to centering the needs of the marginalized. A proud native of Nashville, TN, and recent graduate of Grand Canyon University; Brittany is a 2017-2018 National ELLA Fellow with the Sadie Nash Leadership Project and the Next Steps Minister at New Garden Church. She is a core member and the Operations Director of the Students for Justice, Truth, and Reconciliation (SJTRGCU), a collective of GCU alumni, students, and friends for racial justice.
You will often discover her organizing (people + things), reading something good, or traveling as she prepares to pursue her MDiv in Fall 2018.
Visit her website at btpaschall.com.
Sessions:
119 #MeToo Panel Discussion
Session #119
Birds of a Feather: What can we learn about being a mixed flock church from birds and how we observe them?
Birding at 6:00 AM Friday and Saturday | Meet at the Main Stage Lawn
Session at 2:00 PM Saturday | Bridge
Ian Lynch
Sometimes birds of different species do flock together. As the church experiences convergence we might learn a thing or two from bird behavior. Through anecdotes and identification tips, birdwatching will be used as a metaphor for a new way of being church. What does migration teach us about risks and survival? How can a literal wild goose chase help us to understand that the Wild Goose often leads us into places we may not go ourselves? The afternoon session will be a time to explore the metaphor of birdwatching and chasing wild geese with some teaching about how to be a better birdwatcher (and maybe even a better follower of Christ). But since the best learning comes in walking the talk, there will also be early morning sessions offered both to sit in meditative and observant listening to birdsong followed by walks to observe whatever species the Wild Goose sends our way. If you have binoculars and field guides, bring them. There will be limited optics for sharing, but since most birding is “by ear” you will still enjoy the experience if you don’t have equipment.
Peace שָׁלוֹם سلام
Ian Lynch
Ian is an ordained minister in the United Church of Christ. He has been part of the migration to the Wild Goose nearly every year since the start. The image of the Wild Goose speaks to his passion. He has been an avid birder for three decades with a life list of 470 species and having been on winning teams at both the Super Bowl of Birding and the World Series of Birding. Currently he is pastor of Old South Church in Kirtland, Ohio.
http://birdparables.blogspot.com/
Sessions:
120 Birds of a Feather
Session #120
Creating a Community Commons at Home after Wild Goose
Sat 3 PM | Bridge
Brett W. Copeland
Between social media and politics that bind or blind, we increasingly live in segregated bubbles. People say they don’t trust media and rely on their peers’ opinions over expert evidence. How can you help steer your community toward justice in a politically or demographically monolithic region? Here’s a formula: faith + art & expression x radical hospitality = progress. By creating spaces in your community focused on storytelling and radical hospitality, we can build a revelatory and healing space for grace. The commons’ strong bonds also serve as a self-sustaining community of care. This session will help you think through how you spark a revolution in your own neighborhood. This interactive session will give you with concepts and tools to kick off your own community commons and build new relationships with your neighbors. Because when we love God and love each other, we can change the world.
Session #121
Life After Missions
Sat 4 PM | Bridge
Corey Pigg, Hannah Paasch and more.
Deconstructing or losing your faith is hard. Trying to move forward in that process after a vocation in ministry can be even harder. This will be a panel led discussion on practical ways to find your way forward after a life in vocational ministry.
Corey Pigg
Corey is a former missionary, recovering pursuer of Jesus and a cult survivor. After several years of traveling the globe as a missionary and in recovery as a cult abuse survivor, Corey’s work is devoted to helping others reconnect with themselves after the loss of a lifestyle steeped in spiritual vocation and/or spiritual abuse in order to find their way forward.
Corey is responsible for Failed Missionary, a new podcast/blog that explores topics and narratives related to the modern approach to missions and questions the odd ways we’ve interpreted the great commission.
www.failedmissionary.com
Sessions:
122 Life After Missions
248 Failed Missionary
Session #122
Is Christianity Even Good for Us?My Story and Interviews with Queer Christian Women
Rachel Murr
Fri 2 PM | Library
For years, I was a part of Christian communities that taught false and disparaging things about LGBTQ people. While angry at the church’s treatment of LGBTQ people, I still took on the belief that it was not okay for me to be gay. Over time, I came to change my beliefs about what kind of life and love could be possible for me, and I felt freed! But, coming out in my so-called progressive Evangelical community led to conflict, loss, and disappointment. It made me wonder if my faith was even good for me. These experiences, led me to interview other lesbian and bisexual women who’ve held onto faith despite some negative experiences. I wanted to know why and how they kept their faith. Their stories of resilience gave me hope for a faith that no longer causes harm, but offers healing, connection and hope. In this session, I’ll share my story and what I learned from this research.
Rachel Murr
Rachel is a social worker and therapist at a community mental health agency outside of Detroit, Michigan. Rachel’s book, Unnatural: Spiritual Resiliency in Queer Christian Women was born out of her experiences in non-affirming communities and her qualitative research. Now, Rachel has taken on the unexpected role of Pastor’s Wife since marrying Emily Swan, co-pastor of Blue Ocean Faith Ann Arbor. They have a beautiful community there.
www.rachelmurr.com
Sessions:
123 Is Christianity Even Good For Us (LGBTQ)? Stories of Resilient Faith
Session #123
Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance
Fri 4 PM | Bridge
Emily Swan & Ken Wilson
Through storytelling, we share about how violence was done to us in the name of sola Scriptura and how our theology coalesced into something new as we co-planted a church together. We offer a take on Jesus as the forgiving victim using the lens of René Girard’s work on scapegoating. And we propose a mystical experience of Jesus as crucial to following the Way. We hope you will join us as we bring you along on our journey.
Emily Swan
Emily Swan is co-pastor of Blue Ocean Faith Ann Arbor. She received her B.A. in history from Butler University, and has worked toward her Master’s degree at Fuller Theological Seminary. Additionally, she spent three years studying Mandarin and Amdo Tibetan languages at Qinghai Minzu Daxue Nationalities University in Xining, China.
Emily worked for two Fortune 500 companies and lived abroad for four years prior to serving as a pastor in the Vineyard movement, a movement which ultimately rejected ordaining queer pastors. She co-planted Blue Ocean Faith Ann Arbor with Ken Wilson in 2014. Emily is the author/creator of small group material, “The Earth is God’s Temple,” and occasionally speaks, or hosts workshops, at conferences.
She is married to author and therapist Rachel Murr. She lives in Ypsilanti, MI, and enjoys feasting with friends, playing tennis and making music.
a2blue.org
Sessions:
124 Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance
Ken Wilson
Ken Wilson is co-author with Emily Swan of Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance (Read the Spirit Books, 2018) and co-pastor with Emily of Blue Ocean Faith, Ann Arbor. Ken is founding pastor of Vineyard Church of Ann Arbor and author of A Letter to My Congregation: An Evangelical pastor’s path to embracing people who are gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender, into the company of Jesus (Read the Spirit, 2016, Second Edition), Mystically Wired (Thomas Nelson 2010) and other books. Ken is married to Julia Huttar Bailey, an Episcopal priest, and father of six.
a2blue.org
Sessions:
124 Solus Jesus: A Theology of Resistance
Session #124
Women Survivor’s Empowerment-Survivors of Domestic Violence Regain Independence and Hope Connecting to the Earth
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 7
Rev. Abby Catoe
Women all over the world continue to be subjected to violence-outside and inside the home. Why do women stay in such situations and how can we help them to free themselves and become independent so they will not return?Connecting to God through the soil is a powerful way to help heal. There is also the concern about how Christianity has played a role in keeping women subjected to domination? As Christians, how do we bring about change regarding the role of women?
Abby Catoe
annieshopecenter.org
A life-long Christian, I took a long break from religious involvement only to be called again as a late bloomer! I recently completed seminary and was ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in 2017. I love all people, animals and the outdoors engaging in horseback riding, kayaking, hiking as well as having a career in landscaping that keeps me outdoors. As a survivor of domestic violence, it only makes sense that God would call me to the ministry of helping other women who experience abuse. The nonprofit under way, Annie’s Hope Center for Growing and Healing will help any woman who is ready to be free from the trauma to heal, grow and find self-worth seeing themselves as God sees them; with love and divinity.
I am married to a wonderful companion who shares the care of our horses and dogs and grandchildren!
Sessions:
125 Hope for Survivors of Domestic Violence
Session #125
Beyond #ChurchToo: Power, Purity Culture, and Progressive Christianity
Hannah Paasch
Fri 10 AM | Library
As originators of the #churchtoo campaign, Hannah Paasch and Emily Allison-Hearn have been initiating conversations around purity culture for the past five years online and most recently facilitating space for church abuse survivors to tell their stories and out their abusers. Join us as we discuss the theological implications of #churchtoo, policy recommendations for congregations seeking to eradicate abuse, and spotlight progressive Christianity’s complicity in maintaining cycles of abuse.
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy is a spoken word poet and yoga teacher RYT 200 whose work focuses on the intersections of faith and sexuality, spiritual deconstruction, and creative writing. Emily has released two studio albums of spoken word poetry, and travels the country performing at churches, schools, conferences, and festivals like Wild Goose. She also teaches yoga every week in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work as the co-creator of the #ChurchToo campaign exposing sexual abuse in faith communities has been featured on websites such as Time, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. Emily is passionate about helping others, especially other women, make spiritual and creative progress in the wake of religious trauma, painful past experiences, and self-doubt.
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo
133 Poetry Open Mic w Emily Joy
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
384 Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Session #126
The Creative Life: a conversation about getting started, following through, and overcoming resistance
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 7
Emily M. Francis
How do we live a creative life every day? How can we understand our call as creators as a spiritual calling? Join in this conversation about dreams, creativity, the hard work it takes to get there, and the obstacles we encounter on the way. We will share and gather resources, talk about what has worked and what has not as we pursue our creative dreams. A great place for people just getting started on their creative journey as well as for those who have been on this path for some time. This is an opportunity to learn from one another, to re-ignite our calling, and to re-energize our work.
Emily Francis
Emily M. Francis is a writer and educator. She taught high school English for 15 years and currently teachers for the Writing and Rhetoric Department at Oakland University. She lives in Rochester Hills, Michigan with her husband Tuf Francis and their two children, Mabel and Finn. She also teaches Jazzercise so most of her days are filled with writing, dancing, and shuttling people around in her minivan. She has a passion for creativity and for helping others live brave and creative lives. A few years ago while doing laundry, she remembered she was a poet. She is currently working on her first collection of poems and occasionally rants at www.emilymfrancis.com
Sessions:
127 The Creative Life: a conversation
Session #127
Taking to the Social Streets: Non-Violent Engagement on Social Media
Jennifer Ould
Sat 2 PM | Greater Things
Martin Luther King’s principles of non-violence are as important today as they were sixty years ago. King understood violence. He knew when it needed to be provoked and exposed (as it was in Selma, which was chosen for a march with the knowledge that local law enforcement would be willing to resort to violence). And he understood the hard work needed to prepare oneself to respond to violence non-violently. The streets are still an important place to march and protest, but increasingly, our “streets” are online, on social media. And we’ve done nothing to prepare ourselves to respond non-violently to the violence we encounter there. Utilizing a panel discussion and Q&R, this session would challenge us to apply King’s principles of non-violence in our interactions and help us think creatively together about the preparation needed to engage non-violently.
Jennifer Ould
Jennifer’s journey brought her from the heart of hardcore fundamentalism, through conservative evangelicalism to a much more open and curious faith. Along the way, she has worked as a Republican activist, received an MDiv from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, worked to build bridges between conservative Christians and the LGBTQ+ community, served on an Episcopal church vestry, helped launch Gilead – an inclusive non-traditional church near her home in Chicago’s most diverse neighborhood, and advocated for racial and sexual justice in uncomfortable spaces. She maintains relationships with conservative family friends through social media, and regularly finds herself on the receiving end of their anger with progressives and “liberals.” Leaning to navigate those interactions and relationships non-violently continues to stretch and challenge her. Jennifer runs, preaches, tells stories, and blogs at jennifereould.com.
www.jennifereould.com
Sessions:
128 Taking to the Social Streets
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Xavier Ramey
Xavier Ramey is the CEO of Justice Informed, LLC, a social impact consulting firm based in Chicago, IL that focuses on using public policy, data, and human behavioral patterns to catalyze institutions’ social and economic inclusion, community engagement, corporate responsibility, and philanthropy. He is an award-winning social strategist, noted public speaker, & conflict mediator. A native Chicagoan, he is a recognizable voice on the topics of community and economic development, policing & policy violence, & connecting the Christian faith to our lived experience.
Xavier is often sought out to communicate issues of incredible tension and historical significance to audiences and communities that are either staunchly against, ignorant of, or confused about issues of racism, sexism, and other forms of systemic injustice. His message of ambition, deliberate relationship, and justice being a form of righteous discrimination has been heard across the world on stages, in companies, in churches and in classrooms.
Sessions:
128 Taking to the Social Streets
Session #128
Telling Better Stories Together: Improv Theater and Holy Spirit
Lyndsey Medford
Sat Noon | Workshop
Improv theater invites us to tell good stories together through teamwork and a spirit of play. Come play with us—this workshop is made up of games and exercises that will teach us to look for Spirit’s mischief in the world through honesty, listening, risk-taking, and fun. Take away some ideas for using creativity to invite others into more moments of yes—spaces to practice openness to new ideas and experiences.Two Rivers Church is a new United Methodist church plant in Charleston, SC.
Lyndsey Medford
Lyndsey Medford is watching a new garden and a new church grow in Charleston, SC, and she’s making it all up as she goes along. She has an MTS from Boston University and four years’ improv experience at a Pentecostal university.
Lyndsey writes about spirituality, social justice, bodies, and church at lyndseymedford.com and elsewhere. Find her on the socials @lyndseymedford.
lyndseymedford.com/meet-lyndsey
Sessions:
129 Improv Storytelling
Session #129
This is My Body: Embracing God Through Re-Membering Ourselves
Fri 1 PM | Healing Arts
Hannah Shanks
Bodies are important to God. As Christians we hold tight to Jesus—God made flesh. We follow a God who chose the name “God WITH us,” and that with-ness included a body. But many of us have been taught that God values our bodies only for how healthy, chaste, fair-skinned, pretty, or thin they are, or how well they fit within standard notions of gender and sex. We struggle to feel at home in our own skin. This workshop begins with the radical premise that God values our bodies and what we do with them. Combining storytelling, discussion, & active reflection, we will invite participants to own the messages that they have been told about their bodies—wounds inflicted at the hands of God’s people—& encourage them to consider how God is calling them to deeper communion with their whole selves. The session will move in multiple parts: storytelling, partner/group discussion, and a small service of reclaiming our bodies with tattoos reading “This is My Body.”
Hannah Shanks
Hannah Shanks is an assistant professor of social work and director of the social work program at Greenville University, Greenville, Illinois. She is a storyteller and has participated in the St. Louis chapter of Listen to Your Mother, a live reading series and video sharing company. Hannah is a member of Anam Cara St. Louis, an intentional ecumenical community formed around a shared Rule of Life and weekly observance of prayer and communion.
hannaheshanks.com
Sessions:
130 This Is My Body
Session #130
“Is it Time to Go Beyond Faith? Finding Life and Meaning in These Dark Times.”
Pub Theology Live
Pub Theology Live is on hand to record their 100th episode at the Goose! Join Bryan Berghoef, Ogun Holder and Shannon Meacham at the podcast tent for a beverage and a conversation on, “Is it Time to Go Beyond Faith? Finding Life and Meaning in These Dark Times.” Pub Theology Live seeks to address and engage what’s happening through a theological lens, with a good brew in hand. We’d love to have your voice in the conversation!
Bryan Berghoef
Bryan Berghoef is a “beer therapist” and author of the book, Pub Theology: Beer, Conversation and God. He insists that good things happen when we sit around the table together and talk about things that matter, and what better setting than at the pub, over a pint? Bryan has been facilitating pub conversations for the past ten years, and hosts the weekly podcast, Pub Theology Live. Bryan is the pastor of Holland UCC in Holland, MI and also provides online learning support for the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation in Washington, DC. Follow Bryan on Twitter @pubtheologian.
pubtheology.com/ptlive
Sessions:
131 “Is it Time to Go Beyond Faith?”
Ogun Holder
Rev Ogun Holder is an ordained Unity Minister. He’s held other titles over the years including speaker, teacher, author, podcaster, blogger, musician, parent, social media consultant, and self-proclaimed geek. His first full-length book Rants To Revelations: Unabashedly Honest Reflections on Life, Spirituality, and the Meaning of God was published by Unity Books in Fall 2012. Ogun currently serve as the Senior Minister of Unity on The River in Amesbury, MA. In his non-existent free time he co-hosts Pub Theology Live, a weekly podcast on life, culture, faith, meaning, and identity.
Sessions:
131 Is it Time to Go Beyond Faith?
Shannon Meacham
A rock star from the start, the Reverend Shannon Meacham belted out a Bachelor of Arts in Music with a minor in institutional spiritual matters that most people don’t believe in anyway, from the University of Louisville. Because she couldn’t get enough of the annoying ways people say “Loueyville” she moved across town to Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary for a Master of Divinity, a degree for young idealists and middle age crazies. Before the institution of the Presbyterian Church (USA) self-imploded they were kind enough to hand out a piece of paper saying Go forth and be an overpaid secretary in the name of God. Shannon is married to the Rev. Derrick Weston and is proud to be the reacher in their relationship. Together they parent four exhausting children. She currently serves Ashland Presbyterian Church in the safest part of Baltimore, the suburbs. And because she simply cannot stand free time, she is a Pastoral Coach and Consultant. You can find her musings at PulpitShenanigans.com.
PulpitShenanigans.blog
Sessions:
131 Is it Time to Go Beyond Faith?
Session #131
Is Manifesting Prayer?
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 1
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 1
Brandy Walker
“Manifest” is a buzzword that has made its way around many alternative spiritual circles in the last few years. What the heck is it? Magical thinking? Can it be helpful? Could it be a form of prayer? Join podcaster and MSW student, Brandy Walker, as she explores an answer that is nuanced and complex with wisdom gleaned from the sages, saints, and our sacred texts. Come ready for a thoughtful and interactive discussion about what manifesting is—and what it isn’t.
BRANDY WALKER
Brandy Walker is a writer and podcaster from Gaithersburg, Maryland. She is halfway through grad school, where she is working to become a licensed clinical social worker. In 2013, she curated and co-wrote Wild Goslings: Engaging with Kids in the Mysteries of God. Presently, she works as a job coach for individuals with severe mental health issues at an organization that provides comprehensive behavioral health services. In her free time, she explores intriguing and thought-provoking spiritual concepts and shares her musings about them on her podcast, Throwing Light.
brandyglows.com
Sessions:
132 Is Manifesting Prayer?
Session #132
Poetry Open Mic with Emily Joy
Fri 2 PM | Healing Arts
Emily Joy
Join spoken word poet Emily Joy for an open mic where participants will be able to tell their stories through poetry. Emily Joy will perform a selection of her own poetry and facilitate the open mic portion of this session. Please arrive 10 minutes early to sign up to read or perform!
LISTEN
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy is a spoken word poet and yoga teacher RYT 200 whose work focuses on the intersections of faith and sexuality, spiritual deconstruction, and creative writing. Emily has released two studio albums of spoken word poetry, and travels the country performing at churches, schools, conferences, and festivals like Wild Goose. She also teaches yoga every week in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work as the co-creator of the #ChurchToo campaign exposing sexual abuse in faith communities has been featured on websites such as Time, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. Emily is passionate about helping others, especially other women, make spiritual and creative progress in the wake of religious trauma, painful past experiences, and self-doubt.
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo
133 Poetry Open Mic w Emily Joy
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
384 Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Session #133
Disruptive Worship: Creating communal rites that poke, prod and move people to work for God’s justice
Fri 11 AM | River
Disrupt Worship Project
TL;DR Come learn about creating liturgy that moves people to work for justice. Every week, Christians gather together to worship, joining together in rites and rituals that praise, lament, inspire and connect. For many congregations, those words are the same week in and week out, providing comfort in the familiarity but also creating complacency (and all too often these words reinforce white supremacy, patriarchy, heteronormativity, etc). We believe liturgy can be used as a tool to gently (or not so gently) agitate congregations to move from complacency into action for justice. We will have a discussion about the ways we create prayers, rites other liturgical pieces based on the words of our traditions and scripture, the importance of lifting up voices not often heard in mainline traditions, and invite participants to create liturgy for an upcoming Sunday based on the readings in the Revised Common Lectionary.
Elizabeth Rawlings
Rev. Elizabeth Rawlings (she/her) is the ELCA pastor at The Sanctuary, The Lutheran Episcopal Campus Ministry to The University of Washington. She writes both liturgy and commentary for The Disrupt Worship Project and is active in anti-racism work wherever she lands. She is also currently investigating how to create more rites and rituals (public and private) to help people remember their innate connection to the Holy Spirit. A native Clevelander, she has moved around a lot and currently considers Seattle home (though her heart will always live in Cleveland). Elizabeth has a BA from Warren Wilson College, attended both The Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago and Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary for her M. Div, and also holds a Masters in Public Administration from Seattle University. She hikes less than she wishes she did, plays more video games than she would like, and is the punkest hippie you will ever meet.
www.disruptworshipproject.com
Sessions:
134 Disruptive Worship: Liturgy for justice
Ray J Gentry IV
Ray (he/him/his) is a lay person with a passion for ministry. Writing and occasional preaching led to being High School Ministry Director (not a great fit) and a Band-Led Worship Director (a good fit). Worship planning renewed his passion for liturgy and inspired him to co-create the Disrupt Worship Project. He is a new resident of Omaha, NE.
www.disruptworshipproject.com
Sessions:
134 Disruptive Worship: Liturgy for justice
Lenny Duncan
Lenny Duncan (he/him) is a follower of Jesus Christ and is in a passionate love affair with Grace. He is the pastor of Jehu’s Table (ELCA.) Jehu’s Table is centered as an African Descent ministry in the heart of Brooklyn, but offers solace and refuge to all marginalized peoples including our LGBTQ siblings. Lenny believes scripture is the story of a gracious God who has liberated oppressed peoples throughout human history. That same God’s son was lynched for loving us. That Jesus died because of sin, not because of your sin. He views scripture through the lens of African Descent culture. That our LGBTQ+siblings in Christ are Holy. That justice is God’s love in the public. Lenny’s first stint at directing was with Ankosfilms and culminated in the two-part documentary “Do Black Churches Matter in the ELCA?His next film that he is co directing is “Young, Gifted and Black in the ELCA”. Lenny has just signed a book contract with Fortress Press for his new book “Dear Church” which will be available summer of 2019
Sessions:
134 Disruptive Worship: Liturgy for justice
Session #134
Nurturing the Radical Soul: Healing our Profane/Sacred Liminality
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 5
Mary Grace McCoy
Creating social justice is hard work! Where can a hungry activist turn for rooted spirituality? One answer might be Ignatian spirituality which can provide a framework for prayerfully engaging the social justice issues of our time. What might the Ignatian charism of “care for the whole person” contribute? How might Ignatius’ “discipline of transformation toward love” move us closer to the Peaceable Kingdom? Ignatian spirituality is revolutionary and will appeal to front-line “social justicers” as it heals the profane/sacred liminality we circumscribe our lives with, allowing us to “find God in all things”. This workshop will be a pilgrimage of sorts, a recognition that we are all “on the way”. We will draw on the Ignatian concept of inner freedom to discover where our own bias and blindness might still reside. We will challenge ourselves to form new ways of defining “we” that are radically inclusive. We will take time to listen with “holy boldness” for a different future.
Mary Grace McCoy
Mary Grace McCoy is co-founder of The Listening Place Spiritual Center in Durham, North Carolina. There she is a spiritual director and supervisor, and she also facilitates a formation program for spiritual directors. She frequently leads retreats on various topics, and particularly enjoys working with the Enneagram and leading directees through the 19th annotation of the Spiritual Exercises. The Listening Place Spiritual Center welcomes all who desire to experience God in their daily lives through contemplative prayer and action. It is a place for persons of any faith to come together, share the stories of their experiences of God, and deepen their spirituality through the Judeo-Christian story. The Listening Place is rooted in Ignatian spirituality and shares the desire of St. Ignatius to help others recognize how God is actively involved in everyday life and how to become the change God desires for the world.
listeningplacespiritualcenter.org
Sessions:
135 Nurturing the Radical Soul
Session #135
Let the Children Come with Me: Exploring the Community of God with Children, Art, and Flowers
Fri Noon | River
Andrea L. Lingle
Jesus said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs.”So why do we—as people of faith and spirit, as people who seek the community of God, as those who long to enter the community of heaven here on earth—hush, excuse, or domesticate children? Is it possible to be people of faith if we do not allow children and the childlike to inform our theology?Andrea will be joined by her children, Laine, Annabel, Oliver, and Celian Blake, to explore what it means to allow children to show us what the community of God is like. The children will lead participants through preparing and creating flower petal art, and Andrea will lead a discussion about ways that communities of faith can learn from children.
Andrea Lingle
Author and lay-theologian, Andrea L. Lingle and her husband, Luke, live in the North Carolina mountains with their children. Andrea is passionate about creating space for creativity and imagination. She is less passionate about the ensuing mess. She homeschools her children, and seems to always be contemplating having a really good garden.
Andrea has a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Music from Furman University and a Bachelor’s of Science Degree in Nursing from Duke University. She is an editor, staff-writer, and lay-theologian for the Missional Wisdom Foundation. Her first book, Credulous: A Journey Through Life, Faith, and the Bulletin, came out April 2018.
www.andrealingle.com
Sessions:
136 Let the Children Come With Me
Session #136
Basement Spirituality: What the Church Must Learn from AA
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 2
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 2
Eric Mayle
In recent years, the vital spiritual community of Alcoholics Anonymous has been discovered by the non-addicted as a well of spirituality outside of the desert of the institutional church. Many see the spiritual depth and authenticity of the AA community and say, “I’m not an alcoholic or an addict, but I want that; I need that.” This session will discuss the ways in which AA can offer the church a model of spiritual revitalization. The irony is that church basements are the traditional meeting place for AA, so the church is literally sitting on top of these resources for revitalization.
Session #137
God is Not an Asshole (and Other Things I Wish My Church Told Me)
Fri Noon | Portal
Micah J. Murray
For many Christians, the Gospel has not been good news. The words of Scripture and the teachings of Jesus have been used to exclude, threaten, and condemn those who have sought a meaningful connection with the Divine. A religion that claimed to be life-giving and beautiful has left us disillusioned and betrayed. We still want to follow Jesus, but don’t know if we can deal with all the shit that comes along with that. Is there hope for us? In this session, we will revisit the teachings of Jesus and reimagine what the Good News could be — using a combination of theological inquiry, personal stories, and heretical retellings of familiar parables. If you are interested in Christianity but don’t want a religion rooted in cognitive dissonance and spiritual shame, this is for you. Join us as we attempt to discover a God who is actually Love and a Gospel that is actually Good News.
Micah J. Murray
Micah is your typical somewhat disillusioned-but-tenaciously-hopeful post-evangelical millennial. He grew up in a weird home school cult, did a brief stint as a missionary in Africa, went to Christian college, got married, had two kids, got divorced, and now goes to therapy a lot and writes angsty stuff on the internet. People tell him all the time that he shouldn’t be a Christian anymore after all the shit he’s experienced in the name of that religion, but by some combination of stubbornness, laziness, and the grace of God, he still claims that faith (most days). Micah lives in Minneapolis with his family, where he makes websites for artists and authors and entrepreneurs and waits (impatiently) for spring. micahjmurray.com
micahjmurray.com
Sessions:
138 God is Not an Asshole (and Other Things I Wish My Church Told Me)
139 Tattoo Stories: Art that Intersects the Spiritual and the Physical
Session #138
Tattoo Stories: Art that Intersects the Spiritual and the Physical
Micah J. Murray & Cody Burton
Sat 11 AM | Library
Tattoos mean a lot of different things to different people. Some commemorate a special place in time, Others are a physical reminders of the emotional or spiritual, but all have a story. In this session you are invited to show off your ink, and share your own story.
Micah J. Murray
Micah is your typical somewhat disillusioned-but-tenaciously-hopeful post-evangelical millennial. He grew up in a weird home school cult, did a brief stint as a missionary in Africa, went to Christian college, got married, had two kids, got divorced, and now goes to therapy a lot and writes angsty stuff on the internet. People tell him all the time that he shouldn’t be a Christian anymore after all the shit he’s experienced in the name of that religion, but by some combination of stubbornness, laziness, and the grace of God, he still claims that faith (most days). Micah lives in Minneapolis with his family, where he makes websites for artists and authors and entrepreneurs and waits (impatiently) for spring. micahjmurray.com
micahjmurray.com
Sessions:
138 God is Not an Asshole (and Other Things I Wish My Church Told Me)
139 Tattoo Stories: Art that Intersects the Spiritual and the Physical
Cody Burton
Operations and Programming Support
Born and raised in North Florida, Cody is a passionate advocate for social justice and full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community within the Church. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado where he is an active member of House For All Sinners and Saints. In 2016 he helped launch and currently runs the website IntersectionsFaith.com where he is a self-proclaimed wannabe blogger and Co-host of the Intersections Podcast. Cody has also assisted in starting Beer & Hymns Jax as well as The Intersections Festival. Cody started as a part of the Wild Goose Festival staff this year handling logistics and operations and looks forward to seeing the festival and the Wild Goose Community continue to grow.
Sessions:
406 A Liturgy for the rest of us (Communion)
139 Tattoo Stories: Art that Intersects the Spiritual and the Physical
Session #139
What’s Your Story?
A session on why knowing your own storyline has the power to change the world, and is just what we need in today’s social climate.
Sarah Heath
Sat 5 PM | Library
We keep hearing about the power of story, but how do we know what parts of our own story are most powerful and how can we use that to effect the world around us? How do we move beyond the mini stories we share on instagram, snapchat, and facebook? In this session we will look at ways to share our own stories as well as how to make space for other’s stories. Pastor, writer, speaker and podcaster Sarah Heath spent a year researching the power of stories and narrative theology for her book “what’s your story? seeing your life through God’s eyes.” She will share how Jospeh Campbell’s heroes journey narrative theory has revolutionized not just the way she sees scripture, but the way she see’s her own life’s storyline.
Sarah Heath
Originally from Canada but spent some time in Southern Mississippi and North Carolina, Sarah currently serves First United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa, California, where she is the lead pastor for a church re-start and revitalization. Sarah has a passion for music, traveling, acting, creating art, playing and watching sports. She is the author of What’s your story? Seeing your life through God’s eyes and host of the podcast Sonderlust the podcast. The biggest blessings in her life are her random assortment of talented friends and her amazing mutt of a dog, Tenor.
www.revsarahheath.com
Sessions:
141 What’s your Story? how can your story change the world.
201 Tony Campolo Interview
Session #141
Crafting Frumpy Theology for a “Gucci Gang” Zeitgeist
Sam Martinez and Bart Patton
Lil Pump’s 2017 hit, “Gucci Gang,” was a smashing success, maxing out at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 and garnering two parodies on Saturday Night Live. But a critical success the song is not. Pump repeats the titular phrase 53 times in his song. It’s a veritable vapid word–or more accurately, syllable–salad of couture brands, drugs, and hating school. Still the tune influences youth and young adults. What does “Gucci Gang” tell us about the spirit of our time? “Frumpy theology” plays with teachings, beliefs, and themes steeped in history, ragamuffin by design, and quotidian in orientation. Beyond a trend, this is the broken-in stuff with staying power. We’re calling for approachable, “wearable” theology–something for everyday life, that is faithfully constant in addressing the real needs of Gen Z. Join us as we ask, answer, and dream: what are key elements to creating comfortable environments for deep, sustaining theological dialogue with young people?
LISTEN
Bart Patton
Bart Patton serves as Director of Youth & Young Adult Ministry Education at Perkins School of Theology, Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas. He has served the church as a preacher, teacher, youth minister, worship leader, writer, and pastor in Texas, Arkansas, and New York for the past 20 years. He is most passionate about teaching, preaching, and writing to resource the local church. His blogs and articles on practical ministry have been featured by Youth Ministry Partners (Abingdon) and HuffPost. His youth ministry curriculum has been published by Youth Ministry Partners (Abingdon). Bart was born and raised in Arkansas, where the Ozark mountains give way to the Mississippi Delta. He learned how to fish on the Little Red, play harmonica on the curbs of Beale, and tell stories on the lap of his great-grandfather, Richard Harley Bartlett. He collects Pez dispensers, foam fingers, vintage Hebrew grammars, great recipes, and Batman comics.
leadingfromlastplace.com
Sessions:
142 Frumpy Theology
Sam Martinez
Sam Martinez recently received an appointment as Assistant Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid at Emory University’s Candler School of Theology and is completing his PhD at Yale University in Religious Studies. The son of a teacher and a Pentecostal pastor, Sam loves the intersection of the academy, the church, and public life, especially after serving in local church ministry for over a decade. A native of Scratch Out, Arkansas, Sam’s lived in Dallas, New Haven, Brooklyn, and New Orleans, and now Atlanta. And he’s equally at home discussing trinitarian metaphysics, playing Gospel tunes on the piano, hunting ducks on an old slough, and listening to Mahler at Lincoln Center.
Sessions:
142 Frumpy Theology
Session #142
Radical Manners: Hosting and Hospitality for Resistance
Sat 4 PM | Greater Things
Sara Green
Started as a collection of recipes, stories and pictures from People of Color invested in liberation, Radical Manners is a traveling gallery that uses Christian narratives of hospitality, storytelling and food sharing to nourish ourselves for the work ahead. This workshop highlights the importance of hospitality as spirit work through conversation and art making.
Sara Green
Sara Green is the Youth and Young Adults of Color Ministry Associate at the Unitarian Universalist Association. She understands her work to be a practice of radical hospitality and embodiment in service of freedom and justice. Often, her ministry looks like putting her hands and heart into organizing for LGBT rights and racial justice. She currently serves on the board of Soulforce and is part of the Black Lives of UU Ministerial Network. As a graduate of Vanderbilt Divinity School, she is excited to make the walls of the church permeable and the reach of social change wide-felt.
https://brownmountaingirl.com/radical-manners/
Sessions:
144 Radical Manners
Session #144
Understanding and Ministering through Life Stories
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 6
Brandon McKoy
We may all acknowledge that stories are central in the formation of our identities, but how? What are life stories? How do we develop them? Dr. Brandon McKoy will walk us through the major elements present in all life stories, and how they develop from childhood through adulthood. Brandon will guide us to briefly share our life stories noting the elements present in how each person chooses to coordinate their life. Once we have a basic understanding of life stories, we will explore how we can use this knowledge to rewrite our own stories, help others dislodge oppressive narratives, enhance our preaching and teaching, and develop stronger connections with those we serve.
Brandon McKoy
Dr. Brandon McKoy serves as Senior Pastor at New Hope Baptist Church in Gastonia, NC, and he is an adjunct instructor at Gardner-Webb University in the department of religious studies and philosophy. His book, Youth Ministry from the Outside In: How Relationships and Stories Shape Identity (InterVarsity Press, 2013) has been used by seminaries and divinity schools world-wide to reimagine ministry practices. Brandon is also an Associate for the Taos Institute—a community of scholarly practitioners who extend social constructionist dialogues into diverse settings. He contributed the chapter Seeing through the Mirror in the book Spirituality, Social Construction, and Relational Processes (Taos Institute Publications, 2017). The book, an edited collection, explores ways that spirituality and social construction, can enrich each other for the benefit of the world. Recently, Brandon has used social constructionism in Charlotte, NC to train upper level law enforcement in relational and communal development.
Sessions:
145 Understanding and Ministering through Life Stories
Session #145
Un-othering the Other: Co-Creating with the Poor
Sat 11 AM | Bridge
Jacqui Buschor
Challenges in poor communities can seem so vast and complex that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed or like nothing we do is really making an impact. But what if one of the biggest barriers to justice for the poor is the baggage we “helpers” drag in and project on those experiencing poverty? Maybe we need to start by learning more about our own discomforts, wounds, and insecurities. Are there ways in which our own anxiety and misperceptions about economic status get in the way of us experiencing the unique gifts and wisdom of those who live on the margins? Join us for an interactive workshop in which we will explore methods of contemplative action so that we learn to honor all our neighbors, understanding that people living in poverty are not objects of our ministry, but are essential partners and co-creators in bringing God’s Kingdom vision into being.
Jacqui Buschor
Jacqui Buschor is a policy advocate, organizer, facilitator, and seminarian from Columbus, Ohio. Ten years ago, she first set foot in the Hilltop neighborhood she now calls home. Since then, she’s lived one adventure after another, living among, learning from, being shaped by, and loving the people who have become her neighbors. In recent years, her greatest passion has been teaching communities of faith to work toward healing and justice, serving each other while honoring the dignity, wisdom, and divine God-spark within us all.
Sessions:
146 Un-Othering the Other
Session #146
What I Am Really Asking For: Sex, Desire and the Raw Truth
Fri 3 PM | Portal
Katie Kinnison
Do we dare tread into the deep places, into the thundering cataracts, into the churning waters and arid wastelands of desire? This Wild Goose experience will begin with searing personal struggle and move to create bold risk-taking among the participants. Can we ask courageous questions? Can we tell the truth about our desire and its effects on us, on those we love, and on the community? Our most intimate desires bear political force into the world and shape reality. Rooted in my own experience as a white heterosexual woman, my exploration is also informed by walking with survivors of sex trafficking, by trying to understand the desire of the Johns, by imbibing the Mystics’ language of desire, and by engaging with the work of bell hooks, Audre Lorde, Luce Irigaray, and many others. We need the eyes of others if we are to see ourselves and the world around us, if we are to touch the face of God. I have been conversing largely with words on the page, now I get to talk with you.
Katie Kinnison
Katie Kinnison started dancing with God at the age of six while waiting at the school bus stop. She has spent her life training in words, giving them breath, incarnating them. Teaching for forty years in one capacity or another, Katie is now a Teaching Elder (pastor) at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Columbus Ohio. The overflowing abundance of her life includes reveling in three glorious daughters and spiritually supporting Judge Herbert’s CATCH program for survivors of human trafficking. Her first book, with the working title of Vibrating Godness and the Walking Wounded, is almost finished, and you can check out her blogs and podcasts at her new website (May 2018) at www.katiekinnison.com
Sessions:
147 Sex, Desire and Truth
157 Godness and the Wounded
Session #147
Immigrant Detention Stories: Personal Stories from Immigrant Prisons
Sat 10 AM | Episcopal
Leeann Culbreath
Immigrant communities are in crisis mode amid record-high arrests, detentions, and deportations. Almost a half-million immigrants and asylum seekers are detained annually in the U.S. in for-profit prisons rife with human rights abuses. Hear stories of immigrants imprisoned in Georgia (performed in reader’s theater style), learn about mass detention, and find out how to support detained persons and their loved ones. We’ll finish by making cards to send to detained persons.Leeann Culbreath is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church and Co-Chair of the South Georgia Immigrant Support Network (SGISN), a grassroots group based in south-central Georgia. SGISN supports detained immigrants and their loved ones through hospitality, friendship, and advocacy. They recently opened Casa Colibri, a hospitality house near Irwin County Detention Center. She is also developing immigrant detention ministry in her diocese and in the wider church.
Session #148
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga for All
Fri 3 PM | Healing Arts
Whitney R. Simpson and Anita Brown
Both the beginner and advanced yoga practitioner are invited to this experiential time as we explore movement and meditation with our whole selves.Trauma-sensitive yoga is an opportunity to practice yoga in a safe environment and increase your body awareness. The focus of this practice honors and acknowledges the trauma that our bodies have experienced (both large and small) with mindful breathing, purposeful movement, and simple meditation techniques. The purpose of trauma-sensitive yoga is to offer a safe space to connect with your body. Explore this practice with trained instructors who are passionate about yoga and meditation as part of the healing journey, as an integral part of faith. Hear some of their healing journeys and embrace your own in the process. This session is for all body shapes and sizes (the ability to get up and down off the ground is helpful, yet modifications will also be offered). If you have a yoga mat or beach towel with you, please bring it along.
Whitney Simpson
A stroke at age 31 forced Whitney to slow down and listen more deeply to her body. In the process she discovered how to listen more deeply to God. Over a decade later, Whitney’s healing journey led her to author Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit. Through her work as as a spiritual director and retreat facilitator, she incorporates yoga and other ancient tools, encouraging the sacred connection of breath, body, and spirit. Whitney completed certification in spiritual formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and is a 500-hour certified yoga instructor. She is the founder of Exploring Peace, offering soul care resources for exploring the gift of God’s peace with the whole self. Whitney lives with her family in Tennessee and can be found online at www.ExploringPeace.com. Good books, the great outdoors, hot tea, dark chocolate, and the Trinity are good for her soul. www.exploringpeace.com
www.exploringpeace.com
Sessions:
149 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
153 Exploring Breath Prayer
#436 Youth – Exploring Breath Prayer for Healing
Anita Brown
Anita Grace Brown live in NJ with her husband and golden retriever, Sierra while her children are off balancing work hard/party hard at Syracuse U. As a yoga teacher she’s quite proud of this work life harmony they are already exhibiting!! A few months ago Anita birthed her Jesus Yoga podcast “It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere!” and has been excited to share embodiment and breath tools in her home church as well. She’s honored to be back offering all-levels morning body prayer at WG for the 4th consecutive year! You can also find her at this year’s healing arts tent assisting with trauma sensitive offerings and a place to find deep rest and release from stress. She’s been healed of decades of chronic PMDD and IBS among other lesser ailments thanks to the pranic balancing that comes with her unique East meets West practices.
Smilingheartyoga.org
It’s 5 o’clock Somewhere Podcast
Sessions:
54 Reconciliation Yoga: A Fresh approach to body prayer
149 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
Session #149
Radical Welcome: Queering Institutional Habits and Holdouts
Fri 5 PM | Portal
Vanderbilt Divinity School
The demographics of our organizations, churches, and schools are increasingly diverse and complex, especially when it comes to a spectrum of gender and sexuality. Yet many institutions still hold on to practices that marginalize the very populations they profess to include. From bathrooms to classrooms and everything in between, this session will equip participants with real strategies to help transform their institutions into places of radical welcome from the inside out. Along the way, we’ll also explore ways to navigate roadblocks and avoid burnout.
Amy Steele
Amy Elizabeth Steele is Assistant Dean for Student Life at the Vanderbilt University Divinity School.
Rev. Dr. Steele is a frequent lecturer on and off campus, teaching often on the works of 20th-century mystic Howard Thurman. Her current book project Howard Thurman and the Art of Meaning explores the theoretical contributions in Thurman’s mystical aesthetic, a trope she developed to name the religious encounter and the deeply aesthetic aspects of Thurman’s rhetoric and practice. She frequently leads sessions on spiritual formation and facilitates gatherings on intersectional diversity and community life.
She earned both the MDiv (2000) and the Ph.D. (2012) from Vanderbilt Divinity and Vanderbilt University Graduate Department of Religion (Ethics and Society), respectively. She is ordained in the National Baptist Convention (February 2001) and is currently serving as an Associate Pastor at Cornerstone United Methodist Church. She is the mother of Isaiah, an 8th grader and budding historian.
https://divinity.vanderbilt.edu/about/purposes.php
Sessions:
150 Radical Welcome
Damien Domenack
Damien Domenack is pursuing a Master of Divinity degree at Vanderbilt University. He is the President of the Latinx Seminarians, and is a staff member of the LGBTQI Life Center at Vanderbilt. Damien is a founding member of Audre Lorde Project’s TransJustice in NYC, Damien collectively organized the first ever Trans Day of Action for Social and Economic Justice in New York City. Damien is a prison abolitionist and former Chapter Coordinator and media strategist for Critical Resistance-NYC. Damien served as a Community Partner to “States of Incarceration,” a contribution to The New School’s Humanities Action Lab, which will exhibit in Nashville in spring 2019.
Sessions:
150 Radical Welcome
Session #150
Hearing Your Call and Listening
Sat 11 AM | Episcopal
Episcopal Service Corps
A key part of a service year with Episcopal Service Corps is helping young people discern their call going forward. While ESC’s focus is on 21 to 28-year-olds, figuring out how to live into God’s call doesn’t stop in our twenties. Indeed, current events have created a national dynamic where many are recognizing the need to do more than bring home a paycheck — they want to contribute toward building the Beloved Community either through a different type of work or deeper involvement in justice and equity issues. Using models from Johnson Service Corps and The Abraham Project, North Carolina’s Episcopal Service Corps affiliates, this workshop offers space to draw nearer to where you may be called next.
Aleta Payne
Aleta Payne is Executive Director of Johnson Service Corps, a diverse, ecumenical community of young adults committed to social justice, spiritual growth, and community living in Chapel Hill and Durham, NC and an affiliate of the Episcopal Service Corps. Prior to joining the staff of JSC, Aleta spent 16 years with the NC Council of Churches working on issues of justice, equity, and peace through a progressive faith lens.
www.johnsonservicecorps.org
Sessions:
151 Hearing Your Call
Becky Johnston
Becky Waldrup Johnston currently serves as the Program Director at The Abraham Project in Winston-Salem, NC. She landed in this role after winding her way through life as a full-time Baptist Minister, a College Minister in a Presbyterian Church, and now finds her worshipping home at St. Timothy’s Episcopal Church. Becky spends her days hanging out with her two girls, one husband, and two dogs… And finds bizarre enjoyment from using a paper, old-school planner. (Feel free to come by her “Do Good.” RV site for some coffee or s’mores.)
Sessions:
151 Episcopal Service Corps
Session #151
Deacons: Comforting the Afflicted and Afflicting the Comfortable
Fri 1 PM | Episcopal
Rev. Deacon Leeann Culbreath
Most mainline Christian denominations ordain deacons to serve in ministries of justice, compassion, and mercy. In this panel discussion, deacons from different denominations will share stories from their ministries and discuss how the renewal of the diaconate impacts the future of the church. They will then lead the group a Stations of Justice prayer procession around the tent.Leeann CulbreathLeeann is an ordained deacon in the Episcopal Church (Diocese of Georgia) and Co-Chair of the South Georgia Immigrant Support Network (SGISN), a grassroots humanitarian group based in south-central Georgia. SGISN supports detained immigrants and their loved ones through hospitality, friendship, and advocacy. She also leads Creation care ministry in her diocese and advocates for eco-justice in Georgia and beyond. With her husband and two sons, she enjoys outdoor adventures and backyard homesteading.
Stacey Harwell-Dye
Stacey Harwell-Dye is trying to figure out the best ways churches can be good neighbors in their community. As a United Methodist deacon, Stacey stands with one foot in the church and one foot in the world, building bridges and connecting the two. She lives in Savannah, Georgia with her spouse Jonathan Harwell-Dye and dog Colby who teaches her about God’s love. She’s committed to God’s vision of shalom, figuring out how the church can be the church particularly in the areas of immigration, anti-racism, and anti-poverty. Stacey works at Trinity United Methodist Church downtown, as an Asset Based Community Development Consultant for churches, and as a disaster case manager for people recovering from Hurricanes Matthew & Irma.
Sessions:
152 Deacon Panel Discussion
Session #152
Exploring Breath Prayer: for Meditation and Healing
Sat 4 PM | Healing Arts
Whitney R. Simpson
This meditation experience invites you to participate in group breath work and explore the ancient practice of breath prayer in community. During this session, you will be invited to participate in breath work exercises, learn more about healthy breathing for the body, explore the ancient practice of breath prayer, and be invited to create and practice your very own breath prayer for your healing journey. You will also be invited to hear the story of how Whitney began practicing breath prayer the day of her stroke, inside an MRI machine, on her birthday in 2004. If you have breath in your lungs and a desire for healing on your journey, join Whitney for this transformative meditation practice. Chairs will be provided or you may wish to bring a yoga mat or beach towel to sit on the earth for this experiential session.
Whitney Simpson
A stroke at age 31 forced Whitney to slow down and listen more deeply to her body. In the process she discovered how to listen more deeply to God. Over a decade later, Whitney’s healing journey led her to author Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit. Through her work as as a spiritual director and retreat facilitator, she incorporates yoga and other ancient tools, encouraging the sacred connection of breath, body, and spirit. Whitney completed certification in spiritual formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and is a 500-hour certified yoga instructor. She is the founder of Exploring Peace, offering soul care resources for exploring the gift of God’s peace with the whole self. Whitney lives with her family in Tennessee and can be found online at www.ExploringPeace.com. Good books, the great outdoors, hot tea, dark chocolate, and the Trinity are good for her soul. www.exploringpeace.com
www.exploringpeace.com
Sessions:
149 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
153 Exploring Breath Prayer
#436 Youth – Exploring Breath Prayer for Healing
Session #153
Conversations With Silas: Raising The Next Generation
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 3
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 3
Tony & Silas Caldwell
Come along with Tony and Silas, age 10, as their father/son journeys take them to the site of the Emmett Till murder and trial, to bear witness to predatory lending institutions, confederate symbolism, and other social ills in the Mississippi Delta; and culminate in 10 year old Silas recognizing and addressing systemic gender inequality on a university campus. This session provides examples of how parents can empower children by: tapping into their natural tendencies towards empathy and compassion, giving them opportunities to practice these innate characteristics, and guiding them in recognizing, processing, and addressing social injustice at age appropriate levels in the context of a larger hope. During this developmentally crucial time, we can not only “teach our children well” but “become as little children” ourselves in the process. Raising “woke” children is possibly our greatest opportunity to participate in the Kingdom of God here and now.
Tony Caldwell
Tony Caldwell is a Professor of Social Work at the University of Mississippi, a Jungian psychotherapist in private practice, an activist, and a member of the Red Letter Christian Network. Tony has partnered with The Human Rights Campaign, the W.W. Kellogg Foundation, The William Winter Institute For Racial Reconciliation, the Southern Poverty Law Center, The Levi Strauss Co., and the Toyota Corporation among others. He and his colleague, Dr. Jandel Crutchfield, have enjoyed success in their grassroots Together Projects promoting interracial and interfaith dialogue around issues of race, privilege, and justice across the state of Mississippi. He is currently leading The Underground Church, a reconciling faith community, in Oxford, Ms. and conducting research linking the nation’s poorest health outcomes in the Mississippi Delta to transgenerational trauma related to slavery, segregation, poverty, and marginalization. Tony writes frequently for RLC and many other publications. See more at: www.tonycaldwell.net
www.tonycaldwell.net
Sessions:
154 Conversations With Silas: Raising The Next Generation
67 The Spiritual Price Of Confederate Symbolism
Silas Caldwell
Silas Caldwell is a follower of Christ who is compelled by his faith to address issues of inequality and injustice in the world. As a budding astrophysicist he aspires to a little bit like Neil deGrasse Tyson and a whole lot like Jesus. Silas plays violin and also has a rock band in which he sings and plays bass guitar. Silas is an NBA enthusiast. He loves his dog Scout and video games. Silas is bold and cautious, imaginative and thoughtful, creative and empathic, sensitive and independent. He embraces it all and encourages others to do the same.
Sessions:
154 Conversations With Silas: Raising The Next Generation
Session #154
Some Time Apart for Burned Out Teachers, Preachers & Activist Creatures
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 7
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 7
Julie McElmurry and Rev. Amy Vaughan
Enjoy tea and oranges and relax with us awhile. We’ll let the words of Thomas Merton, from his short writing “Letter to a Young Activist” encourage us to be liberated from being results-driven, to realize our work is not our identity and that we can “be less crushed” by the good work we do in our lives. Amy and Julie will guide us through a short, outdoor quiet time to reflect on Merton’s words and to be refreshed and rejuvenated. We’ll leave this special time together with new ideas about ourselves as teachers, preachers and activist creatures.
Julie McElmurry
Having led retreats and workshops in Spanish and English since 2010, Julie also makes documentaries about women religious (a.k.a. nuns), directs The Charlotte Film School and loves connecting people with each other. Encountering burnout sensitized her to the need for many to take some time apart from daily life to rest, reflect and reevaluate.
www.franciscanpassages.org
http://revamy.org/about
Sessions:
155 Some Time Apart
Session #155
Vibrating Godness and the Walking Wounded
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 3
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 3
Katie Kinnison
What if Paradise is right here and our wounds are keeping us from it? Forget talk of sin. Forget judgment. Here is Original Grace and compassion for the traumatized. I will use story to show how bringing compassion to personal wounds can transform our understanding of cultural powers and principalities that crush bodies and souls. Entering the story of my parents’ wounds with our minds sharp and our hearts tender, we can use the insights gained there to better understand our ongoing racial tragedies and the deep pain we can and must heal. You see, the political is personal. We bring our personhood into the political space. Collectively, and as individuals, we bring our wounds into public discourse, into policy making, into our “rational” commitments and explanations. We can bring healing there, too, with the Spirit of God vibrating within and animating us all.
Katie Kinnison
Katie Kinnison started dancing with God at the age of six while waiting at the school bus stop. She has spent her life training in words, giving them breath, incarnating them. Teaching for forty years in one capacity or another, Katie is now a Teaching Elder (pastor) at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Columbus Ohio. The overflowing abundance of her life includes reveling in three glorious daughters and spiritually supporting Judge Herbert’s CATCH program for survivors of human trafficking. Her first book, with the working title of Vibrating Godness and the Walking Wounded, is almost finished, and you can check out her blogs and podcasts at her new website (May 2018) at www.katiekinnison.com
Sessions:
147 Sex, Desire and Truth
157 Godness and the Wounded
Session #157
Raising Bad-Ass, Jesus-Loving Kids
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 6
Kirsten and Brian Miller
When the Miller family had three teenage girls, they left suburban America to move to the Middle East in response to the Syrian Civil War. As a family, they navigated shifting faith and doing hard things. In this interactive discussion, they will explore the themes of raising socially conscious kids who are resilient, seek justice, and are committed to deep spirituality. This workshop is ideal for parents who may have been raised in the fundamental church and are now looking for ways to foster spiritual formation in new ways. If you are eager to see your kids care deeply about the world and foster in them a refreshed faith, without control or religiosity, come and participate in the lively discussion. There won’t be easy answers, but together we can support each other on this journey.Kirsten Miller is a clinical psychotherapist and Licensed Clinical Social Worker. Over the span of 25 years, her practice has focused on parenting, mood disorders, adolescent trauma and spirituality. Brian is a humanitarian, having served in housing ministries in Chicago and Atlanta and having led a large relief response through churches in Syria and Iraq. They are now based in Madison, WI and have three daughters, aged 17-22 who are activists and musicians.
Kirsten & Brian Miller
When the Miller family had three teenage girls, they left suburban America to move to the Middle East in response to the Syrian Civil War. As a family, they navigated shifting faith and doing hard things.
In this interactive discussion, they will explore the themes of raising socially conscious kids who are resilient, seek justice, and are committed to deep spirituality. This workshop is ideal for parents who may have been raised in the fundamental church and are now looking for ways to foster spiritual formation in new ways. If you are eager to see your kids care deeply about the world and foster in them a refreshed faith, without control or religiosity, come and participate in the lively discussion. There won’t be easy answers, but together we can support each other on this journey.
www.livingwellinternational.net
Sessions:
158 Raising Bad-Ass, Jesus-Loving Kids
Session #158
Silent Disco 2018
DJ Ben Wright
Thu 11:15 PM, Fri & Sat at Midnight | Library
After a day of existential aeronautics, joining the joys of justice journeying, art appreciating, and dirt on your feet; mash that dirt into life-giving clay with this year’s late-night dance party: Silent Disco 2018 mixed by returning DJ Ben Wright. Step off the soapbox and strap on the headphones for a night of musical emancipation as you dance among a flock of sibling geese! Silent Disco 2018.
Ben Wright
Back once again is Goose’s favorite house DJ Ben Wright. Ben lives in Southside Virginia where he infotains primary school students as the Immersive Experiences Coordinator for the Danville Science Center. Baptist bred and Wake Div. ed., Ben also teaches as adjunct faculty for Apex School of Theology and Averett University. He has been altering audio since 1997 and identifies Electronic, Old Skool, and Funk as his preferred genres. Ben travels life with wife Rebecca, stepson Brandon, and adorable hedgehogs Ula and Billie Holiday.
djbenwright.com
Sessions:
159 Silent Disco 2018
Session #159
Accessing Your Full Voice for the Greater Good
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 5
Travis McAfee
What untapped gifts do our voices have in store for us? What might happen in our lives and in the world around us if we fully express our true selves? How often are we given permission to play hard, breathe deep, cut loose, or feel free? In this engaging, creative, and interactive workshop, we will explore our vocal landscapes to experience how voice connects us to deeper levels of ourselves and to the healing world of sound. During the session, we will:
- Open up the full range, power, and expression of our voices
- Learn how to use voice to sharpen our intentions, strengthen relationships, and live more alive
- Reclaim lost aspects of ourselves
- Risk being seen and heard in new ways
- Bring our truest voices to the intersecting circles in which we live and serve
*NOTE-Participants do NOT need to know how to sing. There will be singing involved, but we won’t read a lick of music and no one will have to sing a solo. In fact, no one will have to do anything they don’t want to do.
Travis McAfee
Travis McAfee is a Full Voice coach, singer and vocal improviser. As a fourth generation musician and voice teacher, his passion is to facilitate the exploration and expansion of the human voice. Using the Full Voice Five Elements Framework he supports people in learning how to access the full power and expression of their voice in service to their own work and relationships.
After 12 years on the road with East-West fusion band Aradhna, he now cherishes the constancy of life in Atlanta parenting a small entourage with his wife, Liz.
travismcafeevoice.com
Sessions:
160 Accessing Your Full Voice for the Greater Good
Session #160
Feeding Hungry Kids Is Simple. Promise.
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 1
Lillian Boeskool
While gathering food from South Nashville neighbors to send to a friend across town feeding hungry kids in schools in East Nashville, Lillian thought, “I wonder if there are any hungry kids in our school?” With over 50% of students at her children’s elementary on Free and Reduced Lunch, chances were pretty good. Starting small, and with very few operation guidelines or partners, she and a few friends gave this idea a try for the last 5 weeks of school. Five years later, they have expanded to their middle school as well, and hope to add an additional elementary this fall. This seed has encouraged others in their area to begin as well, and several hundred kids are getting food every weekend that they would have otherwise not had. You may not be someone with a big name or a lot of resources, but starting a program of any sort can actually be more simple than you realize. Come and hear about how this program began and is structured, and be inspired to start something small but important!
Lillian Boeskool
Lillian Boeskool is a part-time photographer who has an addiction to Nashville Hot Chicken and volunteering in her kids’ schools. She is a firm believer in investing in your local community with your time as well as your talents. Lillian has served on several local education-related committees and boards, and is currently a member of the Nashville Public Education Foundation’s Parent Council, in conjunction with the Mayor’s Office. She just finished her term as the World’s Okayest PTA President, and if that isn’t impressive to you, she dares you to give it a try. She is a Enneagram Social 8 with a very patient Enneagram 4 husband, and 3 kids who are seriously funnier than you.
Sessions:
162 Feeding Hungry Kids Is Simple. Promise.
Session #162
Christo-Shamanic Anointing CeremonyWelcoming You, Recognizing Your Gifts and Callings, and Sending You Forth to Do What You are Meant to Do in the World!
Fri 5 PM | Healing Arts
Pastor Nar Martinez
Anointing is an ancient sacred practice wherein people, places, or objects are blessed and consecrated. The ritual of anointing has been practiced for many thousands of years by most all the world’s major spiritual traditions and religions.Anointing has historically served as least three functions: for comfort, health, and healing; as a token of hospitality, honor, and recognition of status or calling; and consecration for a sacred use and purpose. Oils infused with fragrant plant essences were poured or rubbed onto the body or object being anointed. This will be a space where we gather to implement the three functions of anointing: a space of healing and comfort mediated through the Anointing Oil and Sacred Touch; an environment of hospitality and honor, recognizing the unique gifts and callings of those who gather; and a time of consecration, speaking words of Spirit and Life over those present, and finally, sending them forth to carry out their purpose in the world.
Nar Martinez
Healing Arts
Rev. Narcizo Martinez – known to many as ‘Pastor Nar’ – is a Mexican-American currently residing in Ohio. Growing up in a bi-racial household, he learned to appreciate the unique gifts offered through his differing familial cultures. He understands the struggles and beauty of integrating multiple cultures in his life story.
This celebration of opposites applies not only to his heritage, but also to his spirituality. After coming to faith during the Jesus Movement, he traversed through many different expressions of community. He is a lover and follower of Jesus, a mystic, as well as a practicing Shaman. The thread that holds this eclectic mix together is his belief in the Great Spirit that has expressed itself at all times, in all cultures, and through all people.
Nar is a healer – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He is also an experienced ritual and ceremony creator who utilizes the ancient praxis of the Medicine Wheel, Sacred Touch, Essential Oil Anointing / Massage.
AmazingHumansBeing.com
Sessions:
163 Christo-Shamanic Anointing Ceremony
291 Medicine Wheel Mandala
Session #163
Enduring Spirituality: Exploring The The Ways That Discipline & Practice Generate Vital Spirituality That Lasts
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 5
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 5
Rev. Ben Collins
Belief is easy, but at some point we have to actually do what we want to do. If I asked you to do a 140 mile race tomorrow, you’d think I was crazy, even if I asked you try really hard and gave you gatorade and cliff bars. You know intuitively that endurance is a matter of training, not just of trying hard. As a 3 time Ironman Triathlete and coach, I’ve come to realize the value of training and the deception of “trying”. But when it comes to spirituality, we often live in our heads, believe things, then “try” to live our values and convictions. We have lost the ancient sacred value of practice and discipline… training. I’d like to spend some time and engage the crowd in conversation around the difference between the trying and training in life and formation, facilitating conversation around the trinity of endurance athletics and of spirituality: find a teacher (coach), find a practice( training plan), find a community (training group).
Ben Collins
Reverend Ben Collins is a spiritual entrepreneur, starting and innovating work in the United Methodist Church as well as consulting beyond denominational frameworks. Having founded multiple congregations, most recently Collective Church in Central FL, he continues reimagining the future of wholistic spiritual community. He has served as an adjunct Professor of Religious Studies at Stetson University, Hospice Chaplain, Campus Minister, and Triathlon Team Coach. Ben is passionate about religious pluralism, diversity and inclusion, and issues of social justice. His 3 year old son Huck and 6 year old daughter June are his life. When he isn’t working or enjoying his kids, Ben is a musician, ultra endurance athlete, coach, consultant, writer and speaker. Ben loves to laugh!
www.wearecollectivechurch.com
Sessions:
164 Enduring Spirituality
Session #164
Musical Performance: Kate Hurley
Fri 3 PM | Café
With influences like Patty Griffin and Tori Amos, Kate’s spiritual singer/ songwriter music will remind you that you are deeply loved. An Enter the Worship Circle Artist, Kate’s performances mix together spiritual roots and story telling. Her last album Sing Over Me was a concept album in which the songs were written from God’s perspective as if he was singing them to you. You may get to see her one-of-a-kind ability to play hammered dulcimer and piano at the same time, or sing a “song on the spot” where she spontaneously writes a song for someone in the audience.
LISTEN
Kate Hurley
Kate Hurley is a singer-songwriter, worship leader, writer, and teacher based out of Asheville, NC. She traveled the world for fourteen years sharing her music and stories. She has played everywhere from castles in Germany to slums in India to 30,000 people hippie gatherings. She was a writer and performer with Enter the Worship Circle for several years. She has created six solo albums and is on several other compilation albums, including Enter the Worship Circle: Third Circle. She has written two books, Cupid is a Procrastinator: Making Sense of the Unexpected Single Life and the upcoming Inside Story: Bringing Peace of Mind to All the Pieces of Your Mind. This summer she will be making a live worship album called Kate Hurley and a Bunch Of Hippies Sing Freedom Songs. She is extremely interested in living in intentional communities and has lived in several communities around the country. She is hoping to help plant an intentional community in Asheville.
katehurley.com
Sessions:
165 Musical Performance: Kate Hurley
Session #165
Karma, Dharma, & the Importance of Self Awareness
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 4
Kara Hayslip
“Remember this: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously” (2 Corinthians 9:6-15). If we claim God is in you, within me, and throughout all of life, we may be more deeply connected than we realize. Come learn how Hindus believe we are all connected within their systems of karma and dharma. In other words, how we reap what we sow. It may just challenge you to fulfill your innate duty and help further our Universal purpose.
Karma, Dharma, & the Importance of Self Awareness :Karma, in the Hindu context, is a system of cause and effect which explains why people are born into certain situations and how one’s actions contribute to their future (whether in this life or the next). In other words, you reap what you sow. However, karmic justice is not sown by an outside creator, but accomplished through the connectivity of reactions within this Universe. Dharma, in the Hindu context, is one’s duty or virtue. We are all born with specific abilities. To fulfill ones dharma, or purpose, is to utilize those specific gifts in order to assist in the Universal liberation of all beings. Through self awareness we can understand our karma & discover our dharma.Come learn how Hindus believe we are all connected within their systems of karma and dharma. It may just challenge you to accept your karma, fulfill your innate duty and help further our Universal purpose.
kara hayslip
Kara Hayslip received her Master’s of Divinity from McAfee School of Theology in 2014. After graduating, she traveled continuously from the United States to Nepal. After the Gorkha Earthquake in 2015, she moved to Nepal and started Backpacking 4 Betty, an organization geared towards empowering people and promoting growth through health education. Over the last 2.5 years, the organization has continued to grow into other programs to serve students and locals. If you can’t find her in the States, she will most likely be in Pokhara, Nepal either paragliding or grooming her adopted street dog.
www.backpacking4betty.org
Sessions:
167 Karma, Dharma, & the Importance of Self Awareness
Session #167
Pop-Up People’s Supper – Bridging & Healing in an age of Loneliness
Micky ScottBey Jones – The Justice Doula
Sat 5 PM | Living Room
You are invited to a BYOS* workshop that is part “pop up” People’s Supper with storytelling connection and part training so you can go home and host your own! What has Micky and her team learned from supporting over 1,000 suppers and over 4,000 people (including folks like the Obamas, Prince Harry and everyday people in their kitchens) in sitting down to bridge and heal over a meal? We’ve learned a lot about storytelling, empathy and connection and now Wild Goosers can take this tool back to their communities! *Bring Your Own Supper – yes, feel free to bring food and drink to enjoy during the workshop!
Micky ScottBey Jones
Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is a mama-activist-contemplative-healer-holy-disrupter who believes in throwing parties as a key revolutionary strategy. She loves bringing people together to explore brave space, awaken empathy and fight oppression. Micky is the Director of Healing Justice with Faith Matters Network and is a core team member with The People’s Supper who has gathered more than 4,000 people around tables since the 2016 election for bridging and healing conversations.
mickyscottbeyjones.com
Sessions:
168 Pop-Up People’s Supper
354 Micky ScottBey Jones & Panel
391 A Conversation with Micky ScottBey Jones
404 Voices in the Divide
Session #168
Faith-Rooted Organizing: Drawing Deep from the Wells of our Faith to do Justice in our Communities and World
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra with Jarrod McKenna
Fri 11 AM | Main Stage
Many of us want to change the unjust systems around us but we lack the tools — and prevailing secular models give us spiritual indigestion. This workshop will teach tools rooted in the deep wells of our faith to bring more shalom into our community and society
Alexandra Salvatierra
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World (Intervarsity Press). She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational and community organizing and legislative advocacy. She is an affiliate professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct at four other academic institutions. In addition to coordinating the Guardian Angels Project and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association. She is a national leader in immigrant justice, co-founder of the New Sanctuary Movement, the Evangelical Immigration Table and M25 (Matthew 25/Mateo 25).
http://www.alexiasalvatierra.com/
Sessions:
169 Faith-Rooted Organizing
170 M25 – Creating Immigrant Justice
383 Alexa Salvatierra
Session #169
M25 – a new model for protecting and defending our vulnerable immigrant neighbors
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra
Sat 5 PM | Workshop
Our immigration system is broken and it is breaking apart families and ruining dreams. M25 is a new model for accompanying and advocating for immigrant families caught in the broken system.
Alexandra Salvatierra
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World (Intervarsity Press). She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational and community organizing and legislative advocacy. She is an affiliate professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct at four other academic institutions. In addition to coordinating the Guardian Angels Project and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association. She is a national leader in immigrant justice, co-founder of the New Sanctuary Movement, the Evangelical Immigration Table and M25 (Matthew 25/Mateo 25).
http://www.alexiasalvatierra.com/
Sessions:
169 Faith-Rooted Organizing
170 M25 – Creating Immigrant Justice
383 Alexa Salvatierra
Session #170
Reiki Introduction and Healing Meditation
Sat 10 AM | Healing Arts
What is Reiki? You may have heard of this spiritual practice that can promote healing and stress reduction, but what’s the deal? In this session, we’ll explore some basics of Reiki – where it originated, how it’s often practiced, and examples of Reiki’s place in a few people’s spiritual journeys. Then we’ll have the chance to meditate together and welcome the energy of compassion to surround us and flow through us, to help us be instruments of peace here at Wild Goose and in the rest of our lives. No prior experience is necessary – just bring your curiosity and openness!
Session #171
Using Talking Circles to Nurture Communication and Understanding Across Divides
Fri 4 PM | River
Scott Bass
Talking Circles are a simple process for creating a brave space for all to speak, be heard, be valued & listen deeply. Circles have been used for centuries to build community, resolve conflicts & nurture connections. You are invited to experience a Talking Circle & learn how you might use this process back home. Bring yourself, what is stirring for you at WGF, & whatever else is on your mind & take advantage of this opportunity to encounter your best self in relationship with others. Scott Bass has more than a decade of experience with Circles & brings extensive experience as a group facilitator & as a therapist with individuals, couples & families. He is passionate about building a more just, compassionate & whole world by cultivating sacred connections. Scott provides therapy, consulting with groups to build community & nurture inclusivity, does public speaking & group facilitation, & works with a North Carolina nonprofit to enhance services for those harmed by violence.
Scott Bass
Scott Bass is passionate about building a more just, compassionate and whole world. Scott lives in Raleigh, North Carolina where he works as a family therapist and also offers spiritual direction, coaching, workshops, retreats and consulting. Current projects include working with a non-profit to deepen inclusivity and working with a faith community to nurture meaningful communication about racial and political differences. Scott also works as Director of Victim Services for the nonprofit North Carolina Victim Assistance Network. He is a passionate advocate for Restorative Justice Practices, such as Circle Processes. He is married to Marcelle Clowes. They have 15-year-old twin humans and two cats.
www.nc-van.org
www.capitalrestorativejustice.org
Sessions:
172 Talking Circles: Nurturing Communication Across Divides
Tyrone Greenlee
Tyrone Greenlee is an Asheville native. He received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is a community activist who currently serves on the boards of Just Economics of Western North Carolina, Green Opportunities, and Hands and Feet of Asheville. Tyrone has volunteered for many years with the Building Bridges of Asheville organization. He has formerly served on the boards of The Mediation Center, The Asheville City Schools Foundation, The North Carolina Stage Company, and the Western North Carolina AIDS Project. Tyrone works as a mentor and mediator at the Francine Delany New School for Children Charter School in Asheville. He also serves as the Director of Christians for a United Community, a coalition of churches which has worked to dismantle racism and the disparities caused by racism for over ten years in the Asheville Community. Tyrone is also a member of the New Mount Olive Missionary Baptist Church where he serves as a member of the Deacons, Youth and Music Ministries.
Sessions:
172 Talking Circles: Nurturing Communication Across Divides
Session #172
A World Without Walls/ Un Mundo Sin Muros
Fri 1 PM | River
Congregants at Calvary Baptist Church in Washington, D.C.
After the year we’ve endured together, we wanted to offer some of the stories we’ve been sharing together at Calvary, stories of faithful Christians who have had to stomach talk of walls, who have awaited outcomes on DACA and TPS, and who have heard the person with the highest office in this country call them criminals. This summer during one of our worship series, we spent several months making a pretty simple claim together: that all of Scripture is one big story about immigration, displacement, and return. We wanted to share how our life together helps us imagine “Un Mundo Sin Muros/ A World Without Walls.”
Calvary Baptist Church
Calvary Baptist Church strives to be an ecumenical, multiracial, and multiethnic community of faith. This is not an abstract commitment for us: about third of our worshipping congregation is Spanish-speaking, many originally from El Salvador. For several years, a number of these congregants have been attending the WGF, engaging even as language provides a certain barrier to full engagement.
www.calvarydc.org
Sessions:
174 A World Without Walls/ Un Mundo Sin Muros
Session #174
Finding Ourselves in the Rhythm: Drumming, Spirituality, Culture, and Power.
Sat 2 PM | River
Matt Meyer
A chance for people of all skill levels to participate in hands-on rhythm-making. We’ll tour instruments from around the world and experience the connection of community music-making through different activities, stories, and discussions. We’ll also look at how rhythm and music intersect with culture, race, and power. Bring your own drum if you have one- for those who don’t, we’ll provide extras.
Matthew Meyer
Matt Meyer is an itinerant worship leader and community organizer. He graduated from Berklee College of Music in 2004, where he studied hand drumming and world music. During that time, he also studied abroad in Cuba, Ghana, and Central America. Since then, Matt has led music and worship for hundreds of services in congregations all over the country.
He has been a keynote speaker and worship leader for conferences and seminaries around the country. He is a founding worship leader current Director of Operations for Sanctuary Boston, a contemporary worship community in Boston and is also a founding board member and resident of the Lucy Stone Cooperative, an intentional community and center for social justice based in the values and tradition of Unitarian Universalism.
Matt is honored to have performed with Ysaye Barnwell (of Sweet Honey in the Rock), Pete Seeger, Emma’s Revolution, Peter Mayer, Jim Scott, Nick Page, The Halalisa Singers, Samba Tremeterra, and Bloco de Afrobrazil.
rhythmrevelations.com
Sessions:
175 Drumming and Spirituality
Session #175
Setting a Bigger Table: Fighting for Justice Without Pushing People Around
Sat 11 AM | River
Ron Ruthruff
The way we treat the person we love the least is the way we love God the most. So how then do we extend hospitality and do justice in a world of privilege, power and religious refuge? Participants will engage with the gospel of Luke’s model of table fellowship as a map towards a symbiotic hospitality, learning to live in open space of justice, mercy and humility.
Ron Ruthruff
Ron is Associate Professor of Theology and Culture at The Seattle School of Theology and Psychology. He is the anchor professor for Global and Social Partnerships. Ron is ordained clergy with the Street Psalms Community and works in their Resource Center providing care, training, and support for grassroots urban leaders serving youth and families in hard places around the world. His education is a blend of social work, counseling, and theological studies, including a doctorate of ministry in complex urban settings from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. For 27 years, Ron, with his wife Linda, served marginalized communities and street-involved youth. They live in the Rainier Valley, a multicultural neighborhood in Seattle, WA, and have two sons, Ben and Clayton. Ron loves motorcycles, cities, and Americana music. Ron and Linda’s mission is to equip individuals to lead lives of purpose, to empower faith communities to love their neighbors, and to engage communities in cross-cultural and global conversations.
https://theseattleschool.edu/faculty-staff/directory/ruthruff-ron/
Sessions:
176 Setting a Bigger Table
Session #176
Goose Group – Open 12 Step Recovery: AA, NA, GA, SLAA and OA .
Thu 6 PM | River
Dillon C.
Honoring recovery traditions and Group Conscience from years past, we will be using the 12 Steps as first put forth in “Alcoholics Anonymous” in a slightly modified version to share experience, strength and hope with each other across the recovery spectrum in open discussion during each session. It is hoped that other meeting facilitators will ‘step up’ to lead some of the sessions just like you would at your home group. We are influenced with gratitude by the flexibility and fluidity of the Wharf Rat recovery movement that originated with the Grateful Dead. Our purpose is to grow Spiritually – to grow in our relationship with the Divinity of our understanding.
Dillon C
An anonymous bio should be a fun assignment. After all, the second A in AA is ‘Anonymous’, yet how can we be of assistance if people can’t even tell we’re in ‘the program’? I made the ‘offer’ to host ’12 Step Recovery’ since I have experienced AA, NA, GA, SLAA, and OA .. however the Goose decides to fly the flag is fine by me .. as long as I’ve got a meeting! Since this IS Wild Goose, I come to serve .. food and Spirit .. so if you are trying to find me other than at meeting times, a good start would be to look for the purple glasses in the tent or behind the scenes at One Heart Café. I can’t bring my cat Thay to the Goose, but the reunions when I pick him up at the ‘Cat Condo’ make it OK! If you find the talk I walk something you’d like to dig into deeper, look up Ashe Unity Group at BooneAA.org .. I average five of our six meetings per week. Remember, it’s all One Day At A Time!
Sessions:
177 Goose Group Recovery
Session #177
Brew Theology
Sat 2 PM | Landing
Ryan-Miller & Janel Apps Ramsey
Wanna Brew Theology? Do you like wrestling with meaningful questions over theological topics? Brew Theology is an alliance of diverse communities across the country filled with a mosaic of amazing people across the religious-spiritual spectrum. We hold organized weekly conversations at local breweries. This is interactive – we’ll bring the content & questions. You’ll brew up a zesty topic, and experience the range in diversity from Christianity to Atheism, Buddhism to Judaism – kicking around a rich conversation pertaining to science, philosophy, sex, gender, race, politics, socio-economic and justice-centric issues. Brew Theology is open and honest. Even in our disagreements and differing beliefs, we cultivate a safe, interfaith community that values one another. We find common ground in our shared humanity and are strangely yet remarkably unified by simply being together. We affirm all people. Everyone’s voice matters – just don’t be a jerk! Pull up a seat at the table, and get ready to brew. www.BrewTheology.org
Ryan Miller
Ryan has been involved in ministry since 1998, and has worked as a Youth & Family Pastor, Campus Pastor, Missionary, Church Planter & Brew Theologian. Ryan is the founder and Co-Director of Brew Theology. He currently serves as the Director of Denver Brew Theology. Ryan is a licensed minister, seminary graduate and enjoys quality craft beer, and meaningful conversation within genuine community. He’s also an avid San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Cowboys & Texas Longhorns faniac! Ryan and his wife, Lauren, along with their two daughters live in the greatest ‘hood in the US of A – Platt Park! To learn more about Ryan, head over to www.brewtheology.org
www.brewtheology.org
Sessions:
179 Brew Theology
218 Brew theology. Create community through healthy, meaningful & eclectic dialogue!
Janel Apps Ramsey
Janel Apps Ramsey is the Co-Director of Brew Theology (please come see us at our booth). She is the lead editor of Women Experiencing Faith with Dr. Thomas J. Oord, and holds an MA in Theological Studies. Raised in a conservative evangelical tradition, she now considers herself a progressive Christian. She leads interfaith discussions and participates in a weekly podcast. She also has a small house church of people in faith transition. Janel has served in ministry for 20 years and is learning how to do ministry outside of traditional structures. Janel is married, lives in Denver, CO, and loved participating in WGF last year. You can see more of her work at www.womenandchurch.com, www.brewtheology.org, and www.womenxfaith.org.
Sessions:
118 Women Experiencing Faith
179 Brew Theology
Session #179
Nourishing Community by Eating Together Faithfully
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 4
Stephanie Campbell
What does it mean to eat daily bread as disciples of Jesus Christ? What does the way the church eats and invites others to eat say about the God we worship? Where is the church in the sound bites we hear almost daily about food insecurity, hunger, chronic illness, and the growing burden current food production methods are putting on our planet? What does the character of God say to us about how we are called to be faithful eaters? We will talk together about these questions and learn about a new resource, Eating Together Faithfully, which invites people to nourish community by gathering around the table, exploring these questions together, and delighting with God in the created world.
Stephanie Campbell
After thirty years in ministry with children and families in suburban South Florida, Stephanie Campbell and her husband, John, moved to North Carolina in order to become farmers and live out their conviction that discipleship is deeply grounded in the care of the earth. Together they are regenerating the land, feeding their neighbors, and nurturing community through their sustainable family farm. Stephanie also serves at Life Around the Table, a ministry fostering robust conversation and practices in faithful eating, Sabbath rest, and the connections between the Lord’s Table and our own tables.
www.lifearoundthetable.org
Sessions:
180 Eating Together Faithfully
Session #180
Peace in the Storm: Lessons from a Sanctuary Trainer
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 1
Bridget A. Blinn-Spears
Resistance sometimes brings us into unexpected, intense conflict with others. In the sanctuary movement, our volunteers work in a unique tension. In our current political environment, immigration officials could easily change the policies that currently avoid sensitive areas such as churches, synagogues, mosques, or other institutions of worship. Volunteers’ presence with our beloved undocumented guests living in our church spaces carries the remote, but very real chance, of a confrontation with armed government agents. This session will explore the training we provide to our sanctuary volunteers to consider ways we can prepare for potential future conflict, whether with the government, in our family systems, or elsewhere in our communities, through simple, intentional practices. If you are involved or considering involvement in the sanctuary movement or other kinds of ministry, you will leave this session better prepared to respond peacefully, but not passively, to conflict.
Bridget A. Blinn-Spears
Bridget A. Blinn-Spears sometimes calls herself a blood-cell in the Body of Christ. She is a mom of four, an employment lawyer at a large international law firm, an avid reader (now largely through the medium of audiobooks), a Two on the Enneagram, and an oldest child with a dozen younger siblings ranging in age from their late teens to late thirties. She and her husband, Brian, are covenant partners at Umstead Park United Church of Christ in Raleigh, where she is a member of the sanctuary task force and the trainer for sanctuary host volunteers. She prepared the training materials now shared around the state by churches offering sanctuary. Bridget and her family can often be found exploring the breweries around the Triangle.
babspears.wordpress.com/
Sessions:
181 Sanctuary Lessons
Session #181
Changing systems, changing ourselves: Anti-racist practice for sanctuary, accompaniment & resistance
Sat Noon | River
Jennie Belle, Church World Service
Do you want to join a community of people of faith and conscience committed to taking action as well as practicing reflection? Are you seeking ways to offer grounded solidarity that don’t reproduce oppressive practices? Have you ever gone to an immigration (ICE) check-in or court to support a person at risk of deportation? Is your congregation part of the New Sanctuary Movement, or talking about joining?Based on a monthly online course created by the American Friends Service Committee’s Sanctuary Everywhere initiative and the UUA and UUSC’s Love Resists campaign with partners Church World Service and CIVIC, this workshop will explore undoing racism in the context of immigrant rights solidarity with a specific emphasis on practical skills in three streams: ICE/court accompaniment, congregational sanctuary, and immigration detention/prison visitation.
Jennie Belle
Jennie Belle was born and raised in Savannah, GA. She moved to Texas for her undergraduate education at Rice University, during which time she studied in Mexico, Peru, and Argentina, and participated in service projects in Central America. After graduation she moved to Spain for a year to teach English. Jennie then came to North Carolina for a dual degree M.Div./M.S.W. graduate program at Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill where her work focused on advocating for farm workers and organizing churches for social justice. Jennie currently works for the Immigrant & Refugee Rights Program of Church World Service as a Faith Community Organizer.
Sessions:
182 Anti-racist practice for sanctuary, accompaniment & resistance
Session #182
Author Matthew Paul Turner will read one of his bestselling children’s books When God Made You and When God Made Light
Matthew Paul Turner
Friday & Saturday 6:40 PM | Side Stage
If you’re a child or a child at heart, you will love hearing Matthew Paul Turner read one of his hope-filled, life-affirming children’s books live from the main stage
Matthew Turner
Matthew Paul Turner is a best-selling author, writer, storyteller, photographer, speaker, and blogger. As one of the most influential progressive Christian voices in media, Matthew has been featured on The Daily Beast, CNN, Washington Post, Yahoo!, USA Today, The New York Times, The Colbert Report, Gawker, and many more. Matthew has a sincere heart for the marginalized and relentless dedication to truth-telling. This passionate spirit motivates him to share rich stories that would often otherwise go unshared. As a writer and photographer, Matthew has traveled extensively with World Vision to places such as Tacloban, Philippines; Entebbe, Uganda; Cochabamba, Bolivia; Gyumri, Armenia; and other locations documenting the vast effects of poverty. His travels have offered him a multitude of life-changing experiences, from praying with a family of HIV patients in the Dominican Republic to eating and conversing with a 26-year-old Iman and being blessed by a Hindu priest in Sri Lanka. http://matthewpaulturner.com
MatthewPaulTurner.com
Sessions:
183 A reading by Matthew Paul Turner
Session #183
Words of Blessing (Your Secret Super Power)
Sat 11 AM | Healing Arts
Rev. Katie Jo Suddaby
Speaking words of blessing is an act of faith and an act of protest. Whether you are laying on hands in prayer, speaking a much-needed word of encouragement, or declaring God’s approval of an ostracized community, words of blessing are powerful and transformative. Jordan Bowman and Katie Jo Suddaby will share their experiences with hands-on prayer and lead the community in a ceremony of mutual blessing, using colorful holi powders. Similar to how Christians use anointing oil, holi powders are used by Buddhists and Hindus in India and Nepal to anoint the head in prayer. Come experience a joyful ceremony full of life and color to renew your spirit.
Katie Jo Suddaby
Rev. Katie Jo Suddaby is a freelance pastor, ordained with the American Baptist Churches USA. Short, spunky, and straight forward; she is a sought after speaker and artist. The art-form that captured her heart is Tibetan Sand Painting. Katie Jo is one of the few Westerners who practice this ancient, delicate art. Since 2012, she has designed and performed over 40 original mandalas for festivals and retreats across the country. She has received training from Tibetan Buddhist monks in the US and Nepal. Katie Jo loves to fuse Buddhist art and Christian texts to teach self-care, art as a spiritual expression, and the value of religious diversity. When not roaming around providing pastoral services, she can be found running a food pantry in Rochester, NY, watching Star Trek, walking her dog (Bernie Sanders), and singing show tunes. www.sandbykatiejo.com
www.sandbykatiejo.com
Sessions:
184 Blessing 101
291 Medicine Wheel Mandala
Jordan Bowman
Jordan has been coming to Wild Goose since 2011. He has volunteered for many years and now is serving as a contributor. Jordan also contributes to Goose and many other gatherings by serving with Desanka. A passion for loving and for being love to strangers all over the world coupled with a deep respect for the teachings of Jesus led him to Desanka and he jumped right in. When it isn’t festival season, Jordan splits his time between perusing a Business degree from NC state University and leading a boys mentoring organization in the Raleigh area called Journeymen Triangle. Jordan aspires to do many things during his short time here on this Earth. He plans to use his degree and life experiences to assist in the spiritual revolution, this time of global conscious awakening that we are living through and can be a part of.
Sessions:
184 Blessing 101
Session #184
Decolonizing Our Minds, Healing Our Hearts, and Reclaiming Our Spirits
Rev. Alba Onofrio (aka Reverend Sex)
Sat 4 PM | Workshop
Until we can address the spiritual trauma caused by the domination strategies of white Christian Supremacy, we cannot fully reclaim our bodies and spirits as sacred reflections of the Divine. This space centers the experiences Queer & Trans people, People of Color, and other marginalized folks to dig into the ways the religion has been co-opted and forced to serve systems that deny our sacred worth. Healing from spiritual violence is a life-long endeavor, but together we will amplify our strategies of resilience and celebrate the wild diversity of Creation and our places within it!
Alba Onofrio
Rev. Alba Onofrio (a.k.a. Reverend Sex) is a Southern Appalachian First-Gen Latinx Queer Mama Evangelical Femme who lives and loves in la Lucha with QTPOC folks as a Spiritual Healer and Bruja Troublemaker to combat spiritual terrorism, reclaim Guad, and eradicate shame and fear wherever they are found.
As the Spiritual Strategist for Soulforce and a Co-founder of the Sexual Liberation Collective, Rev. Alba Onofrio trains across the U.S. and internationally on decoding white Christian Supremacy and healing internalized religious-based trauma in order to rebuild our ethics and reclaim our sacred desires and spiritual practices. They also serve as Evangelist-Missionary at Jubilee Interfaith Community in Asheville, NC.
www.ReverendSex.com
www.Soulforce.org
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
186 Decolonize-Heal-Reclaim
46 Surviving The Tyranny of The Now
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #186
Engaging Fundamentalism: Building Bridges in a Divided Society
Sat 10 AM | River
Peace Catalyst International
This interactive workshop invites participants to self-reflection, compassion, and a greater understanding of the roots, motivations, and ways to engage with modern fundamentalisms, offering a way forward to build bridges in divided times.
Katie Sturm
With over 20 years in ministry, interfaith, and peace-building work, Katie is passionate about building bridges in seemingly impossible situations between people of all backgrounds. Her work and research with the Irish School of Ecumenics’ Theological Fundamentalism Project and the Millenialism Project at LHU whet her appetite to better understand the traditions of her foundations (US Evangelicalism), and also gives her a unique insider-outsider perspective. She currently lives in Seattle with her husband and daughter and leads a small online tribe of “Dones” in their exploration of their spirituality.
www.peacecatalyst.org
Sessions:
188 Engaging Fundamentalism
Session #188
Singing for Our Lives!
Sat 3 PM | River
BeLoved Asheville
How can you use music in your context to build community and resist together? Holly Near penned the line “singing for our lives” in the song, We Are A Gentle Angry People. In these deadly and dangerous days, we recognize that we must be led by our faith and our courage, indeed we must sing for our lives. Dr. Bernice Johnson Reagon says, “To this day, I don’t understand how people think they can bring anybody together without a song.” Our intersectional community from the streets and from the struggle at BeLoved Asheville has always been at its heart a singing community. We sing in our spiritual gatherings, sing and chant on the streetsin prayer & protest, and in the halls of power. This will be an interactive workshop where we will use popular education to share how we infuse music in our current movements and how to utilize music to help us in caring for ourselves and our communities as we work for justice.
Amy Cantrell
Rev. Amy Cantrell lives/works in the intentional community, BeLoved Asheville. BeLoved is an intersectional community of people from the streets and margins who conspire to do justice and end oppression including homelessness, poverty, and racism. BeLoved’s mission includes: Homeless Voice Project & Street Medic Team, Root Down Tiny House Village, Rise Up Art & Music Studio, being the first declared Sanctuary in WNC, Elders Free Farmers Markets, and campaigns around Housing Not Handcuffs, Anti-gentrification, A Million for the People, and the uprooting of systemic racism including work around police brutality and the removal of Confederate monuments. She is a pastor in the Presbyterian Church, USA. She is mom to twin four year olds, loves the color purple, playing guitar, and studying movement history. Find her on Facebook @Amy Cantrell and @BeLovedAsheville.
www.belovedasheville.com
Sessions:
189 Singing!
Ponkho Bermejo
Ponkho is a part of the intentional community of BeLoved Asheville. BeLoved works to make sharing and radical recycling an every day practice in building a new world in the shell of the old. Ponkho weaves his Mexican culture into his work as a cultural artist and community organizer. He creates public art out of recycled pallets that double as community gardens for elders and creates Neighborhood Fiestas to organize communities to support each other. He supported justice campaigns including the Charlotte Uprising, Housing Not Handcuffs, and an Emergency Food and Know Your Rights Campaign during the recent ICE raids. Ponkho is painter, graphic artist, and photographer with BeLoved’s Rise Up Studio as well as a musician and song-writer.
Sessions:
189 Singing for Our Lives!
Adrienne Sigmon
Adrienne is part of the intentional community of BeLoved Asheville. BeLoved conspires to put love and justice into action! She brings her experience from the streets into creating solutions like housing for all through the building of a Tiny House Village, organizing people experiencing homelessness through a Homeless Voice Community Power group, and healthcare for all through helping to create the first homeless Street Medic team in the nation. She has worked to challenge racism in policing and used power tools to work at taking down a Confederate Monument. She is a photographer and artist with BeLoved’s Rise Up Studio.
Sessions:
189 Singing for Our Lives!
Session #189
Racial Reconciliation: A Primer for White Christians
Sat 4 PM | River
Joseph Caldwell
Together we will identify some of the challenges that white Christians have in understanding the nuances of race in America. We hope to challenge biases on both ends of the political spectrum about reconciliation, activism, interracial relationships and other issues surfaced by the group. The co-creator of this session is a white male who has spent the last 23 years in an interracial marriage and hopes to recreate in the session what has been a blessing in his marriage; Principally the experience of being able to ask dangerous questions in safe spaces.
Joseph Caldwell
Dr. Joseph Caldwell is the President of the Memphis Center for Urban Theological Studies. MCUTS provides accredited associate and bachelor degrees in theology and human services to largely lower income and minority students with the purpose of empowering students to work through the church to transform Memphis’ most impoverished communities. This year Joe chaired the Memphis Teach In an MLK50 Commemoration event in partnership with the National Civil Rights Museum. This event brought together 350 scholars and students from across the nation to discuss the question of the church and civil rights.
Sessions:
190 Racial Reconciliation
Session #190
Community Art Project
Shawna Bowman
Wild Goose Community Artists are visual artists who will collaborate and co-create with presenters, speakers and musicians at the Goose! We are exploring a multi-sensory approach to learning and growing through the work of our visual artist and their work will provide a visual conversation partner along with the brilliant words and music you are used to encountering in our various venues. There will also be times and spaces in which community artists will invite you to co-create as well!
Nicole Farley
Community Artist
The Rev. Nicole Farley is an ordained pastor in the PC(USA). She most recently served a congregation in Waukesha, WI, and now serves as the founder and pastoral artist with A New Creation, an arts ministry which brings communities into the creation of worship-ful art together. She and her husband live in Gurnee, IL, and together they have an adult son named Jim and a greyhound named Buddy. Besides art and lived theology, she’ll gladly have a conversation about books, podcasts, music, and movies.
https://www.hereisanewcreation.com/
Sessions:
85 Making Art with the Ordinary
191 Community Art Project
Lisle Gwinn Garrity
Community Artist
Rev. Lisle Gwynn Garrity is an artist, retreat leader, and creative entrepreneur working within the Presbyterian Church (USA) and beyond. As founder of A Sanctified Art, a collaborative arts collective creating multimedia resources for churches, Lisle believes in the prophetic and freeing power of art to connect us more deeply to God and one another. She holds master’s degrees in divinity and practical theology from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta. Based in the beautiful rolling hills of Black Mountain, NC, Lisle is passionate about creative worship, the intersections of art and justice, yoga, and long walks with her pup, Max. Learn more about her work by visiting lislegwynngarrity.com/ and sanctifiedart.org/
Sessions:
191 Community Art Project
Session #191
Silent Space
Sat 5 PM | Chapel
Karol Eubanks Vellines, MSW
My family debriefed about last year’s Wild Goose for weeks. The thing that continued to rise for us was the need for silence. If the need for silence was a big need for my family of extroverts, I knew more people had the same need. Silent Space will meet that need. Come join me as we are gently moved into silence space where you are free to be silent in any manner you need: meditation, journaling, silently listening to music through earbuds, napping or something silent you dream of. We will covenant to keep silent and you will leave renewed.
Karol Eubanks Vellines
Karol Eubanks Vellines is a social worker, social justice organizer and minister living in Atlanta, GA. She uses her MSW skills to work with families adopting and fostering children living with trauma, to organizing work with Children’s Defense Fund, Stop School Shootings Now: National Walkout and to end the child sex trade in Atlanta, and as a minster on staff in churches, most recently Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, GA. Karol is an avid knitter, cook, and extrovert. She is here with her guys, husband Steve and son Sam who are camping and daughter Annabette who is glamping with Karol. She designed her workshop to be a gift to Goosers who need a quiet place to just be.
Sessions:
192 Silent Space
Session #192
Breaking Bad-Ass
How does simple Jesus-Following guys’ faith end them up in a jail cell? How it can happen to you and why it should.
Shane Claiborne, Doug Pagitt
Sat 3 PM | Greater Things
Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne graduated from Eastern University and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. In 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Eastern. His adventures have taken him from the streets of Calcutta where he worked with Mother Teresa to the wealthy suburbs of Chicago where he served at the influential mega-church Willow Creek. As a peacemaker, his journeys have taken him to some of the most troubled regions of the world – from Rwanda to the West Bank, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Shane is a founder and board member of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. He is married to Katie Jo, a North Carolina girl who also fell in love with the city (and with Shane).
Shane writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus. His books are translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over 100 times a year, nationally and internationally.
www.thesimpleway.org
Sessions:
193 Breaking Bad-ass
202 Shane Claiborne on Gun Violence
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Session #193
Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker
Sat 2 PM | Living Room
Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker is the author of eleven books, including New York Times Bestsellers For the Love and Of Mess and Moxie. She is the happy hostess of a tightly knit online community where she reaches millions of people each week. She and her husband, Brandon, founded the Legacy Collective, a giving community that funds sustainable solutions to systemic problems around the world. They also starred in an HGTV series called “My Big Family Renovation” and live in a 105-year-old farmhouse just outside Austin, TX with their five kids. She speaks at events all over the country and hosts the popular podcast For the Love with Jen Hatmaker. Check out her books, schedule, and blog at jenhatmaker.com/
Sessions:
194 Jen Hatmaker – Topic TBD
5 Jen Hatmaker, Topic TBD
386 A Conversation with Jen Hatmaker
Session #194
Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera
Sat 1 PM | Living Room
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera is a 30+ year veteran of the LGBTQ and Labor movements. Lisbeth has extensive experience organizing and training at the intersections of sexual orientation, gender identity, and culture specifically as they relate to communities of color. Lisbeth has crisscrossed the country training workers and community leaders in organizing, leadership development, and community building strategies from a grassroots perspective. She has also done extensive work supporting LGBTQ leaders in America Latina.
Currently, Lisbeth, is the Director of Faith Outreach & Training at the Human Rights Campaign, where she works with people of faith across denominations to ensure we can be who we are, love who we love, and practice our faith free of judgement.
Lisbeth ia a biologist and sociologist by education, with a solid Jesuit and SND formation that makes her passions flare and her days move forward. Today Lisbeth lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, alongside her wife, Lisa Weiner- Mahfuz, and their chosen family, both human and furry!!
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
196 Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera Topic TBD
390 A Conversation with Lisbeth Melendez Rivera
272 Just As They Are
Session #196
Stan Mitchell
Fri 3 PM | Greater Things
Stan Mitchell
STAN MITCHELL Stan Mitchell, an Arkansas native and fifth generation classical Pentecostal, has traveled extensively for over 30 years of preaching and teaching, including a lead position at the highly respected Christ Church in Nashville, TN. Mitchell currently serves as senior pastor of GracePointe Church in Franklin, TN. The core members of GracePointe commissioned Mitchell over a decade ago to be the rallying teaching force of a new church that began in his living room. This progressive, evangelical and interdenominational community has been on an expansive and deeply sacred journey in the last few years, bringing their initiatives to the forefront of many modern day issues surrounding the Christian church, namely their recent movement into full inclusion of the LGBTQ community.
gracepointe.net/who-we-are/
Sessions:
197 Stan Mitchell
392 A Conversation with Stan Mitchell
215 Barbara Brown Taylor Interview by Stan Mitchell
Session #197
John Pavlovitz
Sun 9 AM | Main Stage
John Pavlovitz
John Pavlovitz is a writer and pastor from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past three years, his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse audience of millions. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John’s mission is to help the Church become a more compassionate, loving environment for all people. He serves on staff at North Raleigh Community Church and his first book A Bigger Table, will be released in October. http://johnpavlovitz.com/
Sessions:
199 John Pavlovitz – Topic TBD
228 John Pavlovitz, Topic TBD
Session #199
How to get the most out of the Goose
Joy Wallis
Thu 3 PM | Library
Session #200
Tony Campolo Interview
Tony Campolo with Sarah Heath
Fri 2 PM | Living Room
Tony Campolo
Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University and a former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. For 40 years, he led the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, an organization which he founded to create and support programs serving needy communities. More recently, Dr. Campolo has provided leadership for the progressive Christian movement, Red Letter Christians as well as, for the Campolo Center for Ministry, a program which provides support to those the church has called to full-time ministry. He has written more than 35 books and can be found blogging regularly on tonycampolo.org and redletterchristians.org. Tony and his wife Peggy live near Philadelphia and have two children and four grandchildren.
Sessions:
201 Tony Campolo, Topic TBD
394 A Conversation with Tony Campolo
Sarah Heath
Originally from Canada but spent some time in Southern Mississippi and North Carolina, Sarah currently serves First United Methodist Church in Costa Mesa, California, where she is the lead pastor for a church re-start and revitalization. Sarah has a passion for music, traveling, acting, creating art, playing and watching sports. She is the author of What’s your story? Seeing your life through God’s eyes and host of the podcast Sonderlust the podcast. The biggest blessings in her life are her random assortment of talented friends and her amazing mutt of a dog, Tenor.
www.revsarahheath.com
Sessions:
141 What’s your Story? how can your story change the world.
201 Tony Campolo Interview
Session #201
Shane Claiborne on Gun Violence
Fri 4 PM | Living Room
It’s no secret that gun violence has been on the rise in the past years. Attacks on black churches, queer night clubs, and high schools, all make us ask: How do we stop the violence? How do we stand in solidarity with victims? What can we do?
This year at the Wild Goose Festival, Shane Claiborne, renowned author and activist, joins us for a conversation addressing this topic. Drawing from years of experience working for prison reform, the abolition of the death penalty, and as a radical peacemaker, Shane will be bringing a powerful word that we can carry with us back to our communities.
Shane Claiborne
Shane Claiborne graduated from Eastern University and did graduate work at Princeton Seminary. In 2010, he received an Honorary Doctorate from Eastern. His adventures have taken him from the streets of Calcutta where he worked with Mother Teresa to the wealthy suburbs of Chicago where he served at the influential mega-church Willow Creek. As a peacemaker, his journeys have taken him to some of the most troubled regions of the world – from Rwanda to the West Bank, Afghanistan and Iraq.
Shane is a founder and board member of The Simple Way, a faith community in inner city Philadelphia that has helped birth and connect radical faith communities around the world. He is married to Katie Jo, a North Carolina girl who also fell in love with the city (and with Shane).
Shane writes and travels extensively speaking about peacemaking, social justice, and Jesus. His books are translated into more than a dozen languages. Shane speaks over 100 times a year, nationally and internationally.
www.thesimpleway.org
Sessions:
193 Breaking Bad-ass
202 Shane Claiborne on Gun Violence
Session #202
Musical Performance: Charles Pettee & FolkPsalm
The Psalms: Songs of Tragedy, Hope, and Resistance
Fri 11 AM | Café
For devotees of the sacred texts, as well as folks who have never cracked open a Bible, FolkPsalm offers their music to highlight works from the Book of Psalms that speak to the oppression of the poor, the hubris of the Empire, the despoiling of the Earth, and unrestrained pursuit of wealth – issues thoroughly addressed over 3,000 years ago in this expansive collection of the poems and prayers. Often, the messages from our underdog, agrarian, Hebrew spiritual ancestors are lost on us today, either because we have become numb to the language, or because, all too often, we restrict these texts to merely “spiritual” lessons. Charles Pettee & FolkPsalm are renowned for helping us hear these poems all over again with urgency and wonder, through their memorable original acoustic folk/bluegrass settings of these texts, their sweet harmonies, their instrumental prowess, and their enthusiasm for every aspect of it! Dancing is encouraged!
see bio elsewhere
LISTEN
Charles Pettee & FolkPsalm
FolkPsalm formed in 2002 to perform Charles Pettee’s original music settings from the Book of Psalms. The group is known for featuring the talents of renowned professional musicians from NC, performing beautifully arranged instrumentals, with sweet harmony vocals. The group now boasts four full length albums of “folkpsalms.”
Five FolkPsalm members will perform at this year’s festival: Charles Pettee, guitar and mandolin wielding songwriter from Asheville, who is a teaching artist/music educator now residing in Chapel Hill, NC with his wife and two sons. Elizabeth Bahnson has been fiddling and singing since she was 5 years old. She is a nursing student and lives in Brevard, NC with her husband Fred Bahnson and three wild boys. Percussionist David Gerard is an internationally recognized electronic musician, who, in addition to his work with Folkpsalm, is a member of the acoustic trio Forever Young, as well as playing drums for the HRCH Jazz Quintet, both based in Albany, NY, where he currently resides. Brittany Whitmire is the fifth generation in her family to live and work on their farm in western North Carolina where they raise beef cattle. She works with dairy farmers throughout North Carolina as a NC State University Extension Associate. Brittany grew up singing with her Mama. Terry Allebaugh, harmonica master from the hills of Virginia, is a servant leader now living in Durham, NC and working to end homelessness across the Tarheel state.
“With strong conviction and sometimes wry humor, [FolkPsalm] delivers a message about the incomparable value of healthy land, a message that faith communities urgently need to hear and communicate to others.” (Prof. Ellen F. Davis, Duke Divinity School) “Something very old, very true is at work here.” (H.M. Simpson, Senior Pastor, University Baptist Church, Chapel Hill, NC)
www.folkpsalm.com
Sessions:
203 Musical Performance: Charles Pettee & FolkPsalm
Session #203
Amy Grant Interview with Chris Hauser: Forty-Plus Year Adventure
Sunday 10 AM | Main Stage
In 1978, Amy’s first record debuted. Amy talks with Chris Hauser, music industry veteran, about her forty-plus year adventure.
Amy Grant
Amy Grant has been strumming her way through a forty-plus year adventure as a singer-songwriter, author, television host, and speaker.
Amy has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Her chart performance boasts six No. 1 hits, 10 “Top 40” Pop singles, 17 “Top 40” Adult Contemporary tracks and multiple Contemporary Christian chart-toppers. Grant has received 6 GRAMMY Awards, 26 Dove Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Additionally, she was most recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Stepping out from behind her guitar, Grant found herself hosting the NBC prime-time series “Three Wishes” in 2005. Two years later, Grant’s first book, Mosaic: Pieces of My Life, was published. She continues to share her stories with audiences all over the country.
Grant resides with her family in Nashville, Tennessee, and is widely known for her philanthropy and involvement in local causes and charitable organizations. Her own organization, The Helping Hands Foundation, has afforded her the opportunity to identify needs around her and the resources to help meet them, which has proven to be the sweetest reward of all.
amygrant.com
Sessions:
205 Amy Grant with Chris Hauser: An Interview
221 Musical Performance: Amy Grant
Mr. Chris Hauser
Chris Hauser is a nearly 40 year veteran of the Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) industry, starting in radio in 1979, before being hired at Myrrh Records in 1987 (Amy Grant, Russ Taff, Phil Keaggy, Julie Miller). In 1990 he moved to Nashville to work with Warner Alliance, the Gospel div. of Warner Bros. Records (The Winans, Take 6, Donnie McClurkin, Caedmon’s Call). He is celebrating his 20th year in independent radio promotions (and 31st year in promotions). He is most proud of helping to bring artists like Gungor, Jars of Clay, Matt Maher, John Mark McMillan and finally, this year – Amy Grant to the Goose!
Sessions:
205 Amy Grant with Chris Hauser: An Interview
Session #205
Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America.
Nancy MacLean with Rob Wilson-Black
Sat 1 PM | Library
A talk by Nancy MacLean, author of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America. Democracy in Chains blows open the doors to the unknown history of the relentless campaign by the radical rich to eliminate unions, suppress voting, privatize everything from schools to Medicare and Social Security, stop action on climate change, and alter the U.S. Constitution. MacLean traces this game plan back to the Nobel Prize-winning political economist James McGill Buchanan, who forged his ideas in an attempt to preserve the white elite’s power in the wake of Brown v. Board of Education. As much of America (and the world) reels from a seemingly unexpected swing to populism and far-right rhetoric, Democracy in Chains offers a peek behind the curtain to reveal just how we got here and what the future will hold. The Nation magazine has named it “the most valuable book” of the year.
Nancy MacLean
Nancy MacLean is an award-winning scholar of the twentieth-century U.S., whose new book, Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America, has been described by Publishers Weekly as “a thoroughly researched and gripping narrative… [and] a feat of American intellectual and political history.” Booklist called it “perhaps the best explanation to date of the roots of the political divide that threatens to irrevocably alter American government.”
history.duke.edu/people/nancy-maclean
Sessions:
206 Democracy in Chains
Rob Wilson-Black
Board member
A graduate of the University of Chicago (PhD, AM) under Martin E. Marty, and the University of Richmond, Rob is the author of numerous articles, blogs, podcasts, and a forthcoming book on religion and education. He has given talks on campuses throughout the world, including UC-Berkeley, Northwestern, Georgetown, the University of Chicago, the University of Cape Town, and the Pontifical Gregorian University in Rome. Rob has been CEO of Sojourners since 2013, and serves as co-chair of the National Museum of American Religion Board, on the Alumni Council of the University of Chicago Divinity School, Sidwell Friends School Parents Committee on Equality, Justice and Community, and the Wild Goose Festival Board.
He lives in Reston, Virginia with his wife of 23 years, the Reverend Juli Wilson-Black, a Presbyterian minister, and their children Hannah (15) Claire (12) and Owen (8). They travel with him to many of the 65 countries he has visited for research, speaking, and education.
sojo.net/biography/robert-wilson-black
Sessions:
206 Democracy in Chains
Session #206
Musical Performance: Red Dirt Boys with Phil Madeira, Will Kimbrough, and the Barber Twins
Thu 8 PM | Main Stage
When Emmylou Harris put together the Red Dirt Boys as her backing band, she had an inkling that bringing four close friends together under one musical umbrella might be a beautiful idea. The band’s name is a nod to Emmy’s iconic song and album of the same name, “Red Dirt Girl”.
Made up of Chris Donohue, Will Kimbrough, Bryan Owings, and Wild Goose favorite Phil Madeira, the street cred of this musical collection is tremendous. Their combined songwriting, band, and session credits include Emmylou Harris, Tom Jones, Buddy Miller, Rodney Crowell, Taj mahal, The Phil Keaggy Band, Alison Krauss, Mat Kearney, Old Crow Medicine Show, Garth Brooks, Toby Keith, Keb’ Mo’, Amy Grant, The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, The Civil Wars, Julie Miller, The Band Perry, Mavis Staples, and many more. Together, Red Dirt Boys call to mind bygone bands like Little Feat and NRBQ, and a wreckless willingness to play outside the box while staying within one of the most infectious groove palettes you’ll ever experience.
The Red Dirt Boys will be joined by the Wild Goose return of Roland Barber on trombone and Rashaan Barber on saxophone.
https://www.facebook.com/Red-Dirt-Boys-682981768560021/
http://philmadeira.net/home/
LISTEN
How did we get here and where are we going: a US religious and political history lesson
Sat 3 PM | Living Room
Brian McLaren, Diana Butler-Bass, Frank Schaeffer, and Randall Balmer
A panel discussion with Brian McLaren, Diana Butler-Bass, Frank Schaffer, and Randall Balmer
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Diana Butler Bass
Diana is an author, speaker, and independent scholar specializing in American religion and culture. She holds a Ph.D. in religious studies from Duke University and is the author of nine books, including Grounded: Finding God in the World—A Spiritual Revolution (HarperOne, 2015) and the widely influential Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening (HarperOne, 2012). Her other books include A People’s History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story (HarperOne, 2009), and the best-selling Christianity for the Rest of Us: How the Neighborhood Church is Transforming the Faith (2006) which was named as one of the best religion books of the year by Publishers Weekly and was featured in a cover story in USA TODAY. Diana regularly writes at The Huffington Post and The Washington Post and comments on religion, politics, and culture in the media including USA TODAY, Time, Newsweek, CBS, CNN, FOX, PBS, and NPR.
dianabutlerbass.com
Sessions:
4 Diana Butler Bass, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
Randall Balmer
Randall Balmer, who holds the Ph.D. from Princeton University, is the John Phillips Professor in Religion at Dartmouth College, where he is also Director of the Society of Fellows and Chair of the Religion Department. Prior to coming to Dartmouth in 2012, he was Professor of American Religious History at Columbia University for twenty-seven years and an Adjunct Professor of Church History at Union Theological Seminary, where he earned the Master of Divinity in 2001. Ordained an Episcopal priest in 2006, he has served as rector in two parishes in Connecticut. He was Visiting Professor at Yale Divinity School from 2004 to 2008, and he has been a Visiting Professor at Princeton, Yale, Northwestern and Emory universities. Dr. Balmer is the author of fourteen books, including Evangelicalism in America and Redeemer: The Life of Jimmy Carter. His second book, Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory: A Journey into the Evangelical Subculture in America, now in its fifth edition, was made into a three-part documentary for PBS. Dr. Balmer was nominated for an Emmy for writing and hosting that series. He is a contributor for CNN, and his commentaries have appeared in newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, the Des Moines Register and the New York Times.
https://www.randallbalmer.com/
Sessions:
10 Randall Balmer, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
Frank Schaeffer
Frank Schaeffer is an artist and a New York Times bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction. Frank is a much sought-after speaker and has lectured at a wide range of venues from Harvard’s Kennedy School to the Hammer Museum/UCLA, Princeton University, Riverside Church Cathedral, DePaul University, and the Kansas City Public Library. Frank has been a frequent guest on the Rachel Maddow Show on NBC, has appeared on Oprah, been interviewed by Terri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the Today Show, BBC News and many other media outlets. Frank is also a blogger on Huffington Post, Alternet, and Patheos. http://www.frankschaeffer.com/index.html
www.frankschaeffer.com
Sessions:
212 Frank Schaeffer, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
385 A Conversation with Frank Schaeffer
Session #209
Otis Moss III
Fri 5 PM | Living Room
Otis Moss III
Otis Moss III is the Senior Pastor of the 8,000-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, “preaching a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic inequality.” As a recipient of the 2016 NAACP Chairman’s Award, Dr. Moss was named one of 5 trailblazing leaders under the age of 50 who have “given voice and vision to the mantra that black lives matter.” With a unique gift to communicate across generations, Dr. Moss’ creative Bible-based messages have inspired young and old alike. He is highly influenced by the works of Zora Neale Hurston, August Wilson, Howard Thurman, Jazz, and Hip-Hop music. The work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the pastoral ministry of his father, Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, have been primary mentors for his spiritual formation.
www.trinitychicago.org
Sessions:
210 Otis Moss III, topic TBD
280 Waking The Goose
Session #210
Frank Schaeffer
Fri 6 PM | Greater Things
Frank Schaeffer
Frank Schaeffer is an artist and a New York Times bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction. Frank is a much sought-after speaker and has lectured at a wide range of venues from Harvard’s Kennedy School to the Hammer Museum/UCLA, Princeton University, Riverside Church Cathedral, DePaul University, and the Kansas City Public Library. Frank has been a frequent guest on the Rachel Maddow Show on NBC, has appeared on Oprah, been interviewed by Terri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the Today Show, BBC News and many other media outlets. Frank is also a blogger on Huffington Post, Alternet, and Patheos. http://www.frankschaeffer.com/index.html
www.frankschaeffer.com
Sessions:
212 Frank Schaeffer, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
385 A Conversation with Frank Schaeffer
Session #212
Brian Sirchio
Fri 3 PM | Workshop
Bryan Sirchio
Curator, Music Revolution
Bryan Sirchio is an ordained minister who joined forces with well known author Brian McLaren and Rev. Cameron Trimble of the Center for Progressive Renewal in Atlanta to form a new worship music company called The Convergence Music Project (CMP). In 2012, Bryan published a book called The 6 Marks of Progressive Christian Worship Music ,which articulates the theological parameters for a new genre of worship music with progressive lyrics and theology. As of May, 2016, Bryan has released 14 CDs, 4 study guides, and 4 songbooks in all. Bryan Sirchio has also traveled extensively since 1987 offering concerts, leading worship services and retreats, and offering keynote addresses at various regional and national conferences. Bryan has also worked extensively with grass roots organizations in Haiti since 1991. He’s a founding member and leader of an organization called Haiti Allies www.haitiallies.org, that supports education, meal programs, and job creation in Haiti.
sirchio.com
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
214 Brian Sirchio
Session #214
Barbara Brown Taylor
Sat 4 PM | Living Room
Barbara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, college professor, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She has served on the faculty of Piedmont College since 1998 as the Butman Professor of Religion and has been a guest speaker at Emory, Duke, Princeton, and Yale, as well as a guest on SuperSoul Sunday with Oprah Winfrey. Taylor and her husband Ed live on a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians, sharing space with wild turkeys, red foxes, white-tailed deer and far too many chickens.
http://www.barbarabrowntaylor.com/bio.htm
Sessions:
215 Barbara Brown Taylor
279 Waking The Goose
Session #215
Paula Williams
Sat Noon | Main Stage
Paula Williams
Rev. Dr. Paula Williams is a nationally known speaker on gender equity and transgender advocacy. She is also the Pastor of Preaching and Worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, and the president of RLT Pathways, Inc., a non-profit providing counseling and coaching services. Paula serves on the board of the Q Christian Fellowship, the Union of Affirming Christians, and the WITH Network of progressive churches. As a transgender pastor, Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, NPR and The Huffington Post. Paula’s TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equality has been viewed over a half million times on YouTube. For more information visit paulastonewilliams.com.
Sessions:
216 Paula Williams TED talk
339 Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion
349 A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Session #216
Brew Theology Podcast
Sat 5:30 PM | GooseCast
Brew Theology exists to brew theology and create communities through healthy, meaningful and eclectic dialogue in pubs. Our BT podcast is a microcosm of what our interfaith community does in the pub each week. Join us LIVE, and we’ll invite a few people from the audience to join us for a fun theological topic! www.brewtheology.org
Ryan Miller
Ryan has been involved in ministry since 1998, and has worked as a Youth & Family Pastor, Campus Pastor, Missionary, Church Planter & Brew Theologian. Ryan is the founder and Co-Director of Brew Theology. He currently serves as the Director of Denver Brew Theology. Ryan is a licensed minister, seminary graduate and enjoys quality craft beer, and meaningful conversation within genuine community. He’s also an avid San Antonio Spurs, Dallas Cowboys & Texas Longhorns faniac! Ryan and his wife, Lauren, along with their two daughters live in the greatest ‘hood in the US of A – Platt Park! To learn more about Ryan, head over to www.brewtheology.org
www.brewtheology.org
Sessions:
179 Brew Theology
218 Brew theology. Create community through healthy, meaningful & eclectic dialogue!
Session #218
Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Loving our Neighbors while Caring For Creation
Noon Fri | Library
Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina
Re-Member and Re-Imagine: Loving our Neighbors while Caring For Creation This workshop will offer a glimpse into the hearts and minds of a variety of faith leaders who are working to for climate change solutions and a variety of levels of environmental and social justice. Together we will remember our own belovedness and our connection to neighbors and God’s creation. We will also explore the prophetic and beautiful imagination that seems to be dwindling among us. You will experience a diverse cross-section of stories, conversation, and inspiration in a roaming panel conversation ending with a collective prayer. You can expect conversations about preaching, the connections between ecological injustice and our environmental movement, climate science, and some Good News about how faith communities are engaging on the greatest challenges of our time.
Scott Hardin-Nieri
Scott Hardin-Nieri is partner, dad, spiritual director, pastor, and sojourner. He is the Director of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina and Associate Minister of Green Chalice of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Prior to living in North Carolina, Scott and his family served in the vulnerable cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. There he learned to how to climb Fig Strangler trees, spot Two-toed Sloths, call like a Mot Mot, and listen to people and nature in a new way. Scott is an ordained pastor with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and enjoys accompanying people during transformative experiences, whether during hikes, spiritual direction, wilderness quests, shared stories, service learning trips, live music concerts, camps or retreats. He continues to be reminded of his true self most clearly in the forests, oceans and deserts and seeks to invite others, particularly faith communities into conversations regarding creation. www.creationcarealliance.org
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
265 Creation Care: A Practice of Love
Susannah Tuttle
Susannah Tuttle is director of NC Interfaith Power & Light (NCIPL), a program of the NC Council of Churches (NCCC). She is grateful to have found her life�s purpose in Creation Care with great hope to inspire others to find meaning and joy in this faithful practice.
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Leah Schade
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at Lexington (Ky.) Theological Seminary. An ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) for 18 years, Leah has served congregations in rural, urban, and suburban settings. She earned both her MDiv and Ph.D. degrees from the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia. Her book Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit are available at www.chalicepress.com. Her forthcoming book, Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red/Blue Divide, will be published by Rowman & Littlefield in 2019, and explores how clergy and churches can address controversial justice issues using nonpartisan, biblically-centered approaches along with deliberative dialogue. Leah is the EcoPreacher blogger for Patheos: www.patheos.com/blogs/ecopreacher/
thepurplezone.net/
Sessions:
71 Purple Zone – Deliberative Dialogue
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
117 Preaching as Resistance
Kevin Bates
Kevin Bates is a United Methodist minister currently serving two rural churches near Asheville. He is a graduate of Chapel Hill and Duke Divinity school. At Duke Divinity, Kevin participated in the Thriving Rural Communities Initiative- a program which seeks to lift up and celebrate the gifts of rural communities. In his work with the Creation Care Alliance of WNC, Kevin seeks to articulate and learn the connections between faith, ecology and rural communities. Kevin is an avid hiker and gardener. He lives with his wife, Mary and their two kittens, Eyja and Katla, in Candler.
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Rabbi Justin Goldstein
Justin Goldstein has served as the rabbi of Congregation Beth Israel in Asheville since early 2014. Rabbi Goldstein teaches and writes frequently on environmental justice and sustainability in the Jewish tradition. He is a Rabbis Without Borders fellow and was recently named by the Jewish Daily Forward as one of the most inspiring rabbis in the US in 2016.
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Tami Forte Logan
Rev. Tami Forte Logan was born in Germany, raised in Virginia, and has resided in Western North Carolina for 30 years. She lives in the foothills of Western North Carolina, where she enjoys gardening, the arts, spending time with her grandchildren, her 12 chickens, and being an empty nester with her husband, John. Tami is the pastor of Pharr Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion church. She is a popular educator, community organizer, cultural organizer, and the business owner of Inside & Out Consulting. She fosters the healing of both oppression and white supremacy, and she believes “If I am unwilling to support the liberation of all humanity, then I will never be free myself.” Tami is also the Missioner of Faith 4 Justice – Asheville. Faith 4 Justice is a coalition of ecumenical and multi-faith clergy and faith leaders provoking justice for black and brown bodied people through discernment, advocacy, racial equity capacity building, and providing a ministry of presence with impacted communities.
faith4justiceinasheville.com
Sessions:
240 Provoking Racial Justice
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Session #219
COMMUNITY FORMATION 101: Some Portal Possibilities
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 2
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 2
Darlene Wright Van Dyke
How do we come together and create something larger than ourselves, that living breathing organism we recognize as “community”? From Drum circles to Contemplative Orders, from small churches to Dances of Universal Peace Circles, from The Farm in TN to the Wild Goose, what are some of the portals that open these to that mystical experience we call community? Part intentional process, part gift of the Resurrection grace, part happy accident, community is our natural habitat, our birthright as humans in the Human Family. What are some basic keys to becoming, creating, allowing community to happen? In ways relevant now? What would Wild Goose 24/7 look like beyond the Festival?We will explore one or more models highlighting some key dynamics, including Jack Gibb’s Trust Theory. We’ll experience some tools and processes, as time and space allow. We’ll begin The Conversation sharing our questions, our experiences, our wisdom, and our emerging vision. Looking forward to being community with you.
Darlene Van Dyke
My life’s journey is about the path of the Heart, seeking God through mystical experience, and nurturing the Sacred Unity that connects and heals, bringing wholeness within the human body/soul and groups, churches, communities. I’ve explored community-formation since 1970 when I attended a Trust-based Community Experience led by psychologist Jack Gibb, T-Group Method co-founder, mentor. An active member of the Episcopal Church since the early 70s, I’ve also explored many spiritual practices. I was led to the Aramaic Lord’s Prayer and the work of Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz in 1998, then began walking the Sufi path under his guidance. I received ordination in 2015 as a Sufi Healing Cherag(“Lamp”), an Interfaith Minister. My work has included teaching, writing, lay professional ministry, consulting, nurturing community. Presently semi-retired from 25+ yrs practicing Cranio-sacral Massage Therapy, Sound and Healing Arts, God’s call emerges still. I cherish being Grandmother to five. Delighted my 5th Goose!!!
Sessions:
220 Community Formation 101
Session #220
Musical Performance: Amy Grant
Sat 9 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
Amy Grant
Amy Grant has been strumming her way through a forty-plus year adventure as a singer-songwriter, author, television host, and speaker.
Amy has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Her chart performance boasts six No. 1 hits, 10 “Top 40” Pop singles, 17 “Top 40” Adult Contemporary tracks and multiple Contemporary Christian chart-toppers. Grant has received 6 GRAMMY Awards, 26 Dove Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Additionally, she was most recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Stepping out from behind her guitar, Grant found herself hosting the NBC prime-time series “Three Wishes” in 2005. Two years later, Grant’s first book, Mosaic: Pieces of My Life, was published. She continues to share her stories with audiences all over the country.
Grant resides with her family in Nashville, Tennessee, and is widely known for her philanthropy and involvement in local causes and charitable organizations. Her own organization, The Helping Hands Foundation, has afforded her the opportunity to identify needs around her and the resources to help meet them, which has proven to be the sweetest reward of all.
amygrant.com
Sessions:
205 Amy Grant with Chris Hauser: An Interview
221 Musical Performance: Amy Grant
Session #221
Tripp Fuller
Sat 6 PM | Greater Things
Tripp Fuller
Tripp is a husband to Alecia, Father to Elgin & Khora, a minister, avid Laker fan, competitive home brewer, & a theology nerd pursuing a PhD at Claremont Graduate University. He is also the self-proclaimed president of the John Cobb fan club where he holds the title of #FANiac in Chief. Tripp is also a part of Homebrewed Christianity Podcast. Since March 13, 2008, Homebrewed Christianity Podcast has been bringing you the best nerdy audiological ingredients so you can brew your own faith. You will find conversations between friends, theologians, philosophers, and scholars of all stripes. What started as a reason for Tripp to interview the authors of his favorite books has turned into a community of podcasts, bloggers, & Deacons (what we call our regular listeners) invested in expanding and deepening the conversation around faith and theology. We hope you listen, question, think, and then share the Brew!
homebrewedchristianity.com/who-we-are/
Sessions:
223 Tripp Fuller, Topic TBD
Session #223
Makers & Mystics Podcast LIVE: On The Intersections of Art and Faith.
Sat 2 PM | Studio
Makers & Mystics Podcast
In this seminar, Makers & Mystics host, Stephen Roach will explore the relationship between faith and art, utilizing storytelling, historical and textual examples. Stephen will discuss why creativity is an essential quality to a life of faith and how we may more fully engage our own creativity as an expression of devotion and cultural transformation.
LISTEN
Stephen Roach
Makers & Mystics is the official podcast of The Breath & the Clay creative arts movement. Hosted by poet-musician, Stephen Roach of the band Songs of Water, it is the podcast for the art-driven, seekers of truth and lovers of life.
http://www.makersandmystics.com
Sessions:
225 Makers and Mystics Podcast LIVE
Session #225
Brian McLaren
Sat 1 PM | Greater Things
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Session #226
Doug Pagitt
Fri 11 AM | Greater Things
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Session #227
John Pavlovitz
Fri 2 PM | Greater Things
John Pavlovitz
John Pavlovitz is a writer and pastor from Wake Forest, North Carolina. In the past three years, his blog Stuff That Needs To Be Said has reached a diverse audience of millions. A 20-year veteran in the trenches of local church ministry, John’s mission is to help the Church become a more compassionate, loving environment for all people. He serves on staff at North Raleigh Community Church and his first book A Bigger Table, will be released in October. http://johnpavlovitz.com/
Sessions:
199 John Pavlovitz – Topic TBD
228 John Pavlovitz, Topic TBD
Session #228
Let’s Talk About Sex
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 4
Carissa Buursma
How high is your comfort level for conversations about sex? For many it is a topic that can be tricky to navigate- even with people close to us. Carissa is going to lead participants through a series of questions that will seek to expand our understanding of why this challenge might exist and possible approaches to work towards changing that. She’ll be prompting answers from herself and participants to questions like, “In your childhood, how was the topic of sex and sexuality approached by the adults is your life?” “Was it a topic that was open for discussion in your family?” “What type of vocabulary is available to us today for having discussions about sex?” “How could this affect our ability to have discussions about it?” Participants will be invited (but not expected) to join the conversation. It is Carissa’s hope that participants walk away from this session with a higher level of comfort in talking about sex and sexuality in general and perhaps even a higher level of comfort with their own sexuality.
Carissa Buursma
Carissa grew up in NM and currently lives with her family in West Michigan. She’s an artist and musician, bit of a minimalist, ENFP who’s loving mid-life and the challenges and growth it has offered her. She is extremely relational and advocates for open and honest communication as an approach to all areas of life. Wild Goose has been an important part of her journey and she’s excited to be back and, this time, to also be a presenter.
Sessions:
230 Let’s Talk About Sex
Session #230
Mark Miller
Sat 2 PM | Library
Mark Miller
Mark serves as Assistant Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music at Yale University. He is also the Minister of Music of Christ Church in Summit, New Jersey.
Since 1999, Mark has led music for United Methodists and others around the country, including directing music for the 2008 General Conference. His choral anthems are best sellers for Abingdon Press and Choristers Guild, and his hymns are published in “Worship & Song”, “Sing! Prayer and Praise”, “Zion Still Sings”, “Amazing Abundance”, “The Faith We Sing”, and others.
Mark received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University and his Master of Music in Organ Performance from Juilliard. Mark is a lifelong United Methodist. He is the grandson, son, brother, uncle, and cousin to United Methodist clergy. As a lay delegate to the 2000 and 2004 and 2012 General Conferences, Mark was a witness to Christ’s mission of breaking down the dividing walls of hostility and fear in the United Methodist Church.
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
232 Mark Miller, Topic TBD
Session #232
Tiny Bubbles: An exploration of Sexuality, Lies, and Marshmallows
Fri 10 AM | Living Room
Pam Rocker has been in all kinds of bubbles. From life as a conservative international missionary based in Texas to performing queer feminist songs and sermons across Canada, she has traveled in and out of acceptance and animosity with the norms of faith and family. Through her work as a faith leader and a queer performer, Pam explores the bubbles that trap us and that keep us safe, and how we know the difference. Come and experience story and poetry as you expand the edges of your bubble and discover what else is out there!
Pam Rocker
Pam Rocker is an atypical activist, award-winning writer, speaker, and musician. Pam has worked for many years for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in faith communities and beyond. She was chosen as one of the top 30 activists in Canada in THIS Magazine, nominated as Artist of the Year in the Heart of Excellence awards, and writes/performs queer feminist ukulele comedy music. Pam is one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Avenue Magazine, a committee member of PechaKucha Calgary, Chair of the Observer Magazine, and an instructor with YouthWrite Alberta. She is currently the Director of Affirming Connections for Calgary and speaks, teaches, and plays north and south of the border.
pamrocker.com
Sessions:
233 Tiny Bubbles: An exploration of Sexuality, Lies, and Marshmallows
290 Sacred and Profane
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #233
Living the Desanka Way Every Day
Sat 1 PM | River
Desanka
Desanka is a spiritual community with a mission to walk in the way of Love. We are a collection of individuals from varying faith streams who love to Love – to BE Love. We will be discussing WHY we do what we do, WHAT we actually do and HOW we do “ Desanka”. We will talk about what the Desanka Way is and how to implement this conscious, Jesus-centered lifestyle and ministry in one’s community and life. A panel of seasoned Desanka contributors will be available for Q&A after the short presentation.This program will be presented several times throughout the weekend in the Desanka Spirit Café.
Papy Fisher
Papy is a warrior-lover, attempting to love every person in the world with the One True Love. His paying gig is being an Outreach Pastor at Fellowship of Christ, EPC in Cary, NC where he is given amazing latitude to teach, train, equip and release some of the most giving and loving individuals in God’s green earth. Papy, when asked what he believes, considers himself “ biblically conservative and socially liberal”. Yes – oxymoronic, but that complexity is Love and Papy is all about Love.
In an attempt to revitalize and invigorate the faith-life of young adults in his circles, Papy has founded Desanka which is more of a movement rather than an organization or mission arm of a church. Through Desanka (and another non-profit he helped co-found called Journeymen Triangle, a mentoring network for boys and men), Papy hopes to mobilize a generation of “Lovers-of-Jesus” that seek to love others in the worth, the words, and ways of Jesus.
www.DesankaSpirit.net
Sessions:
234 Living the Desanka Way Every Day
333 Desanka
Peter Lanier
Peter is an avid gardener, writer, and part-time librarian. He has been serving with Desanka since 2014. Currently, he is managing the Desanka Community Garden, which aims to provide our local community with fresh produce, and he contributes content for the Desanka website blog. He also serves on the Desanka Village Council.”
Sessions:
234 Living the Desanka Way Every Day
Michael Buchanan
Born and raised in Florida, Michael grew up with a hippie Mom and rock-star Dad. Moving from place to place like gypsy minstrels, Michael has a unique traveler’s perspective of people and the world.
For the past two years, Michael has been an Intern with Papy Fisher in the FisherFarm Mentoring Institute which has allowed Michael to focus intensely on personal and communal growth. Michael has been working, mostly entrepreneurially, to raise funds to work with Desanka and to meet his other financial goals.
Michael has been with Desanka for over four years, now. He has made it his current mission to do everything he can to support the vision and to live out of the Spirit of Desanka to accomplish our corporate mission: Working hard and loving well and giving what we have.
Sessions:
234 Living the Desanka Way Every Day
Caroline Buchanan
This will be Caroline’s fifth Wild Goose Festival. She was invited originally to assist one of our Dream interpreter mentors, Kelly Williams, with feeding our group.
Caroline knew she would want to feed others. Feeding people in nature where they have come together to intentionally connect brings her great joy. So, she brought a couple of extra pots with some beans, rice, simple veggies and spices. As it turned out, there was a need especially for vegetarian/gluten free food for many around our camp that year. The need to help those who only had enough money to get to Goose and were working for their ticket became evident.
Feeding volunteers and those hungry to connect with others in an atmosphere of love has become a significant part of our annual budget.
Caroline since coming to the Goose started a personal chef business and is working on a business model for a food truck that can be both profit focused and be available to offer food and cooking education where there is need.
Sessions:
234 Living the Desanka Way Every Day
Session #234
Sparks: Taking Healthy Risks for Yourself and Your World
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 6
Victor Udoewa
It’s easy to coast through life and be safe. But what if the life we long for only comes through growth? And what if the growth only emerges at the end of the tunnel of risk? What might it look like to engage in a life-long continuous journey of positive risk?Welcome to Sparks. Sparks is a 5-week experiment in which a group of people meet each week to challenge each other, individually, to take 1 positive risk in the next 7 days to make themselves a better person or their world a better place. Come converse about the anatomy of a good challenge, best tips on how to run such a group in your town, and example stories from multiple cycles of Sparks. We’ll talk about the types of sparks people take, examples of the growth arc that occurs, and variations you can try to customize it for your own situation.Come and learn about what kind of fun, difficulties, joy, mayhem, joy, discomfort, and growth can emerge when people enter into a life of continual risk and discover beauty, joy, and love.
Victor Udoewa
Victor Udoewa is a design engineer who co-creates solutions for social problems in community and international development. After designing at USAID and Google, he’s brought that creative spirit to found or lead alternative faith communities, and experiences. Recently, he designed the Lenten experience “Faithing Your Practices” in DC, founded Sparks-DC where people are challenged each week to take one positive risk, and co-led Borough Commons in the UK. He also co-leads the Emergent Conversation and Iona DC communities. He has served as music minister, youth pastor, and college worker in churches around the world. As a former teacher, he teaches teachers as an educational specialist and adjunct professor of education focusing on science and math education. He still conducts medical and engineering research and is a certified counselor focusing in HIV/AIDS, crisis pregnancy, post-abortion, and miscarriage counseling. He enjoys his a cappella group, teaching salsa classes, and his beautiful, growing family.
https://18f.gsa.gov/
Sessions:
235 Sparks
236 Borough Commons: Church as Common Property
Session #235
Church as Common Property: A Leaderless Leadership
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 2
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 2
Victor Udoewa
Many of our churches have been influenced more by the structure of capitalistic corporations than the breath and wind of the Spirit. Are there actual alternatives to a hierarchical model in our faith communities? How can a faith group move forward without a leader to direct it?Welcome to Borough Commons (BC) – a faith community that started as an evening service at a church and eventually became independent. BC was founded on three principles – church as common property, growing together spiritually, and doing good in the world. The hardest principle to digest is “church as common property.” It is possible to have a faith community without a leader, but that doesn’t mean it has no leadership. Instead, BC practiced a leaderless leadership. Come find out what a 5-year experiment in a leaderless faith community looked like for us. We’ll converse about its birth, rise, and current trajectory. We’ll also honestly talk about its difficulties and hardships as it continues to adapt to the needs of its people.
Victor Udoewa
Victor Udoewa is a design engineer who co-creates solutions for social problems in community and international development. After designing at USAID and Google, he’s brought that creative spirit to found or lead alternative faith communities, and experiences. Recently, he designed the Lenten experience “Faithing Your Practices” in DC, founded Sparks-DC where people are challenged each week to take one positive risk, and co-led Borough Commons in the UK. He also co-leads the Emergent Conversation and Iona DC communities. He has served as music minister, youth pastor, and college worker in churches around the world. As a former teacher, he teaches teachers as an educational specialist and adjunct professor of education focusing on science and math education. He still conducts medical and engineering research and is a certified counselor focusing in HIV/AIDS, crisis pregnancy, post-abortion, and miscarriage counseling. He enjoys his a cappella group, teaching salsa classes, and his beautiful, growing family.
https://18f.gsa.gov/
Sessions:
235 Sparks
236 Borough Commons: Church as Common Property
Session #236
A Fighter, Not A Lover
Fri 10 AM | Landing
Rosemary Bray McNatt
In a world where black lives do not matter, where women are expendable, where people of different sexualities and gender expressions are erased, where the disabled are disappeared—who are we to talk about love? Using Psalm 73 as a starting point, I want to suggest that in these days of emergency, love is not enough; faithful people must become skilled and willing to fight for what we love.
Rosemary Bray McNatt
Rev. Rosemary Bray McNatt serves as president of Starr King School for the Ministry, a Unitarian Universalist and multireligious seminary that educates progressive religious leaders to help end white supremacy. She’s a former editor of the New York Times Book Review and the author of three books, including her memoir, Unafraid of the Dark. Married to her college sweetheart, Robert, she is the mother of two young adult sons, Allen and Daniel.
www.sksm.edu
Sessions:
237 A Fighter, Not A Lover
Session #237
Transgender Memorial Service (with Eucharist)
Fri 3 P M | Episcopal
Gwen Fry
Come and gather with the transgender/gender expansive community as we remember those whose lives have been taken from us at the hand of others and celebrate their contributions to the world. This liturgy includes a Holy Eucharist.
Gwen Fry
The Reverend Gwen Fry is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Arkansas. Her experience coming out as a trans woman of faith makes her keenly aware of the necessity for the equality of all God’s children. Experiencing the effects of discrimination first hand, she has been actively involved in the work of justice in the transgender community both in Arkansas and across the Episcopal Church. Gwen is an advocate and activist for the transgender community who was a leader in the coalition of organizations who fought back the anti-transgender bills introduced in the Arkansas General Assembly this year. She is the Vice President of National Affairs for Integrity USA. She is a board member of Pridecorps, an LGBTQ youth center in Little Rock, Arkansas. An active member of TransEpiscopal, Gwen, also serves on its steering committee.
Sessions:
238 Transgender Memorial Service
242 Transitions: How People Navigate Change
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
410 LGBTQIA Support Circle
Session #238
Taize Vesper Service: a quiet time of music, prayer and contemplation
Fri 4 PM | Chapel
Oakhurst Taize Ensemble
This time of quiet reflection and prayer uses music from the Taize community, with simple, repetitive sing-along melodies accompanied by flute and guitar. The music is easy to learn and has been used in religious communities around the world. After a busy, high-energy day at the Wild Goose, the vesper service is an opportunity to slow down, enjoy the silence, and join others in meditative song. If you are familiar with Taize music, you are welcome to bring your guitar, flute, violin, or other musical instrument. If you have a copy of the Taize song book or accompaniment book, please bring that also. Addition copies will be available for you to borrow at the rehearsal and vesper service.Leslie Withers, Mark Reeve, David Fluker and Jim Holmes are members of Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, GA, where the music of Taize is frequently used in morning worship services and evening vespers. Musicians Leslie Withers, flute, David Fluker and Jim Holmes, guitar, also often accompany choirs and soloists at the church. Mark Reeve incorporates spoken words from the Iona Community in Scotland, drawn from resources used in the Iona Abbey and published by their Wild Goose Publications group.
LISTEN
Leslie Withers
Leslie Withers is a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church in Decatur, GA, where she sings in the Sanctuary Choir. She also plays flute with the choir and also in Taize worship services. She is a lay worship leader and occasionally plans and leads both morning worship services and evening Taize services at the church. An Associate Member of the Iona community in Scotland, she has participated in residential programs at the Iona Abbey and played flute in worship services there. When not playing flute, Leslie is active in numerous justice and peace organizations and activities. She serves on the steering committee for Create Community 4 Decatur: Black Lives Matter. The group started 2 ½ years ago in response to the killings of unarmed Black men by police and works locally in Decatur to promote racial justice in criminal justice, in the school system, and in neighborhoods.
Sessions:
239 Taize Vespers
Mark Reeve
Mark Reeve is a member of Oakhurst Baptist Church, Decatur, Georgia where he has served as a deacon and is active in community engagement and mission projects most recently focusing on gentrification and affordable housing issues in the neighborhood around the church. He is an associate of the Iona Community of Scotland, visited there several times, and helped plan worship services there.
Sessions:
239 Taize Vespers
Session #239
Provoking Racial Justice within Mainline Congregations
Fri 11 AM | Landing
The Reverend Milly Morrow and the Reverend Tami Forte Logan
Racial injustice in our society mandates a strategic response from clergy and faith leaders to provoke racial justice both within our own faith institutions and our respective communities. Come and engage with Rev. Tami Forte Logan, Missioner for Faith 4 Justice Asheville and Rev. Milly Morrow, Associate Dean at the Episcopal Cathedral All Souls, of Western North Carolina to explore how “provoking justice for black and brown bodied people” inside mainline congregations is a work of the Spirit and of the flesh. Experience the ways your compassion, fervent prayer and deep discernment can be transformed into collective strategy and mobilized networks while meeting your congregants where they are and walking alongside them as you both experience personal and communal transformation.
Milly Morrow
Rev. Canon Milly Morrow is Associate Dean at the Cathedral of All Souls in Asheville, NC. Milly came to the priesthood after a career in community organizing for non-violence, economic justice and anti-racism. Milly also served victims of violence as a counselor and family support case manager. Being a priest in the Episcopal church she is completely formed and informed by the radical gospel of Jesus of Nazareth for the work of hospitality, social justice, reconciliation, and equity.
https://faith4justiceinasheville.com
Sessions:
240 Provoking Racial Justice
Tami Forte Logan
Rev. Tami Forte Logan was born in Germany, raised in Virginia, and has resided in Western North Carolina for 30 years. She lives in the foothills of Western North Carolina, where she enjoys gardening, the arts, spending time with her grandchildren, her 12 chickens, and being an empty nester with her husband, John. Tami is the pastor of Pharr Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Zion church. She is a popular educator, community organizer, cultural organizer, and the business owner of Inside & Out Consulting. She fosters the healing of both oppression and white supremacy, and she believes “If I am unwilling to support the liberation of all humanity, then I will never be free myself.” Tami is also the Missioner of Faith 4 Justice – Asheville. Faith 4 Justice is a coalition of ecumenical and multi-faith clergy and faith leaders provoking justice for black and brown bodied people through discernment, advocacy, racial equity capacity building, and providing a ministry of presence with impacted communities.
faith4justiceinasheville.com
Sessions:
240 Provoking Racial Justice
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Session #240
Unstuck: Sex and Intimate Justice – Exploring Narratives of Patriarchal Power, Female Sexuality and Messages in the Church
Sat 10 AM | Goosecast
Dr. Emily Stone
Join a panel of women talk about sex, power, and justice! What messages, expectations, and roles were taught … or “caught”… in church culture? There is a hidden and not so hidden curriculum throughout spiritual formation in the church, particularly the Evangelical church, that teaches both males and females about power, gender, and expectations for sex. What are some of these messages? How are they the same and different from societal messages? How do these lessons in power, gender, and sex influence males, females, and relationships over time? A panel of women who have grown up in the Evangelical church and who are now moms, wives, ministers, and marriage and family therapists will discuss their own experiences as well as the lessons they have both learned and are trying to unlearn in adulthood. Audience participation will be encouraged at various points.
Emily Stone
A little bit of a gypsy and a little bit of a machine, Dr. Emily Stone is a question lover. She looks for gratitude, grace, hope, and tenderness in everyday adventure, details, and relationships. She is a professor at Pfeiffer University for their graduate program in marriage and family therapy and also runs a private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her areas of interest include trauma, sexual identity, spirituality, transition, grief, anger, depression, and anxiety as well as work with couples and families around relationship conflict and transition. Emily loves long walks, eating outside, talks over wine or coffee, and pretty much anything outside. She can be found online on Instagram @hopeandhealingmft, on twitter @emilyelizabeth1 or @hopeandhealingmft, and on Facebook at For Hope and Healing. Her podcast Unstuck, focuses on any and all issues where we tend to get “stuck” in life and can be found on any podcast platform.
www.stonewritten.com
Sessions:
241 Sex and Intimate Justice
267 Sex and Intimate Justice
Susan Perkins
Susan Perkins joined Pfeiffer University as Clinic Director and Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy in 2016. Susan earned her PhD in Marriage and Family Therapy from Virginia Tech in 2010. She was awarded AAMFT’s Dissertation of the Year for her dissertation focusing on client factors in couples therapy. She is licensed in Idaho, Michigan, and North Carolina. She is a Clinical Fellow of AAMFT and an AAMFT Approved Supervisor candidate. Susan served as President of the Idaho Association of Marriage and Family Counselors and President of the Idaho Counseling Association.
Susan previously lived in Missouri, Texas, Virginia, and Idaho. Susan, her husband, Ross, and their two children, Esther and Amelia, live in Apex, NC. When she is not supervising, administrating, teaching, networking, or researching, Susan is usually reading to her girls or brainstorming new game ideas with Esther.
Sessions:
241 Unstuck: Sex and Intimate Justice
Missy Cava
Missy Cava loves to walk closely in friendship with people as they write the stories in their lives. She earned a B.A. in History from UNC-Charlotte which ignited a passion to champion the tenderness and resilience of the human spirit; for to be a student of history is to be a student of the heart. She is the ministry leader for the mothers’ group at her church, Renovatus in Charlotte, NC. She is married to the brilliant and brilliantly funny Dan Cava and has three wonder-filled kids, Dash, Marlowe & Evangeline.
Sessions:
241 Sex and Intimate Justice
Session #241
Transitions: How People Navigate Change
Sat 1 PM | Episcopal
Transitions Panel
Transition is not a solitary activity. This session looks at how family relationships, friends, and church communities are affected by the transitions we all experience throughout our lives. It’s most easily seen in the lives that are connected to a transgender family member or friend. Hear the stories of people who have experienced the lamentation of loss and the incredible power of love as they provide powerful insights into the transitions that fill all of our lives.
Gwen Fry
The Reverend Gwen Fry is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Arkansas. Her experience coming out as a trans woman of faith makes her keenly aware of the necessity for the equality of all God’s children. Experiencing the effects of discrimination first hand, she has been actively involved in the work of justice in the transgender community both in Arkansas and across the Episcopal Church. Gwen is an advocate and activist for the transgender community who was a leader in the coalition of organizations who fought back the anti-transgender bills introduced in the Arkansas General Assembly this year. She is the Vice President of National Affairs for Integrity USA. She is a board member of Pridecorps, an LGBTQ youth center in Little Rock, Arkansas. An active member of TransEpiscopal, Gwen, also serves on its steering committee.
Sessions:
238 Transgender Memorial Service
242 Transitions: How People Navigate Change
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
410 LGBTQIA Support Circle
Sarah Riggle
Sarah Riggle is a retired Army musician, parent, and grandparent who has been involved with the LGBT community, IntegrityUSA of the Episcopal Church. Sarah has organized two Transgender Day of Remembrances at her church in South Georgia.
Sarah is a breast cancer survivor of twelve years and a transgendered woman who has reconciled with her three children after a ten-year separation.
Sarah is married to Kay, her wife of twelve years who enjoys spending their spare time knitting, weaving, and quilting.
Sessions:
242 Transitions: How People Navigate Change
Session #242
Musical Performance: The Heather McKoy Band
Sat 1 PM | Café
Sat 6 PM | Goose in the Round, Main Stage
If you’re listening to the Heather McKoy Band, you’re likely to be led down a path where you’ll tour the familiar road marks of your favorite R&B, Motown, Rock, Folk, and Pop songs. While the songs and artists they cover are inclusive and diverse, the engine driving the bus on this sonic tour is full-throttle acoustic-percussive, wood and steel, back porch, family reunion, kill the fatted calf and throw a party kind of sound. It’s a performance that invites everyone to take part. Lead singer, Heather Elkin McKoy, never stays in one lane. Her energy, stage presence and catastrophic vocal range is matched only by the wide sweep of musical landscape this band covers. Her soulful melodic vocals can steer the bus from rock to rap. Known in the Charlotte, NC area for her vocal diversity, Heather enjoys energizing a crowd and garnering their support to sing, dance and celebrate with her. Heather is backed by vocalist and guitarist, Greg Hathaway, while percussionist, Jimmy Paschke, holds down a rock-solid rhythm.
Heather McKoy, Greg Hathaway & Jimmy Paschke
2007 winner of Charlotte’s Idol, and lead singer for several prominent bands in the greater Charlotte Metro, Heather McKoy is currently an elementary school music teacher and professional vocalist. Heather graduated in 2001 from UNCG with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. She recently set out to form her own band to develop her own original music. The Heather McKoy Band is a trio of friends from Gastonia, NC. Before combining and harmonizing with Heather, Guitarist/vocalist Greg Hathaway spent time in regional Charlotte bands including Enter Landscapes, Phlux, and The Process Notes. Greg is the Assistant Director of Spiritual Care at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte (NC’s largest hospital) where he works as a nationally certified Spiritual Educator. Drummer Jimmy Paschke enjoys life and feels there is no better connection for him than sharing his love for music with others.
Sessions:
243 Musical Performance: The Heather McKoy Band
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Session #243
The Labyrinth: A Journey to Deep Connection
Located by the river and open all day every day
Tessi Muskrat Rickabaugh
The Labyrinth has long been a symbol of wholeness, birth and rebirth. For some Native peoples, it symbolizes the womb; for others it illustrates the story of emergence, of life’s cycles and the choices which confront us on our life’s pilgrimage. This year’s labyrinth invites us to journey deeper as we seek connection: connection to ourselves, to each other, and to the Divine spark which dwells at the center of us all. Join us as we surrender to the path of the labyrinth and walk for wholeness, co-creation of beauty, and the hope of new life we carry in our hearts.
Tessi Rickabaugh
Tessi Muskrat Rickabaugh is a graduate of Shalem Institute’s Spiritual Guidance Program and founder of Anam Cara Deaf Ministries, as well as The Barefoot Journey, an online community of people seeking to recognize God in the raw beauty of their story. A Native woman of Cherokee and Irish descent, Tessi uses her heritage as a member of the Long Hair Clan to promote peace and openness toward self and others through the power of sharing Story. Her Celtic soul delights in engaging the natural world and inviting people into interactive prayer experiences. In addition to leading women’s circles, exploring creation with her niece and nephew, and writing, Tessi provides spiritual direction in English and American Sign Language in her central Missouri home and nationally through video call platforms.
www.TheBarefootJourney.com
Sessions:
244 Labyrinth
Session #244
Exodus and Self-Discovery: The Journey Back to Faith on the Appalachian Trail
Fri Noon | Landing
Caitlin Allyn White
As a young, queer, female United Methodist, I lost my faith in my own tradition amid denominational conflict about LGBTQ inclusion. Therefore, after graduating seminary, I paused my ordination process to go for a hike. Years later, I was a few days into my thru hike of the Appalachian Trail when the Pulse massacre occurred. Heartbroken and wrecked by the hypocrisy I witnessed in my denomination, I penned an open letter leaving the ordination process of the church I believed was complicit in the hate and violence of Pulse and so much other pain. Yet, I did not send it. Instead, my journey became one of walking back to faith, cultivating the conviction to act rather than retreat, and finding a commitment to ministry without fear of compromise. Mine is a story about the healing power of nature and community. It is a story about the way that my journey shapes my work as a pastor, community organizer, campus minister, and spiritual innovator, and how it is shaping the Methodist movement I refuse to abandon.
Caitlin White
The Director of Connection and Formation at Collective Church, a misfit faith community in DeLand, FL, and Director of the Wesley Foundation at Stetson University, Caitlin is a progressive, young woman raised in the Deep South who has a complicated relationship with Christianity. She enjoys her work with people on the thresholds of faith, LGBTQ communities, in interfaith community organizing, and in building intergenerational relationships in the church. She is passionate about outdoor recreation and conservation.
www.wearecollectivechurch.com and www.stetsonwesley.com
Sessions:
245 The Journey Back to Faith on the Appalachian Trail
Session #245
Down to the River to Pray
7 AM Fri & Sat | Bridge
Andrew Heintz
Start your day at the Goose by coming down to the river to pray! We will meet and journey down to the water, singing and praying using the prayers of Phyllis Tickle. Coming into the river is an option, and we will make a circle including both those who choose to stand in the water and those who choose to be on the land. Together, let us welcome the day and the Spirit’s power in our lives.
Session #246
Positive Protest: Organizing to Promote God’s Gift of Flourishing Life
Fri 1 PM | Landing
Jennifer E. Copeland
We must always remember that our faith is in God; our faith is not in nations, government systems, elected officials, or economic structures. Those things are all tools we use in pursuit of God’s claim on our lives—the command to love God and love neighbor. Clearly some systems enable us to do that better than others, but we must always start with God’s claim. When we organize to protest unjust policies, we should ground our work in God’s gift of life and the lives of those created in the image of God. We should encourage systems that allow people to flourish into the fullness of that God-given life—specific and unique to the life of each individual. When we focus on the issue as refracted through the lens of faith, we start our discussion from a very different place and we might craft a policy that comes out with a very different ending than those offered by the polarizing possibilities at work in our current climate.
Jennifer Copeland
The Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland is the Executive Director of the North Carolina Council of Churches, which makes its mark by privileging matters of justice as refracted through the prophetic voice of the Old Testament and the Gospel witness of the New Testament. To this end, Jennifer and the Council often find themselves on the forefront of where society and the church eventually end up. Jennifer has been a church pastor, college chaplain, and non-profit leader. She is a native of South Carolina, ordained in The United Methodist Church, a graduate of Duke University several times over with a BA, MDiv, and PhD. She is the author of, Feminine Registers: The Importance of Women’s Voices for Preaching and an editor of the volume, Preaching Gospel: Essays in Honor of Richard Lischer. Jennifer has two children: Nathan, a software developer who lives in Durham, NC, and Hannah, a student at the University of Tampa.
www.ncchurches.org
Sessions:
247 Positive Protest
Session #247
Failed Missionary
Sat 11:30 AM | GooseCast
Thousands of dollars raised, passport stamps collected, zero lives saved. Failed Missionary explores topics and narratives related to the modern approach to missions and questions the odd ways we’ve interpreted the “great commission” from the vantage point of former and current missionaries and thought-leaders.
Corey Pigg
Corey is a former missionary, recovering pursuer of Jesus and a cult survivor. After several years of traveling the globe as a missionary and in recovery as a cult abuse survivor, Corey’s work is devoted to helping others reconnect with themselves after the loss of a lifestyle steeped in spiritual vocation and/or spiritual abuse in order to find their way forward.
Corey is responsible for Failed Missionary, a new podcast/blog that explores topics and narratives related to the modern approach to missions and questions the odd ways we’ve interpreted the great commission.
www.failedmissionary.com
Sessions:
122 Life After Missions
248 Failed Missionary
Jamie Wright
Jamie Wright is a writer and speaker best known for her snarky faith and lifestyle blog, The Very Worst Missionary. As a passionate advocate for missions reform and humanitarian aid that is sensible, meaningful, and enduring, she has traveled the world sharing her expe- rience with churches, nonprofits, and universities. She procrastinates in Northern California, where she lives with her family, two dumb dogs, and an evil cat.
www.theveryworstmissionary.com
Sessions:
248 Failed Missionary
Kevin Garcia
Kevin Garcia is a speaker, creative, musician, content creator and worship artist based in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2013 with a BM in Music Education and has been everything from a barista to a corporate office worker to a non-profit professional since then. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a gay Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with his blog, theKevinGarcia.com, his podcast, “A Tiny Revolution,” on his YouTube channel where he unpacks theology and addresses life as a queer person of faith, and through speaking engagements at churches, universities, and festivals. Kevin also works with The Reformation Project, an LGBTQ direction action organization with a mission to make the global church more inclusive for queer people. He is presently a candidate for a Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. He believes that by telling our stories, we set others free to tell theirs.
www.theKevinGarcia.com
Sessions:
51 Bridges Over Battle Linesconversation.
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
248 Failed Missionary
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #248
How to start your own Beer and Hymns Chapter
Fri 4 PM | Landing
Claire Clybourn, Chad Markley, Kristen Howerton, Nate Baker-Lutz
Do you wish you had a local beer and hymns chapter? Why not be the founder? Come learn how to start your own chapter, from how to enlist musicians to song choices to finding that perfect venue.
Session #249
Beer and Hymns After Hours Sing-Along
Thu 10:15 PM, Fri & Sat 11:00 PM | Main Stage Lawn
Wild Goose Beer and Hymns House Band
Come join us directly after the mainstage show each night for a rowdy and fun all-skate sing-along of your favorite hymns. Part pub, part tent-revival, all music – we’ll sing the songs of faith at the top of our voices, nourished by some tasty brews. Wild Goose Beer and Hymns House Band is comprised of beer and hymns leaders from across the country, led by Chad Markley and Kristen Howerton (evening sessions) and Claire Clybourn (afternoon sessions.)
LISTEN
Session #250
Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall: Let’s share resources, chord charts, and song ideas!
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 8
Beer and Hymns House Band
Are you already doing beer and hymns locally? Come join other leaders to talk about song ideas, share chord charts, and gain resources and inspiration from other leaders. Wild Goose Beer and Hymns House Band is comprised of beer and hymns leaders from across the country, led by Chad Markley and Kristen Howerton (evening sessions) and Claire Clybourn (afternoon sessions.)
Session #251
Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Marketing and Social Media
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 8
Beer and Hymns House Band
Come join other beer and hymns leaders for a chat on best practice in terms of marketing your events and using social media to attract new people and keep your fans engaged.
Session #252
Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Managing the Band
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 8
Beer and Hymns House Band
Come chat with other beer and hymns leaders about how to recruit and manage a band for your local chapter, including communications, rehearsals, compensation (or lack thereof) and keeping your band engaged and happy.
Session #253
Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall: Partnerships with breweries, pubs, and concert venues
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 8
Beer and Hymns House Band
Come join other beer and hymns leaders to chat about best practice as you partner with breweries, bars, or concert venues for your events. We will talk the nitty gritty, from money to promotions, and what to do when you’ve outgrown your venue.
Session #254
Musical Performance: SkyBlew
Positive, inspirational hip hop
Fri 1 PM | Café
Fri 7:40 PM | Main Side
LISTEN
SkyBlew
Mario Farrow (SkyBlew) is a young hip hop emcee who resides in North Carolina by way of Auburn, Alabama. He is rapidly becoming the hip-hop voice for a new generation with a NEW SOUND… His music is very positive and inspirational but it still gets the fans’ attention with infectious beats and lyrics. Speaking from his life experiences such as: foster care, homelessness, and etc, he uses his message in hopes to make a difference and spread LOVE! He chose to rise above the dire circumstances and share his story. SkyBlew describes his sound as – Painting The Sky,Blew!!! Most say he is a breath of fresh air actually! Although he is an underdog, this young man still perseveres and has built a following that reaches far beyond the borders of this state. Following the narrative I Don’t Rap, I Paint The Sky,Blew!!! SkyBlew uses his sincere, substantive lyrics and colorful sound to breathe life into music and the world.
www.facebook.com/SkyBlewMusic
Sessions:
255 Musical Performance: SkyBlew
Session #255
Identity and Power: How to Use White Privilege for Good
Fri 4 PM | Studio
Crystal Byrd Farmer
We are all created in God’s image, but we have the tendency to self-segregate by race. How can we achieve social justice if we have not come to terms with the power and privilege we already have? This workshop will focus mainly on racial identity but will include a discussion of intersectionality with gender, orientation, and class identity.
Crystal Farmer
Crystal Byrd Farmer is an engineer turned educator. She is the organizer of New Culture Charlotte, owner of Big Sister Team Building, and editor of the Black & Poly online magazine. She is also writing a book and blogging about the history of her historically black neighborhood in Gastonia, NC. Her passion is encouraging people to change their perspectives on diversity and relationships. She identifies as black, bisexual, disabled, female, and neurodiverse.
www.bigsisterteams.com
Sessions:
256 Identity and Power
Session #256
Beads of Healing: Using Prayer Beads to Heal from Pain and Trauma
Sat Noon | Healing Arts
Kristen E. Vincent
We all have pain in our lives, to one degree or another. In addition to healing the body and mind, healing from pain and trauma must include healing our spirit. We may have questions for God, feelings we need to share with God, and a story we need God to hear. Prayer beads can offer a safe space in which to speak our truth and begin to heal our spirit. Join us as we consider the steps towards spiritual healing and wholeness using this ancient prayer practice.
Kristen Vincent
Kristen E. Vincent is an award-winning author, speaker, and artisan whose passion is spiritual formation, helping others heal from pain and trauma, and sharing the benefits of prayer beads. She is the author of three books on Protestant prayer beads, including A Bead and a Prayer: A Beginner’s Guide to Protestant Prayer Beads, and Beads of Healing: Prayer, Trauma, and Spiritual Wholeness. Kristen travels frequently to lead retreats and workshops. She is a graduate of Duke Divinity School and The Academy for Spiritual Formation (#34). She lives in Atlanta, Georgia, with her husband, Max, a United Methodist pastor, and their son, Matthew. Kristen loves words, the mountains, gatherings on her porch, and dark chocolate. Find her at www.prayerworksstudio.com
Sessions:
257 Beads of Healing
Session #257
Emotional Healing Through Free-Verse Poetry
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 5
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 5
Mikeala Evans or Ruth Adara
This class is designed to facilitate the healthy confrontation of one’s past or feelings for the purpose of putting them on paper in the form of free-verse poetry. Writing is often a powerful form of therapy, and one may often find that their experiences are far more relatable than they realized, and that often their healing process being written out can not only aid their healing, but the healing of others as well.
Mikeala Evans
As a domestic and sexual assault survivor, Mikeala turned to an old passion as a coping mechanism– writing. This decision produced her first poetry anthology, From Roots to Peace under the pen name of Ruth Adara. Through writing, specifically free verse poetry, she was able to confront her feelings and express them and a healthy and healing way. It was this experience which gave her a passion to aid others in doing the same, acting upon the belief that whether one’s experiences are positive or negative, they deserve to be expressed.
Sessions:
258 Free Verse Poetry
Session #258
Beer and Hymns Happy Hour
Fri 5 PM | Episcopal
Beer and Hymns House Band
Come join us in the afternoon for an acoustic sing-along of your favorite hymns. Part pub, part tent-revival, all music – we’ll sing the songs of faith at the top of our voices, nourished by some tasty brews.Wild Goose Beer and Hymns House Band is comprised of beer and hymns leaders from across the country, led by Chad Markley and Kristen Howerton (evening sessions) and Claire Clyburn (afternoon sessions.)
LISTEN
Session #259
Being in Relationship: How to Have Better Conversation about Sexual Orientation across Faith Communities
Fri Noon | Workshop
Sharon Groves, PhD
Sexual orientation continues to be a barrier in faith communities. Even as support for LGBTQ inclusion has expanded, the capacity for deep and sustaining relationships across religious differences continues to elude us. Our workshop will help attendees experiment with the best methodologies we know for having difficult conversations in faith communities about sexual orientation. Those who attend will leave with:(1) A research-driven understanding of how to have more impactful conversations about sexual orientation across communities of faith. (2) A range of successful strategies to listen, share, and be with people who do not see eye to eye.(3) Suggestions around a plan to engage difficult conversations with greater skill — and to train leaders in your community to facilitate such conversations in group settings.
Sharon Groves
Dr. Sharon Groves joined Auburn on August 2015 as Vice-President for Partner Engagement where she engages with movements, leaders, and organizations doing justice work grounded in faith and moral courage. Prior to joining Auburn’s staff, Sharon was a Senior Fellow for Auburn working at the intersection of faith, LGBTQ equality, and social justice. Sharon is the former Director of the Religion and Faith Program at HRC, where she worked from 2005-2014. Under her leadership, Sharon doubled the RFP staff, built a scholarship and mentorship program for LGBTQA religious scholars, engaged in breakthrough conversations with conservative religious leaders, and oversaw statewide faith organizing efforts in Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland and Washington State. Sharon received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Maryland in 2000 and has furthered her theological education through extensive course work at Chicago Theological Seminary, and the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.
auburnseminary.org
Sessions:
260 Being in Relationship
261 Being in Relationship
Brandan Robertson
Brandan is the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego, California, and the author or contributing author to six books. Acclaimed as one of “the most hope-inspiring young Christian leaders”, Brandan speaks to diverse audiences around the globe and has been an honored guest speaker at a wide range of venues, from the White House to the Parliament of the Worlds Religions. He serves as an adjunct lecturer at San Francisco Theological Seminary and lectures regularly at globally prestigious academic institutions ranging from Oxford University, University College of Dublin, Cardiff University, and Emory University. Brandan is currently a postulant in the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry & Theology from Moody Bible Institute and his Master of Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology. He currently resides in San Diego, California.
www.brandanrobertson.com
Sessions:
277 Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating Communities of Radical Embrace
261 Being in Relationship
260 Being in Relationship
Cedric Harmon
Reverend Cedric A. Harmon is a native Midwesterner with Southern and New England influences—a surprise last child to older parents who shared with him the gift of experience and wisdom. He has a BS in media management from Emerson College and has completed extensive graduate work at Wesley Theological Seminary.
Cedric’s deep faith calls him to do the work of justice and equality, and to equip others to do the same. He’s also nown for his writing and television appearances—again on human rights and social justice—and serves on several boards having to do with sexuality and religion.
He previously served as pastor of a “radically inclusive” congregation in Washington, DC. Currently, Cedric is Executive Director of Many Voices – a nonprofit creating a Black Church movement for gay and transgender justice. Follow him on social media @RevCedricMV.
Sessions:
260 Being in Relationship
261 Being in Relationship
Session #260
Being in Relationship: Practicum on Bridging Divides about Sexual Orientation across Faith Communities
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 8
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 3
Sharon Groves, PhD
Sexual orientation continues to be a barrier in faith communities. Even as support for LGBTQ inclusion has expanded, the capacity for deep and sustaining relationships across religious differences continues to elude us. This workshop is building off of our larger workshop, Being in Relationship: How to Have Better Conversation about Sexual Orientation across Faith Communities. This more intimate workshop will focus on deepening experiences having difficult conversations in faith communities about sexual orientation. Those who attend will leave with experience developing a plan to engage difficult conversations with greater skill — and to train leaders in your community to facilitate such conversations in group settings.
Sharon Groves
Dr. Sharon Groves joined Auburn on August 2015 as Vice-President for Partner Engagement where she engages with movements, leaders, and organizations doing justice work grounded in faith and moral courage. Prior to joining Auburn’s staff, Sharon was a Senior Fellow for Auburn working at the intersection of faith, LGBTQ equality, and social justice. Sharon is the former Director of the Religion and Faith Program at HRC, where she worked from 2005-2014. Under her leadership, Sharon doubled the RFP staff, built a scholarship and mentorship program for LGBTQA religious scholars, engaged in breakthrough conversations with conservative religious leaders, and oversaw statewide faith organizing efforts in Oregon, Illinois, Rhode Island, Maine, Maryland and Washington State. Sharon received her Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Maryland in 2000 and has furthered her theological education through extensive course work at Chicago Theological Seminary, and the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation.
auburnseminary.org
Sessions:
260 Being in Relationship
261 Being in Relationship
Brandan Robertson
Brandan is the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego, California, and the author or contributing author to six books. Acclaimed as one of “the most hope-inspiring young Christian leaders”, Brandan speaks to diverse audiences around the globe and has been an honored guest speaker at a wide range of venues, from the White House to the Parliament of the Worlds Religions. He serves as an adjunct lecturer at San Francisco Theological Seminary and lectures regularly at globally prestigious academic institutions ranging from Oxford University, University College of Dublin, Cardiff University, and Emory University. Brandan is currently a postulant in the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry & Theology from Moody Bible Institute and his Master of Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology. He currently resides in San Diego, California.
www.brandanrobertson.com
Sessions:
277 Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating Communities of Radical Embrace
261 Being in Relationship
260 Being in Relationship
Cedric Harmon
Reverend Cedric A. Harmon is a native Midwesterner with Southern and New England influences—a surprise last child to older parents who shared with him the gift of experience and wisdom. He has a BS in media management from Emerson College and has completed extensive graduate work at Wesley Theological Seminary.
Cedric’s deep faith calls him to do the work of justice and equality, and to equip others to do the same. He’s also nown for his writing and television appearances—again on human rights and social justice—and serves on several boards having to do with sexuality and religion.
He previously served as pastor of a “radically inclusive” congregation in Washington, DC. Currently, Cedric is Executive Director of Many Voices – a nonprofit creating a Black Church movement for gay and transgender justice. Follow him on social media @RevCedricMV.
Sessions:
260 Being in Relationship
261 Being in Relationship
Session #261
Queerology: A Podcast on Belief and Being
Fri 11 AM | GooseCast
Matthias Roberts
How might we live better as queer people of faith and allies? Matthias Roberts brings together theologians, psychologists, poets, thinkers, and change makers for conversations around belief and being. Previous guests include Jennifer Knapp, Julien Baker, Rachel Held Evans, Suzanne Stabile, Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza, Trey Pearson, and many others. In this live recording, join Matthias and a guest as they explore intersections of identity, faith, and queerness.
Matthias Roberts
Matthias Roberts is a writer, speaker, and host of Queerology: A Podcast on Belief and Being. His work has been featured in HuffPost Religion, Believe Out Loud, OnFaith, and The Oregonian. He holds a MA in Theology and Culture and a MA in Counseling Psychology. Matthias’s spare time is spent wandering the streets of Seattle ever in search of new coffee shops.
www.matthiasroberts.com
Sessions:
262 Queerology
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #262
WRITING FOR RESISTANCE
Fri 3 PM | Landing
Tanya Linn Bennett
In troubling times, religious leaders must rise up to protest, resist, and advocate. This workshop offers participants a glance at existing historic and contemporary words for worship, education, and public proclamation, and also invites participants to raise their own voices in developing original works of words for social action and justice-making.
Tanya Linn Bennett
An ordained elder in the UMC, Dr. Linn Bennett serves as Associate Dean for Vocation and Formation/Associate Professor of Public Theology and Vocation at Drew Theological School, where she teaches in the areas of emerging worship, and church and society, with particular interest in youth, social justice and urban ministries. She believes that interactive, inspiring public proclamation moves us towards justice-making and inclusivity.
Sessions:
263 Writing for Resistance: Writing words and raising voices for social action.
Session #263
Musical Performance: Bobby Jo Valentine
Letting Go, Leaning In, and the Tribeless Tribe
Fri 4 PM | Café
Sat 7:40 PM | Main Side
Bobby Jo Valentine’s soulful, poetic songs have connected with thousands of spiritual seekers around the world looking for a new way to speak about faith and healing and belonging. Having recently lost his home to a fire last year, and losing his faith eight years ago to an ever-expanding new way of believing, Bobby comes to Wild Goose with stories and songs about what to do after losing something you love, how to grieve, and what it means to be a part of the Tribeless Tribe of Jesus. Dar Williams has said “Bobby has the spirit and songs to bring us back to believing. Whatever our faiths, he has the humor, compassion, words, and music to help us believe again.” Bobby Jo Valentine is a soulful, poetic songwriter who lives on the northern coast of California and tours the nation full-time, connecting and sharing music with fellow seekers of love, faith, and justice. He has won Song of the Year three times at the West Coast Songwriter’s Association, and among others has performed at the Emerge Conference, the Gay Christian Network conference, and the UCC General Synod. He’s also recently given a TED talk on loss and healing. He currently lives as Artist-in-Residence in Los Altos, California, and writes songs about the everyday spiritual awakenings of an open-hearted life.
LISTEN
Bobby Jo Valentine
Growing up along the windy coasts of northern California in a rigid and conservative Baptist culture, Bobby Jo Valentine slowly (and painfully) emerged from his traditional roots and has since plunged head-first into a deeper, wilder, more affirming love and faith than he ever thought possible. He discovered his love for music and began performing. His music often strikes the universal, hopeful chord that runs through all of humanity, and his thoughtful lyricism has recently won him Songwriter of the Year at West Coast Songwriter’s Association and travels the nation singing to everyone willing to listen.
http://www.bobbyjovalentine.com
Sessions:
264 Musical Performance: Bobby Jo Valentine
Session #264
Creation Care: Practicing Love-Practical Seeds for Change
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 6
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 6
Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina
First Baptist Church of Asheville and The Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina will offer a hands-on look at a variety of practical ways small and large communities can address poverty, climate change, food resiliency, and creation care. This workshop will offer a variety of entrance points into the creation care conversation, whether you or your congregation are just getting started or are ready to mentor other congregations, this workshop will provide an opportunity to grow more deeply into caring for neighbors and creation. Creative local acts are critical for this time in human history. This workshop will illumine current and future ways to encourage creation care in your context.
Scott Hardin-Nieri
Scott Hardin-Nieri is partner, dad, spiritual director, pastor, and sojourner. He is the Director of the Creation Care Alliance of Western North Carolina and Associate Minister of Green Chalice of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Prior to living in North Carolina, Scott and his family served in the vulnerable cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. There he learned to how to climb Fig Strangler trees, spot Two-toed Sloths, call like a Mot Mot, and listen to people and nature in a new way. Scott is an ordained pastor with the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and enjoys accompanying people during transformative experiences, whether during hikes, spiritual direction, wilderness quests, shared stories, service learning trips, live music concerts, camps or retreats. He continues to be reminded of his true self most clearly in the forests, oceans and deserts and seeks to invite others, particularly faith communities into conversations regarding creation. www.creationcarealliance.org
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
265 Creation Care: A Practice of Love
Tommy Bratton
Rev. Tommy Bratton, Minister of Christian Formation, First Baptist Church, Asheville Tommy leads the spiritual formation ministry of the church, which seeks to explore the connection between faith and everyday life through spiritual practices, Bible study, theological reflection, creation care, and cultural engagement. Tommy enjoys reading, listening to classic country songs, playing ping pong, and watching sports.
Sessions:
265 Creation Care: Practicing Love
Marian Sadler
Marian Sadler is the Creation Care Team Leader of First Baptist Church of Asheville where she inspires her congregation to be creative regarding their faithful responses to the current ecological and social crises.
Sessions:
265 Creation Care: Practicing Love
Session #265
Musical Performance: Alathea
Story.Song.Community
Fri 8:40 PM | Main Side
Sat 12 PM | Café
Rooted in the Appalachian Mountains, the duo Alathea (Mandee Radford Langely and Cristi Johnson) create and perform original and traditional music in what they call Front-Porch-style, using eclectic instruments (including banjo, dulcimer, harmonica, washboard), thick modern harmonies, and engaging storytelling of life on the road, with children, as women trying to figure out what faith looks like, taking cues from nature, being mothers, and meeting neighbors along the way. Winners of numerous acoustic music and songwriting awards — including the 2011 We Are Listening International Singer/Songwriter competition and Best Group/Duo at the International Acoustic Music Awards (2010) — Alathea takes stories from their own lives and weaves them into music that’s instantly relatable. Perhaps such relevance is because the music is born from community. Their approach has taken Alathea around the country and across the world playing concerts, festivals, and special events each year that include NPR’s Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour, Pennsylvania’s acclaimed Musikfest, Bristol’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion, as well as performances in Europe and Asia. Alathea’s recent partnership with Appalachia Service Project (ASP) serves to celebrate and spread the news of ASP’s work to help eradicate substandard housing in the Appalachian mountains where Mandee and Cristi live with their families. Alathea’s latest full-length recording of traditional hymns, “His Eye Is On the Sparrow,” was selected by Coverfolk as one on the Best Traditional Folk Albums of 2017.
LISTEN
Alathea
Winners of numerous acoustic music and songwriting awards—including the 2011 We Are Listening International Singer/Songwriter competition and Best Group/Duo at the International Acoustic Music Awards (2010)—Alathea takes stories from their own lives and weaves them into music that’s instantly relatable. Perhaps such relevance is because the music is born from community; And that approach has taken Alathea around the country and across the world playing concerts, festivals and special events that include NPR’s Woodsongs Old Time Radio Hour, Pennsylvania’s acclaimed Musikfest, Bristol’s Rhythm and Roots Reunion, as well as performances in Europe and Asia. Alathea’s partnership with Appalachia Service Project serves to celebrate and spread the news of ASP’s work to help eradicate substandard housing in the Appalachian mountains where Mandee and Cristi live with their families.
Alathea’s latest recording His Eye Is On the Sparrow was selected by Coverfolk as one of the Best Traditional Folk Albums of 2017.
alathea.com
Sessions:
266 Musical Performance: Alathea
Session #266
Sex and Intimate Justice: Exploring Narratives of Patriarchy, Female Sexuality, and Messages in the Church
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 1
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 1
Dr. Emily Stone
There is a hidden and not so hidden curriculum throughout spiritual formation in the church, particularly the Evangelical church, that teaches both males and females about power, gender, and expectations for sex. What are some of these messages? How are they the same and different from societal messages? How do these lessons in power, gender, and sex influence males, females, and relationships over time? Dr. Stone will engage participants in a dialogue on this subject as well as make room for them to share their insight, examples, and stories.
Emily Stone
A little bit of a gypsy and a little bit of a machine, Dr. Emily Stone is a question lover. She looks for gratitude, grace, hope, and tenderness in everyday adventure, details, and relationships. She is a professor at Pfeiffer University for their graduate program in marriage and family therapy and also runs a private practice as a licensed marriage and family therapist in Charlotte, North Carolina. Her areas of interest include trauma, sexual identity, spirituality, transition, grief, anger, depression, and anxiety as well as work with couples and families around relationship conflict and transition. Emily loves long walks, eating outside, talks over wine or coffee, and pretty much anything outside. She can be found online on Instagram @hopeandhealingmft, on twitter @emilyelizabeth1 or @hopeandhealingmft, and on Facebook at For Hope and Healing. Her podcast Unstuck, focuses on any and all issues where we tend to get “stuck” in life and can be found on any podcast platform.
www.stonewritten.com
Sessions:
241 Sex and Intimate Justice
267 Sex and Intimate Justice
Session #267
Musical Performance: Jenna Lindbo
Cosmic Collaboration: Encountering the Divine through Music & Songwriting
Sat 11 AM | Café
What if we thought about creativity as a collaboration with the Divine, an invitation to encounter and co-create with God, Spirit, or Source? The invitation is open to every one of us – the self-described “artists” and folks who claim “honey, I don’t have a creative bone in my body.” The truth is, YOU are a wondrous creation, a unique expression of life with a divine spark. We were made to create and share our light. What if we leaned in more fully and embraced that invitation, followed those creative sparks and cranial fireworks, and listened to quiet callings? What fills you with delight? When do you feel connected to God? How do you tap into the Infinite? Ponder these questions and join singer-songwriter, Jenna Lindbo, for a life-affirming, conversational performance tracing unexpected intersections and encounters with the Divine through song and story.
LISTEN
Jenna Lindbo
Singer. Songwriter. Dog-lover. Bike-rider turned banjo player. Jenna Lindbo is a big-hearted human and multi-instrumentalist who loves creating connection and building community through music. Before putting roots down in NC, she spent a number of years touring full time, performing with Catie Curtis and sharing original music from coast to coast. Nowadays, Jenna lives with her wife in Asheville, where she serves as minister of music at Land of the Sky UCC and enjoys being part of a vibrant community rooted in the Mountains. She still travels to different pockets of the map, bringing music to conferences, classrooms, workshops, and retreats. Track her down at the Goose or reach out after the festival if you’d like to learn more about songwriting retreats or to find out about her collaborations with a positive psychologist, where music, stories, and science are intertwined with soulful reflection and life-affirming work.
www.jennalindbo.com
Sessions:
268 Musical Performance: Jenna Lindbo
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
Session #268
Roman Catholic Mass
Sun 9 AM | Portal
Come and worship with us as we celebrate Mass for the Fifteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time, Goose-style. All are welcome whether you are a regular church-goer, a lapsed or ex-Catholic, or are just curious as to what goes on during Roman Catholic liturgy. Music provided by Terry Gonda and Islands of Mercy.
Fr. Les Schmidt
Fr. Les Schmidt is a Roman Catholic priest with the Glenmary Home Missioners who service the US rural South. He has dedicated his life to being an advocate for social justice and serving the rural poor. Among other roles, he is a founding member of the Catholic Committee of Appalachia and is active in the Catholic Committee of the South. He has been a tireless advocate for immigration reform, workers’ rights and for any others who are marginalized. He speaks out regularly against mountaintop removal, racism, and the private prison industry. He is affectionately known by many as an itinerant priest who virtually lives out of his car, crisscrossing the US South whenever a voice for justice or a caring pastoral presence is needed.
Sessions:
269 Roman Catholic Mass
Terry Gonda
Music Curation/Board of Directors
Teresa Gonda is a wife, an Ignatian-trained spiritual director, a singer-songwriter, a Catholic music minister, an engineer, and an organizational development consultant. But it is the persistent aching in her soul for a deeper connection with the Divine Mystery that calls her towards the identity she treasures most: a “mystic in training”.
Drawing from the complexities of her own journey as a Catholic, lesbian, engineer, artist; Terry Gonda has been weaving stories of hope and inspiration through song for over 30 years. Her voice is strikingly soul-stirring, yet it is her passion, humor, and raw vulnerability that connect deep within the listener. Traversing genres of folk, pop, country and coffeehouse rock; she pairs her powerful vocals with skillful and playful guitar – from dynamic rock rhythms to delicate harmonic-laced finger style.
www.terrygonda.com/
Sessions:
269 Roman Catholic Mass
328 Goose in the Round
Session #269
FREE THE GIRLS: Ending Child Marriage In The US
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 3
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 3
Ashley Easter
When you hear the term “child marriage,” what does your mind conjure? An ancient practice predicated long, long ago? Perhaps you think of undeveloped countries overseas. What if I told you that child marriage happens here in the US too, and it’s legal in all 50 states? 248,000 children were married in the US between 2000 and 2010. Of those children, 77% were girls married to adult men and, in some cases, girls were married off as young as eleven. Join me as I share stories of child brides, educate the audience of the cultural and religious practices that contribute to this human rights violation, the strong political opposition, and what we can do to end child marriage in our lifetime.
Ashley Easter
Ashley Easter is an author, speaker, and abuse-victim advocate who educates churches and secular communities on abuse, safe practices, and effective resources.
At 22 she freed herself from a religious group that systematically devalued women.
Now she works to liberate other victims of abuse from toxic theology and encourage them along their journey back to wholeness.
Ashley founded The Courage Conference, a survivor-centered movement focused on self-healing, to empower victims to discover their courage and reclaim their freedom through connection, learning, and advocacy. She is the author of The Courage Coach: A Practical, Friendly Guide on How to Heal From Abuse and Cults: Hidden in Plain Sight.
www.AshleyEaster.com
www.TheCourageConference.com
Twitter: @ashleymeaster Facebook: /ashleymeaster
Sessions:
45 Religious Cults Hidden in Plain Sight
270 Ending Child Marriage In The US
Session #270
Pentecostals, Peace & Justice in the Trump Era
Fri 5 PM | River
Panel Discussion with open dialogue on the opportunities and challenges that progressive Pentecostals face during the Trump era.
Rick Waldrop
Now serving as Executive Director of THE SHALOM PROJECT, Rick and his wife, Janice, are former career missionaries of Church of God World Missions, having served for over 40 years at different posts in five countries, including Guatemala, Costa Rica, Honduras, Ecuador and the U.S.A.
In his preaching, teaching and practical ministry, Rick has consistently championed the cause of holistic mission in which evangelization and social action are held together, and he has worked in partnership with many others in planting churches and establishing social ministry among the most vulnerable sectors of society (impoverished children, battered women, drug addicts, under-served indigenous communities) throughout Latin America. Most recently, Dr. Waldrop served as the Social Ministries Coordinator for the Church of God in Latin America and continues travels extensively as a visiting professor of missiology at many colleges and seminaries.
theshalomprojectinternational.org
Sessions:
271 Pentecostals, Peace & Justice in the Trump Era
Bec Cranford
Volunteer Coordinator
Bec Cranford is a self-identified Bapticostal misfit preacher* from Atlanta, Georgia. When she’s not hanging out with her dog Basil or painting, you can probably find her at the Gateway Center working to make homelessness brief and rare in the city. Or at Candler School of Theology, rocking her students’ socks off. Or, preaching, marrying folks, or sitting on her front porch with friends, having conversations about life, God, and everything in between. This year at the Goose, Bec’s happy to serve as Volunteer Coordinator and offer hospitality to everybody she meets.
Sessions:
271 Pentecostals, Peace & Justice in the Trump Era
Daniel Rushing
Daniel found Jesus in the sweat and fervor of a rural Pentecostal church. While his Pentecostal roots run deep, he has been privileged to work ecumenically across denominational and traditional lines. While earning his Master of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University he served as a coordinator for racial justice conversations for students on campus. He currently resides in Charlotte, NC with his wife Crystal and two daughters, Bianca and Olivia. He is currently the pastor of Renovatus Church, a church for liars, dreamers, and misfits.
Sessions:
271 Pentecostals, Peace & Justice in the Trump Era
Terry Threadwell
Terry is a pastor, professor, and prophet (modern-day social activist). At 64, Terry is one of the oldest Millennials around. Passionate about social justice, peace and creation care, having written several short articles on the subject. An ardent socialist, he rejects the liberal tag often attached by some (Liberal, a want-to-be socialist, living a conservative lifestyle) Terry holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Pentecostal Theological Seminary. Married to Ann for 42 years, he has three children, five grandchildren and yes, two great-grandchildren.
Sessions:
271 Pentecostals, Peace & Justice in the Trump Era
Session #271
Just As They Are: Ending Conversion Therapy in Our Communities
Sat 10 AM | Landing
Carolyn Reyes
LGBTQ youth experience efforts to change their sexual orientation or gender identity as family rejection, resulting in negative health and mental health outcomes, including depression, substance abuse, and even suicide. But some mental health providers continue to subject young LGBTQ people to these practices — known as “conversion therapy” — even though they have been condemned by every major medical and mental health organization in the country. In this session, we will explore what is conversion therapy and how it manifests in our communities, the harms associated with conversion therapy, and what we can do to help put an end to these dangerous practices. We will also hear from a survivor about her journey from shame and trauma to freedom and healing.
Carolyn Reyes
Carolyn Reyes is Youth Policy Counsel at the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR), where she coordinates the Born Perfect campaign to end conversion therapy. She is a national expert on issues related to LGBTQ youth in child welfare and juvenile justice who has spent over two decades working on behalf of marginalized children, youth and families in various capacities, including children’s attorney, child welfare worker, children and family therapist, and school counselor. Carolyn received her J.D. from UC Hastings College of the Law, her M.S.W. from San Francisco State University, her M.A. in Theology (Religion & Society) from Pacific School of Religion, and her B.A. from Wheaton College (IL).
http://www.nclrights.org/our-work/bornperfect/
Sessions:
272 Just As They Are
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera is a 30+ year veteran of the LGBTQ and Labor movements. Lisbeth has extensive experience organizing and training at the intersections of sexual orientation, gender identity, and culture specifically as they relate to communities of color. Lisbeth has crisscrossed the country training workers and community leaders in organizing, leadership development, and community building strategies from a grassroots perspective. She has also done extensive work supporting LGBTQ leaders in America Latina.
Currently, Lisbeth, is the Director of Faith Outreach & Training at the Human Rights Campaign, where she works with people of faith across denominations to ensure we can be who we are, love who we love, and practice our faith free of judgement.
Lisbeth ia a biologist and sociologist by education, with a solid Jesuit and SND formation that makes her passions flare and her days move forward. Today Lisbeth lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, alongside her wife, Lisa Weiner- Mahfuz, and their chosen family, both human and furry!!
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
196 Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera Topic TBD
390 A Conversation with Lisbeth Melendez Rivera
272 Just As They Are
Deb Cuny
Deb Cuny is a Restorative Justice Coach in the Oakland public school system working to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline. She is also an advisory member for the #BornPerfect Campaign to End Conversion Therapy. As a conversion therapy and “ex-gay ministries” survivor, Deb speaks out on behalf of the campaign appearing in national media outlets such as Huffington Post, The Guardian, VICE, New York Magazine’s The Cut, and Mashable.
After years of rejection from parts of the church, Deb has returned to her faith tradition graduating with an MDiv. from the Graduate Theological Union. Deb invests her time helping others heal from conversion therapy and spiritual abuse.
Sessions:
272 Just As They Are
Session #272
Musical Performance: Paul Demer and Ben Grace
Fri 2 PM | Café
Paul Demer
Drawing from the 70s singer-songwriter tradition, peculiar nostalgia, and wide-eyed wonder, Paul Demer weaves spiritual imagery with personal autobiography to craft melodic and lyrical folk music. Since 2011, he’s toured across the country in support of two LPs and shared festival and concert bills with Indigo Girls, Jars of Clay, Sara Groves, and Gungor. Demer’s third full-length, I’m Glad You’re Still Around, will be released in the summer of 2018.
In partnership with Texas Winds Musical Outreach, a non-profit that brings live music to some of society’s most forgotten, Demer has performed over 500 concerts in hospitals and nursing homes across Dallas, TX.
www.pauldemer.com
LISTEN
Sessions:
273 Musical Performance: Paul Demer and Ben Grace
Ben Grace
Ben Grace is an Australian singer songwriter based in Brooklyn, New York. Persistent and prolific, Ben has had more than 50 songs released and has written with many artists in a range of genres from power pop to country. He has a passion for local craft beer, good stories, messy community, and better questions. Ben plans to release a single every month on Spotify throughout 2018.
www.bengracemusic.com
LISTEN
Sessions:
273 Music Performance: Paul Demer and Ben Grace
Session #273
Creative Rite-ing, New Ritual Creation
Sat 1 PM | Healing Arts
Rev. Dr. Chris Davies and Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey, United Church of Christ
We have religious rites for things like confirmation and installing a new pastor. What about when a community experiences collective trauma like gun violence? What about when a friend has a double mastectomy? What about a job transition or planting new vegetables in the garden? What if we just think our neighborhood needs a little more magic? Join Rev. Dr. Chris Davies and Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey for this participatory and very practical workshop that will be playful, hopeful, healing and heartfelt. Chris and Tracy both work for the National Setting of the United Church of Christ seeking innovation, innovators, creative conspirators, and the rest towards building a just world for all. Chris has years of experience writing rituals for all manner of life circumstance and happening in and out of the church. Tracy is a songwriter, music producer, and liturgist. They are pretty excited to have fun facilitating this together and would love you to join them!
Chris Davies
Chris S. Davies is the curator of Queer Clergy Trading Cards. She currently works for the United Church of Christ and is the point person for Congregational Assessment, Support, and Advancement at the National offices. Chris is a local beer enthusiast, creative queer liturgist, and dreamer beyond the normative church. She is a Connecticut native, a Cleveland transplant, and a wandering Irish Rover at heart. This project is a project of revolutionary love, bringing visibility to queer clergy, using humor and irreverence to help change the conversation to highlight common awe (and absurdities) in faith work. The project tells the stories of what oft is an isolating experience, and invites community beyond denomination. Chris loves Jesus and church deeply, and wants to help vision how we can transform the world, for the sake of the Gospel.
www.queerclergytradingcards.org
Sessions:
274 Creative Rite-ing, New Ritual Creation
304 From the Building to the Bus
305 Lament in the Church
Session #274
Musical Performance: Tracy Howe Wispelwey
The Liturgy of #Charlottesville
Fri 6 PM | Café
In the aftermath of August 12, 2017, in Charlottesville, people are often shocked to learn we were preparing for months, organizing and training daily. Clergy, BLM activists, anarchists, SURJ activists, and more all learned to work together to confront the violence of white supremacy. To prepare and frame our actions as people of faith, a mass prayer service was planned the night before, patterned after the mass prayer gatherings that occurred before civil disobedience during the Civil Rights Movement. Through the liturgy we connected with a legacy spanning generations, cultures, and religions. We remembered that our activism work is toward a sustained justice marked by beauty and community. Join artist, activist, and liturgist, Rev. Tracy Howe Wispelwey, who led the liturgical planning and resistance in Charlottesville. We will go through some of the liturgy and music of that night and talk about liturgy as direct action and how cultural workers of faith uniquely enter into movement work.
LISTEN
Session #275
Holding Space for God and One Another (Practice)
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 8
Aline Defiglia and David Bollt
Many of us long for connection with God as comfort from the pain and messiness of the world. But if Immanuel is “God with us”, than one way to get closer to God is to more fully embrace whatever is happening right now … in each and every moment.Join Aline and David for a fun and illuminating journey, as we practice holding space for what IS. Together we’ll explore what’s possible when we look for God in our connections with one another. You can expect to leave this session with potent tools, perspectives and understandings to help you deepen and clarify your relationships … with life, yourself, others, and with God.
Aline Defiglia
Aline Defiglia is a licensed psychotherapist adventuring at the intersection of health, healing, and the restoration of connection with self, others, and the sacred. Her practice specializes in mind and body healing modalities, life coaching, hypnotherapy, and team performance consulting. Aline is also a Certified Senior Advisor and serves as a foundational partner and facilitator with the Life Compass Living Community. She and her husband are currently in the process of moving from Chicago, IL to Chattanooga, TN. Discover more at ABWellness.life.
https://lifecompassliving.com/
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
114 Life Compass Living
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
David Bollt
“Whatever I’m seeking in life, I realize I’m not going to find it alone. I believe our greatest opportunities for fulfillment and a sense of true connection can be found in relationship with others. I love creating spaces where we put aside all other distractions and dive into what really matters … being with people.”
Through years of personal transformation and relational training, David has cultivated a remarkable capacity to help people illuminate unconscious behavior patterns that cause them to suffer. Along with events in Asheville, North Carolina, he leads weekend workshops and retreats around the country, including the Servant Leadership School and the world famous Authentic Man Program. With his fluency in transformational work, David sees group facilitation and personal growth as an art form. He has developed his own highly articulate style of helping people realize authenticity and freedom.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
319 Practicing the Presence of People
Session #276
Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating Communities of Radical Embrace
Fri 1 PM | Living Room
Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating Communities of Radical Embrace
Based on my new book by the same title, this presentation will explore the need for individuals and communities to move beyond conversations about including marginalized groups to becoming communities that embrace the imperative for radical embrace that is central to the Gospel. The impact of adopting this posture fundamentally changes the mission and makeup of a faith community, and requires a complete and total transformation in the way we incarnate our Christian faith.
Brandan Robertson
Brandan is the Lead Pastor of Missiongathering Christian Church in San Diego, California, and the author or contributing author to six books. Acclaimed as one of “the most hope-inspiring young Christian leaders”, Brandan speaks to diverse audiences around the globe and has been an honored guest speaker at a wide range of venues, from the White House to the Parliament of the Worlds Religions. He serves as an adjunct lecturer at San Francisco Theological Seminary and lectures regularly at globally prestigious academic institutions ranging from Oxford University, University College of Dublin, Cardiff University, and Emory University. Brandan is currently a postulant in the Order of Ecumenical Franciscans, and earned his bachelor’s degree in Pastoral Ministry & Theology from Moody Bible Institute and his Master of Theological Studies from Iliff School of Theology. He currently resides in San Diego, California.
www.brandanrobertson.com
Sessions:
277 Beyond Inclusion: Cultivating Communities of Radical Embrace
261 Being in Relationship
260 Being in Relationship
Session #277
Gathering The Goose: FIERCE JOY
Thu 6:30 PM | Main Stage
Peggy Campolo, Brian McLaren, Julian DeShazier, Rebecca Anderson, The Many
Fierce Joy! From the invocation with Peggy Campolo, through music with The Many, storytelling from Rebecca Anderson, and Brian McLaren and Julian DeShazier teaming up to preach – the Wild Goose community gathers to be grounded, to be encouraged, to be inspired, and to be launched – because gathering in a faith community can multiply our joys and divide our sorrows.
Peggy Campolo
Peggy Campolo has been an advocate for justice for her GLBTQ sisters and brothers since 1994. She makes it clear that she stands with these children of God, not in spite of the fact that she is a follower of Jesus Christ, but because of it. She is committed to traditional family values, including the rights and responsibilities of marriage for all God’s children, not just those who happen to be straight, and believes that too often the Bible has been misused to condemn and oppress God’s GLBTQ children.
Peggy wants her GLBTQ sisters and brothers to know that God loves them just as they are. She has used her many opportunities to speak at conferences, churches, and colleges, to tell their stories to those who do not understand them, be those people their parents, their neighbors, their classmates, their teachers, their churches, their pastors or their representatives in government.
Among her writings is a chapter in a book edited by Walter Wink, “Homosexuality and the Christian Faith – Questions of Conscience for the Churches.”
Sessions:
278 Gathering the Goose
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Julian DeShazier
Board Member
As a national speaker, advocate and emcee, Julian “J.Kwest” DeShazier has appeared on ABC, CBS, FOX, and Dr. Maya Angelou’s “Oprah & Friends” radio program. J.Kwest is also an Emmy Award-winning musician, featured in the video “Strange Fruit,” a commemoration of the Billie Holiday song and a meditation on racial violence. In 2012 he and his group, Verbal Kwest, appeared in the OXFAM and Bread for the World-produced documentary The Line, providing a critical voice against poverty and violence in the US. The Chicago native and graduate of Morehouse College and the University of Chicago is also pastor of University Church, which most recently worked on a campaign for a trauma center on Chicago’s South Side. J is an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School and McCormick Theological Seminary, and is a regular contributor to Sojourners and Huffington Post publications.
www.jkwest.com/
Sessions:
278 Gathering The Goose
381 Musical Performance: J.Kwest
Rebecca Anderson
Storytelling
Rev Rebecca Anderson (church planter, Gilead Chicago; co-pastor, Bethany UCC) is ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She has a MDiv from the University of Chicago and a BA in Playwrighting from Hampshire College. A believer in the power of the spoken word, Rebecca’s been on Snap Judgment (radio) and The Broad Experience (podcast). In Chicago, Rebecca has worked with story-telling companies like 2nd Story, The Moth, This Much is True, and Do Not Submit. As Earshot Stories, Rebecca has developed and teaches workshops designed to introduce the craft of storytelling, foster interpersonal connection, and develop the ability of individuals to interpret stories and other texts, including Scripture. (EarshotStories.com) After a trip to Vancouver, technically speaking, she does this internationally. Outside of work, she’s about potlucks, gardening, weaving, knitting, bicycling (in season), or doing *nothing* on Chicago’s beaches.
www.GileadChicago.org
Sessions:
278 Gathering The Goose
329 StorySlam
330 Build a Story
331 Midnight Story Open Mic
The Many
The Many is an indie folk/Gospel, liturgically-grounded, new kind of worship band — an intentionally diverse collective creating music for people who want to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly, and follow the Jesus who so loves the world. This independent band’s first release, “Advent & Christmas 2015”, spent six weeks in the top five, new and notable Christian/Gospel downloads on Noisetrade, and was chosen as one of the six best Christmas albums of the year by the nationally syndicated radio program, “Under the Radar.”
The Many are from Chicago, Illinois, and include singers Darren Calhoun, Leslie Michelle, Hannah Rand, and Gary Rand. Most of their songs are written by Hannah Rand, Gary Rand, and Lenora Rand.
LISTEN
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
278 Gathering the Goose
411 This is My Body: A Wild & Holy Late-Night Communion
Session #278
Waking The Goose (Friday)
Fri 8:30 AM | Main Stage
Barbara Brown Taylor, Bryan Sirchio, Bryan Johnson, Mark Miller, and Ken Medema
Wake up Wild Goose – Edition #1 with Barbara Brown Taylor. It’s a new day and the Wild Goose community comes together. Bryan Sirchio, Mark Miller, Bryan Johnson, and Ken Medema will lead and Barbara Brown Taylor will speak – by the way, the first of two of the Top 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English Language speaking at the 2018 Wild Goose. (CNN, May 1, 2018)
Barbara Brown Taylor
Barbara Brown Taylor is a New York Times best-selling author, college professor, and Episcopal priest. Her first memoir, Leaving Church, won a 2006 Author of the Year award from the Georgia Writers Association. Her last book, Learning to Walk in the Dark, was featured on the cover of TIME magazine. She has served on the faculty of Piedmont College since 1998 as the Butman Professor of Religion and has been a guest speaker at Emory, Duke, Princeton, and Yale, as well as a guest on SuperSoul Sunday with Oprah Winfrey. Taylor and her husband Ed live on a farm in the foothills of the Appalachians, sharing space with wild turkeys, red foxes, white-tailed deer and far too many chickens.
http://www.barbarabrowntaylor.com/bio.htm
Sessions:
215 Barbara Brown Taylor
279 Waking The Goose
Bryan Sirchio
Curator, Music Revolution
Bryan Sirchio is an ordained minister who joined forces with well known author Brian McLaren and Rev. Cameron Trimble of the Center for Progressive Renewal in Atlanta to form a new worship music company called The Convergence Music Project (CMP). In 2012, Bryan published a book called The 6 Marks of Progressive Christian Worship Music ,which articulates the theological parameters for a new genre of worship music with progressive lyrics and theology. As of May, 2016, Bryan has released 14 CDs, 4 study guides, and 4 songbooks in all. Bryan Sirchio has also traveled extensively since 1987 offering concerts, leading worship services and retreats, and offering keynote addresses at various regional and national conferences. Bryan has also worked extensively with grass roots organizations in Haiti since 1991. He’s a founding member and leader of an organization called Haiti Allies www.haitiallies.org, that supports education, meal programs, and job creation in Haiti.
sirchio.com
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
214 Brian Sirchio
Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson is the Executive Director of Sacred Music and Movement at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Under Bryan’s direction, all genres of African American sacred music – from the drums and complex harmonies of West Africa; to the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of the West Indies; to the jazz and blues influences of the southern United States; to traditional, contemporary, and neo-soul forms of American gospel – are performed by Trinity’s choirs and liturgical groups. He is the executive producer of “Stay Connected,” Trinity’s latest music project, which debuted earlier this year at number five on Billboard’s gospel charts.
A native of Chicago, Bryan received his Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music. His family roots from Jamaica, Barbados, and Louisiana helped form the foundation of his musical prowess. He is heavily influenced by gospel greats such as Charles Clency and Thomas Whitfield. Additional musical influencers include Dave Grusin, David Foster, and other jazz, rhythm and blues, and soul artists.
LISTEN
Sessions:
280 Waking The Goose
Mark Miller
Mark serves as Assistant Professor of Church Music at Drew Theological School and is a lecturer in the Practice of Sacred Music at Yale University. He is also the Minister of Music of Christ Church in Summit, New Jersey.
Since 1999, Mark has led music for United Methodists and others around the country, including directing music for the 2008 General Conference. His choral anthems are best sellers for Abingdon Press and Choristers Guild, and his hymns are published in “Worship & Song”, “Sing! Prayer and Praise”, “Zion Still Sings”, “Amazing Abundance”, “The Faith We Sing”, and others.
Mark received his Bachelor of Arts in Music from Yale University and his Master of Music in Organ Performance from Juilliard. Mark is a lifelong United Methodist. He is the grandson, son, brother, uncle, and cousin to United Methodist clergy. As a lay delegate to the 2000 and 2004 and 2012 General Conferences, Mark was a witness to Christ’s mission of breaking down the dividing walls of hostility and fear in the United Methodist Church.
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
232 Mark Miller, Topic TBD
Session #279
Waking The Goose
Otis Moss, III, Bryan Johnson, and Chicago’s Trinity UCC Church Choir
Sat 8:30 AM | Main Stage
Wake up Wild Goose – Edition #2 with Otis Moss, III. It’s another new day and the Wild Goose community again comes together. Bryan Johnson and the Trinity UCC Choir will lead and Otis Moss, III will speak (by the way, the second of two of the Top 12 Most Effective Preachers in the English Language speaking at the 2018 Wild Goose. (CNN, May 1, 2018)
Otis Moss III
Otis Moss III is the Senior Pastor of the 8,000-member Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, “preaching a Black theology that unapologetically calls attention to the problems of mass incarceration, environmental justice, and economic inequality.” As a recipient of the 2016 NAACP Chairman’s Award, Dr. Moss was named one of 5 trailblazing leaders under the age of 50 who have “given voice and vision to the mantra that black lives matter.” With a unique gift to communicate across generations, Dr. Moss’ creative Bible-based messages have inspired young and old alike. He is highly influenced by the works of Zora Neale Hurston, August Wilson, Howard Thurman, Jazz, and Hip-Hop music. The work and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and the pastoral ministry of his father, Dr. Otis Moss, Jr. of Cleveland, Ohio, have been primary mentors for his spiritual formation.
www.trinitychicago.org
Sessions:
210 Otis Moss III, topic TBD
280 Waking The Goose
Bryan Johnson
Bryan Johnson is the Executive Director of Sacred Music and Movement at Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, Illinois. Under Bryan’s direction, all genres of African American sacred music – from the drums and complex harmonies of West Africa; to the Afro-Caribbean rhythms of the West Indies; to the jazz and blues influences of the southern United States; to traditional, contemporary, and neo-soul forms of American gospel – are performed by Trinity’s choirs and liturgical groups. He is the executive producer of “Stay Connected,” Trinity’s latest music project, which debuted earlier this year at number five on Billboard’s gospel charts.
A native of Chicago, Bryan received his Master of Music Education from VanderCook College of Music. His family roots from Jamaica, Barbados, and Louisiana helped form the foundation of his musical prowess. He is heavily influenced by gospel greats such as Charles Clency and Thomas Whitfield. Additional musical influencers include Dave Grusin, David Foster, and other jazz, rhythm and blues, and soul artists.
LISTEN
Sessions:
280 Waking The Goose
Session #280
Sending The Goose
Sun 11 AM | Main Stage
Jacqui Lewis, Amy Grant, Trinity UCC Choir, GooseHouse, Ken Medema, a community parade, and more!
Sending the Goose – Join in celebration and in reflection with great preaching from Jacqui Lewis, and music from the Trinity UCC Choir, Amy Grant, GooseHouse, Ken Medema, a Goosey parade, and more! Leaning forward in faith and hope into the future in which we want to live!
Jacqui Lewis
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a 1000-member multiracial, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City. She is an activist, preacher, and fierce advocate for racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQ equality. Her work has included co-founding The Middle Project, an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a more just society. She has also written three books, hosted a television program, been a frequent contributor to MSNBC, and taught at seminaries across the country.
Jacqui earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and earned a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Jacqui is the first African American and first woman to serve as senior minister in the Collegiate Church, which was founded in New York City in 1628.
http://www.jacquijlewis.com/
Sessions:
281 Sending The Goose
7 Jacqui Lewis, Topic TBD
Amy Grant
Amy Grant has been strumming her way through a forty-plus year adventure as a singer-songwriter, author, television host, and speaker.
Amy has sold more than 30 million albums worldwide. Her chart performance boasts six No. 1 hits, 10 “Top 40” Pop singles, 17 “Top 40” Adult Contemporary tracks and multiple Contemporary Christian chart-toppers. Grant has received 6 GRAMMY Awards, 26 Dove Awards, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and a star on the Music City Walk of Fame. Additionally, she was most recently inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Nashville.
Stepping out from behind her guitar, Grant found herself hosting the NBC prime-time series “Three Wishes” in 2005. Two years later, Grant’s first book, Mosaic: Pieces of My Life, was published. She continues to share her stories with audiences all over the country.
Grant resides with her family in Nashville, Tennessee, and is widely known for her philanthropy and involvement in local causes and charitable organizations. Her own organization, The Helping Hands Foundation, has afforded her the opportunity to identify needs around her and the resources to help meet them, which has proven to be the sweetest reward of all.
amygrant.com
Sessions:
205 Amy Grant with Chris Hauser: An Interview
221 Musical Performance: Amy Grant
Session #281
The Hub of the Wheel: A panel discussion on the intersection of disability, spirituality and justice.
Fri 11 AM | Workshop
The Hub of the Wheel
Join spiritual thinkers from across the disability experience spectrum – including Autism, CP, chronic disease, chronic pain, Down Syndrome, genetic abnormalities and global developmental delays – as they discuss the unique perspectives disability lends to wrestling with and understanding spirituality and the social justice issues that are directly affecting these individuals. Participants will also be guided through a perspective-taking experience and invited to examine what spiritual communities can consider if they hope to create more inclusive space for their most vulnerable community members.
Jasmin Morrell
Media Support
Jasmin Pittman Morrell is a writer and a collaborating editor for The Porch Magazine: a slow conversation about beautiful and difficult things. She is also the producer of the Movies and Meaning Experience, a conference, festival, and community gathering held in Asheville, North Carolina.
She’s been an editorial consultant for numerous authors and publishers, and Communications Director for Love Wins Ministries and the Wild Goose Festival.
Jasmin lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her family and believes in beauty, radical hospitality, and deep laughter.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Heather Morgan
Heather Morgan has lived life fully immersed in the realities of disability in herself and her family, but has never really let that stop her. Among other things she uses a specially designed racing wheelchair and the assistance of able-bodied runners to compete in 5K, 10K, and half marathon distances. She is looking forward to their first triathlon this summer.
Heather is a life coach for individuals and parents specializing in issues relating to disability, faith shifting, parenting LGBTQ+ kids as well as the ‘everyday’ realities of marriage and family. Her goal is always honesty, connection, and transformation – helping people discover and live into the people they were made to be.
In her ‘spare time,’ Heather is also the writer-in-residence at Vox Alliance Church in Barrie, Ontario, where she writes, speaks, and coaches.
You can find out more about Heather on her website www.poweredbylove.ca and her devotional writings can be found at www.voxalliance.ca
Sessions:
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Carrie Craig
ADA Coordinator
Carrie is a writer and an Episcopal priest with “a leaning toward the East,” raised in the south and studying from Boulder to Berkeley. She’s honored to work with geese who fly by their own unique patterns, loves meeting people at the festival, and is always looking forward to gathering with people who share their stories of “spirituality awakening” in a place filled with the celebration of these stories. . Carrie enjoys being outdoors, good food and time with friends. Evenings often find her with a book and a glass of wine.
Contact Carrie with any questions about accessibility.
Sessions:
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Nathanael Welch
Nathanael Welch is currently a student at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, where his work focuses on the intersection of theology and disability. He has helped organize ArtWalk events across the country where people with intellectual disabilities take photos and hold pop-up galleries in their communities. Nathanael is also the producer and media guru for the Homebrewed Christianity podcast network. He lives in Youngstown, Ohio, where he spends most of his time with his disabled brother, Benjamin.
Sessions:
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Session #282
Effective Altruism – how can rationalists, atheists, sceptics & christians work together to Do Good Better?
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 7
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 7
David Allis
A Convo Hall discussion about Effective Altruism – a philosophy & rapidly growing social movement, led by philosophers like Peter Singer (The Life You Can Save) & Will MacAskill (Doing Good Better).EA applies evidence & reason to determine the most effective ways to improve the world – especially in areas of poverty, animal cruelty & extreme risk. It is popular amongst young educated students & professionals, who self-identify as rationalist, atheist & sceptic. This is a great ‘space’ for Christians to be involved – working alongside people who want to make the world a better place, but have no spiritual worldview. Yet there are few EA Christians. Why?Join this discussion about the concepts and actions of EA; the synergy & tension between EA & following Jesus; what EA might teach Christians about loving their neighbour & animal cruelty; what Christians might contribute to EA; and how together we might Do Good Better.
David Allis
All the way from New Zealand for his 3rd Wild Goose, David is an ex-pastor, ex-missionary, ex-Bible-College-Principal, & now entrepreneurial kiwi businessman & justice innovator.
Straight, married-with-6-kids, middle-aged, white male – and still wanting to change the world. Passionately active with Effective Altruism and trying to stir up the NZ church for inclusion, social justice, anti-materialism & commitment to fighting poverty.
Sessions:
283 Effective Altruism – Doing Good Better
Session #283
Sacred Womanist Resistance: A Chronicle in Storytelling, Spoken Word & Movement
Sat 10 AM | Greater Things
Tara LaShawn Seabrook
By reframing the biblical narrative through a womanist lens, this workshop will explore the inextricable link between spirituality and justice as an act of resistance. By incorporating storytelling, spoken word, movement, and other healing modalities participants will be introduced to a framework for seeking shalom in the face of political and socioeconomic forces of oppression. As it disrupts false narratives of oppression, this workshop will examine ways to restore vision, voice, and value to those traumatized at the intersections of race, class, gender, etc. This workshop invites participants to learn from the voices of the marginalized, examine the stories that have defined one’s identity, and discern how to live out of a transformed consciousness as co-creators of shalom in practical and tangible ways.
Tara Seabrook
Tara Seabrook is an activist, writer, strategist, public theologian, and creative artist passionate about truth, justice, and authentic community. Grounded in a womanist approach, she affirms the inextricable link between spirituality and justice through storytelling, spoken word, movement, and other healing modalities. Her work seeks to disrupt false narratives and restore dignity to those traumatized at the intersections of race, class, gender, etc. Tara, who holds a Master of Divinity and a Master of Theological Studies from Wesley Theological Seminary, lived and served in Guatemala for two years before returning home to Charleston, SC in April 2017. She is co-author of the original poem, “I Am She: The Anthology,” which is the inspiration for the book she is currently writing. Tara is co-creator of www.blissfulauthenticity.com which works at the intersection of spirituality, justice, and creativity to manifest shalom in practical and tangible ways.
www.blissfulauthenticity.com
Sessions:
284 Sacred Womanist Resistance
Session #284
Wild Goose On Campus: Building A Student Movement
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 7
Morgan Guyton
This is a session for college-aged young adults to discuss the resources you need to cultivate a Wild Goose movement in your communities, whether you’re on a campus or not. I am happy to share my experience working with college students for the past 4 years, but this will be a conversation in which everyone’s input will be equally valued.
Session #286
Embodied Grace: Queer and Straight Perspectives on Sex Positive Christianity
Emily Joy
Sat 3 PM | Workshop
Too often, the Christian conversation about sex is limited to thinking in terms of what’s allowed and what isn’t. But what if the goal of Christian sex is simply to embody God’s grace for another person so that they feel the complete safety, delight, and belonging that God wants us to experience all the time? What if sex can be a higher call that is not just mutually consensual, but guided by the goal of blessing the other person’s body, heart, and mind? Emily, Kevin, and Morgan will each share unique queer and straight perspectives on sex-positive Christianity.
Kevin Garcia
Kevin Garcia is a speaker, creative, musician, content creator and worship artist based in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2013 with a BM in Music Education and has been everything from a barista to a corporate office worker to a non-profit professional since then. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a gay Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with his blog, theKevinGarcia.com, his podcast, “A Tiny Revolution,” on his YouTube channel where he unpacks theology and addresses life as a queer person of faith, and through speaking engagements at churches, universities, and festivals. Kevin also works with The Reformation Project, an LGBTQ direction action organization with a mission to make the global church more inclusive for queer people. He is presently a candidate for a Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. He believes that by telling our stories, we set others free to tell theirs.
www.theKevinGarcia.com
Sessions:
51 Bridges Over Battle Linesconversation.
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
248 Failed Missionary
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy is a spoken word poet and yoga teacher RYT 200 whose work focuses on the intersections of faith and sexuality, spiritual deconstruction, and creative writing. Emily has released two studio albums of spoken word poetry, and travels the country performing at churches, schools, conferences, and festivals like Wild Goose. She also teaches yoga every week in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work as the co-creator of the #ChurchToo campaign exposing sexual abuse in faith communities has been featured on websites such as Time, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. Emily is passionate about helping others, especially other women, make spiritual and creative progress in the wake of religious trauma, painful past experiences, and self-doubt.
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo
133 Poetry Open Mic w Emily Joy
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
384 Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Session #287
Bonhoeffer and Base Communities: What Can a German Lutheran Priest and Latin American Liberationist Teach the 21st Century About Communities of Praxis?
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 7
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 8
Andy Millman
This workshop will put the Western European, white theological framework of Bonhoeffer in conversation with Latin American Liberation Theology and the Base Communities that came about as a result, with a primary goal of re-imagining how we engage young people in faith development.
Andy Millman
Andy Millman is the Young People’s Ministry Developer / Mission & Ministry Project Coordinator for the Rocky Mountain Conference of the UMC, and as such he works with and advocates for young people throughout Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. He grew up in an interfaith household and has spent most of his adult life working for the church in various contexts. Before working for the RMC, Andy served for 2 years in Moscow, Russia working with West African asylum-seekers and migrants to address racially-motivated violence and xenophobia.
https://www.mtnskyumc.org/
Sessions:
95 Living Into A New Reality – UMC
288 Bonhoeffer and Base Communities
Session #288
Loving Our Way to Freedom: Ridding Ourselves of Internalized Transphobia, Homophobia, and Queerphobia
Sat 11 AM | Living Room
Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
“We’ve grown up in a world that was built for cisgender bodies and heteronormative relationships and with that comes narratives that teach us to have disdain our trans bodies and queer identities. How do we overcome an internalized fear of who we were created to be? By learning to love ourselves in radical ways and living fully into our God-given identities. In this intergenerational, interracial panel, we’ll discuss ways to dismantle the harmful mindsets we’ve developed around our bodies and sexual orientations, and walk away with practical tools to help all of us love ourselves better.”
Alba Onofrio
Rev. Alba Onofrio (a.k.a. Reverend Sex) is a Southern Appalachian First-Gen Latinx Queer Mama Evangelical Femme who lives and loves in la Lucha with QTPOC folks as a Spiritual Healer and Bruja Troublemaker to combat spiritual terrorism, reclaim Guad, and eradicate shame and fear wherever they are found.
As the Spiritual Strategist for Soulforce and a Co-founder of the Sexual Liberation Collective, Rev. Alba Onofrio trains across the U.S. and internationally on decoding white Christian Supremacy and healing internalized religious-based trauma in order to rebuild our ethics and reclaim our sacred desires and spiritual practices. They also serve as Evangelist-Missionary at Jubilee Interfaith Community in Asheville, NC.
www.ReverendSex.com
www.Soulforce.org
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
186 Decolonize-Heal-Reclaim
46 Surviving The Tyranny of The Now
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Kevin Garcia
Kevin Garcia is a speaker, creative, musician, content creator and worship artist based in Atlanta, GA. He graduated from Christopher Newport University in 2013 with a BM in Music Education and has been everything from a barista to a corporate office worker to a non-profit professional since then. After coming out in the fall of 2015 as a gay Christian, Kevin has reached thousands of individuals across the globe with his blog, theKevinGarcia.com, his podcast, “A Tiny Revolution,” on his YouTube channel where he unpacks theology and addresses life as a queer person of faith, and through speaking engagements at churches, universities, and festivals. Kevin also works with The Reformation Project, an LGBTQ direction action organization with a mission to make the global church more inclusive for queer people. He is presently a candidate for a Masters of Divinity from Columbia Theological Seminary in Atlanta, GA. He believes that by telling our stories, we set others free to tell theirs.
www.theKevinGarcia.com
Sessions:
51 Bridges Over Battle Linesconversation.
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
248 Failed Missionary
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Matthias Roberts
Matthias Roberts is a writer, speaker, and host of Queerology: A Podcast on Belief and Being. His work has been featured in HuffPost Religion, Believe Out Loud, OnFaith, and The Oregonian. He holds a MA in Theology and Culture and a MA in Counseling Psychology. Matthias’s spare time is spent wandering the streets of Seattle ever in search of new coffee shops.
www.matthiasroberts.com
Sessions:
262 Queerology
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Pam Rocker
Pam Rocker is an atypical activist, award-winning writer, speaker, and musician. Pam has worked for many years for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in faith communities and beyond. She was chosen as one of the top 30 activists in Canada in THIS Magazine, nominated as Artist of the Year in the Heart of Excellence awards, and writes/performs queer feminist ukulele comedy music. Pam is one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Avenue Magazine, a committee member of PechaKucha Calgary, Chair of the Observer Magazine, and an instructor with YouthWrite Alberta. She is currently the Director of Affirming Connections for Calgary and speaks, teaches, and plays north and south of the border.
pamrocker.com
Sessions:
233 Tiny Bubbles: An exploration of Sexuality, Lies, and Marshmallows
290 Sacred and Profane
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Jared Vázquez
Jared Vázquez is the Associate Director of International Diversity and Inclusion for the Metropolitan Community Churches. He has also spent the last six years working on a Ph.D. in Theology, Philosophy, and Cultural Theory at the Iliff School of Theology and the University of Denver. Jared brings with him over ten years of experience in leading, facilitating, and developing dialogue around diversity and inclusion in both secular and religious spaces. He has taught in formal and informal settings. As an adjunct professor at Iliff, Jared teaches a diverse population of M.Div. students how to engage and lead their churches with regard to issues of diversity and inclusion. This work reflects Jared’s passion of bringing people together to have dialogue that matters as well as his academic work which has focused on theologies of inclusion and the effects of religious and social politics on the lives of queer folk.
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #289
Sacred and Profane: Bending the Binaries of Faith
Sat 1 PM | GooseCast
Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza
The Second season of Sacred & Profane will begin at Wild Goose asking questions of being and becoming and how to live in the world that is often damning those who are different. https://vimeo.com/269878492Pam Rocker and Robyn Henderson-Espinoza exploring both the sacred & profane in their podcast where they bend the binaries of faith. As queer people, we bring our questions about how to be in the world and our doubts, engaging in conversations about how to live well in a world that damns those who are different.Pam Rocker is a queer activist, speaker, comedian, and ukulele player, and Robyn Henderson-Espinoza is a non-binary Transqueer Latinx, public theologian, and everyday porch sitter!Both southerners hailing from Texas, Pam lives in Canada, and Robyn lives below the Mason Dixon line. With a mutual love for tacos and insatiable curiosities, these kindred spirits will swear and wonder, exploring the borders of what religion and community can be. Join us for a podcast full of story, theology, and comedy, where we delve into how to make meaning and discover hope in a world that damns those who are different. This is Sacred & Profane, where we bend the binaries of faith.
Pam Rocker
Pam Rocker is an atypical activist, award-winning writer, speaker, and musician. Pam has worked for many years for the full inclusion of LGBTQ+ people in faith communities and beyond. She was chosen as one of the top 30 activists in Canada in THIS Magazine, nominated as Artist of the Year in the Heart of Excellence awards, and writes/performs queer feminist ukulele comedy music. Pam is one of the Top 40 Under 40 in Avenue Magazine, a committee member of PechaKucha Calgary, Chair of the Observer Magazine, and an instructor with YouthWrite Alberta. She is currently the Director of Affirming Connections for Calgary and speaks, teaches, and plays north and south of the border.
pamrocker.com
Sessions:
233 Tiny Bubbles: An exploration of Sexuality, Lies, and Marshmallows
290 Sacred and Profane
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
Session #290
Medicine Wheel Mandala: A Healing Ceremony
Sat 2 PM | Healing Arts
Rev. Katie Jo Suddaby
Life’s most important lessons are learned not in our heads, but in our bodies. Join Christian-Shaman Pastor Nar Martinez and Sand Painter Rev. Katie Jo Suddaby as they make a room-sized medicine wheel. The Medicine Wheel, sometimes known as the Sacred Hoop, embodies the four directions and has been used by generations of Native American tribes for health and healing. The Mandala comes from Tibetan Buddhism. It, too, is a symbolic representation of the world and a reminder that nothing is permanent. Join Pastor Nar and Katie Jo as they create a new participatory ritual of healing that honors both traditions.
Katie Jo Suddaby
Rev. Katie Jo Suddaby is a freelance pastor, ordained with the American Baptist Churches USA. Short, spunky, and straight forward; she is a sought after speaker and artist. The art-form that captured her heart is Tibetan Sand Painting. Katie Jo is one of the few Westerners who practice this ancient, delicate art. Since 2012, she has designed and performed over 40 original mandalas for festivals and retreats across the country. She has received training from Tibetan Buddhist monks in the US and Nepal. Katie Jo loves to fuse Buddhist art and Christian texts to teach self-care, art as a spiritual expression, and the value of religious diversity. When not roaming around providing pastoral services, she can be found running a food pantry in Rochester, NY, watching Star Trek, walking her dog (Bernie Sanders), and singing show tunes. www.sandbykatiejo.com
www.sandbykatiejo.com
Sessions:
184 Blessing 101
291 Medicine Wheel Mandala
Nar Martinez
Healing Arts
Rev. Narcizo Martinez – known to many as ‘Pastor Nar’ – is a Mexican-American currently residing in Ohio. Growing up in a bi-racial household, he learned to appreciate the unique gifts offered through his differing familial cultures. He understands the struggles and beauty of integrating multiple cultures in his life story.
This celebration of opposites applies not only to his heritage, but also to his spirituality. After coming to faith during the Jesus Movement, he traversed through many different expressions of community. He is a lover and follower of Jesus, a mystic, as well as a practicing Shaman. The thread that holds this eclectic mix together is his belief in the Great Spirit that has expressed itself at all times, in all cultures, and through all people.
Nar is a healer – physically, emotionally, and spiritually. He is also an experienced ritual and ceremony creator who utilizes the ancient praxis of the Medicine Wheel, Sacred Touch, Essential Oil Anointing / Massage.
AmazingHumansBeing.com
Sessions:
163 Christo-Shamanic Anointing Ceremony
291 Medicine Wheel Mandala
Session #291
The Bible for Normal People Podcast
Fri 2:30 PM | GooseCast
The Bible for Normal People
Pete and Jared are going to be talking with “normal people” (like you?) about the Bible, the hangups we have about it, the frustrations, but also the hope of reconnecting somehow.
Pete Enns
Pete Enns is a Bible professor at Eastern University, but is nevertheless a semi-interesting person who loves animals and binge watching great dramas with his wife Sue. He writes a lot about dealing honestly with the messiness of the Bible and the reality of doubt in the life of faith, and his two most popular books are The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It and The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our “Correct” Beliefs. His popular blog and podcast, The Bible for Normal People, can be found at peteenns.com.
https://thebiblefornormalpeople.podbean.com/
Sessions:
293 B4NP Podcast
341 I Love You, Bible . . . . Just Not That Way
Jared Byas
As a former mega-church pastor and professor of philosophy, Jared Byas discovered that leadership often destroys the creative impulse rather than fosters it. Now he runs MyOhai, a talent collective of designers, developers, and advisers near Philadelphia. His passion is to create systems where creative people can flourish in their work, family, and spiritual journey. He is the co-author of Genesis for Normal People (Patheos, 2012) and writes about faith and culture at JByas.com.
www.jbyas.com
Sessions:
401 Is the Bible True?
293 B4NP Podcast
Session #293
Profane Faith: Disrupting Theology & White Colonial Christianity
Sat 2:30 PM | GooseCast
Daniel White Hodge
Daniel White Hodge discusses his podcast and his new book, Homeland Insecurity (IVP 2018) along with the devastating effect of White colonial Christianity.
Daniel White Hodge
With 23 years of urban multi-ethnic youth work experience, Daniel White Hodge, PhD, is a recognized urban youth culture expert & cultural literacy scholar. Dr. Hodge is Associate Professor of Intercultural Communications & department chair of Communication Arts at North Park University in Chicago. His research interests are the intersections of faith, Hip Hop culture, race/ethnicity, & young adult emerging generations. His four books are Heaven Has A Ghetto: The Missiological Gospel & Theology of Tupac Amaru Shakur (VDM 2009), The Soul Of Hip Hop: Rimbs, Timbs, & A Cultural Theology (IVP 2010), Hip Hop’s Hostile Gospel: A Post Soul Theological Exploration (Brill Academic 2017) and Homeland Insecurity: A Hip-Hop Missiology for the Post-Civil Rights Context (IVP Academic, 2018). He plans to release a co-authored text with Irene Cho (Fuller’s Youth Institute) dealing with current ethnic minority young adult contexts called Between God & Kendrick: Youth Work in a Post-Civil Rights Context (IVP Academic).
www.whitehodge.com
Sessions:
297 Profane Faith
Session #297
Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News And How You Can Be Part Of It.
Sat 10 AM | Living Room
A Presentation by Doug Pagitt of a Progressive Understanding of Jesus.
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Session #298
Now We’re Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
Fri 4 PM | GooseCast
Doug Pagitt
Doug will be talkin’ with other Goose Podcasters about how and why they do what they do.
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Session #299
LILA: At the Intersection of Latinx & LGBTQ+ in the South
Sat 11 AM | Landing
LILA Latinx LGBTQ+ Initiative
Often, supporting and empowering minority communities can look very different from one another. The intersectionality of the LGBTQ+, Latinx, and/or Undocumented identities bring about their own set of obstacles. In this BILINGUAL session, let’s take a look at the Latinx LGBTQ+ community and its own unique celebrations and challenges. Learn about what LILA, a new NC based non-profit organization, is doing to organize and empower the Latinx LGBTQ+ community in the South. Share your own experiences organizing with minority communities. Let’s learn from one another so we can be brighter sources of light for Latinx LGBTQ+ identifying people everywhere we go.LILA is a North Carolina based non-profit organization committed to continuous outreach, education, advocacy, and empowerment for the Latinx LGBTQIA+ community.
Madaline Allsup
Madaline (Maddie) Allsup is a queer, justice-seeking, special education teacher who has deep roots in North Carolina. She earned a BA from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, majoring in International Relations and minoring in Spanish. After graduation, Maddie attended Iliff School of Theology in Denver, Colorado, where she earned a Masters of Divinity with a concentration in Religion and Social Change. Combining her love for Spanish, social justice, and working with children and youth, Maddie has spent a year as well as several summers in Honduras as a volunteer teacher with Bilingual Education for Central America (BECA), an organization that seeks to partner with communities in order to provide affordable bilingual education and cultural exchange. Being a member of the LGBTQIA+ community who is dedicated to the empowerment of the Latinx community, Maddie is honored to be part of LILA and is dedicated to her role as president of its board of directors.
Sessions:
300 LILA: At the Intersection of Latinx & LGBTQ+ in the South
David Mateo
David Mateo is the executive director of LILA Latinx LGBTQ Intitiative, the first and only organization purposely working with the Latinx LGBTQ community in North Carolina. He earned his Master of Divinity degree from Lancaster Theological Seminary. Besides being a lecturer in LGBTQ spirituality, immigration, and other social justice matters, he is well-known for his work advocating, supporting, and organizing allies for the LGBTQ community in Honduras and Guatemala.
Sessions:
300 LILA: At the Intersection of Latinx & LGBTQ+ in the South
Michelle Peedin
Michelle was born and raised in North Carolina. She pursued higher education at UNC-Chapel Hill where she graduated with a Bachelors of Arts in Global Studies with a concentration in Economics, Trade, and Development and her area of study was Latin America. She credits her time studying in Ireland and volunteering in Costa Rica for how she was shaped both personally and professionally during her undergraduate time. She continued her education as a Fellow at Student Action with Farmworkers, a non-profit organization in Durham, NC. She has been a staff member of the NC Council of Churches since January of 2017. As a member of the LGBTQ community and as a Peruvian American, Michelle is passionate about the impact LILA can have on the Latinx LGBTQ cultural divide.
www.facebook.com/LILALatinxLGBTQIIniciativeInc/
Sessions:
300 LILA: Latinx & LGBTQ+ in the South
Session #300
Heart and Mind: The Four-Gospel Journey for Radical Transformation
Sat Noon | Living Room
Alexander John Shaia
In this session, Alexander will articulate his ground-breaking book on the four gospels, “Heart and Mind.” Of this work, +Marc Andrus, Episcopal Bishop of California says, ” In ‘Heart and Mind’ Alexander gives us back our central sacred text–the four gospels–not as conflicted and faulty historical records, but as a vibrant, luminous path of transformation. He reveals ‘The Four-Gospel Journey’ as a living guide, re-centering human life on wisdom, compassion, and service, rooted in a mystical relationship with Christ. And the potential for this living guide is already becoming manifest, as individuals, groups and entire communities are using it all over the world, and the word is spreading.” Alexander is a frequent guest on the Robcast, The Deconstructions and Can I Say This At Church. For more, see www.quadratos.com
Alexander John Shaia
Alexander John Shaia is an internationally sought-after author, speaker, ritualist and pilgrim mentor. He is known as a poetic and reflective gay man, living the ancient rhythms of his Lebanese, Aramaic and eastern Christian heritage. His seminal work, Heart and Mind: The Four-Gospel Journey for Radical Transformation, is being hailed as a breakthrough that restores the four gospels to their first-century context, revealing how they were chosen to be one, continuous, non-dualistic account of Jesus the Christ. In this way, the Gospel becomes a wise and numinous text, leading us on the journey of growth and transformation.
Alexander holds a doctorate in clinical psychology and has been a spiritual director, Jungian and Sandplay psychotherapist, cultural anthropologist, and pastoral associate. When not on the road, a perfect day finds him with his dog, a book of poetry, and the presence of ancient trees.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
301 Heart and Mind: The Four-Gospel Journey
Session #301
Jesus vs. Caesar: For People Tired of Serving the Wrong God
Sat Noon | Library
Joerg Rieger
When we observe a tension between Jesus and Caesar, we acknowledge that a fundamental tension remains at the heart of Christianity. The tension is not between religion and atheism or secularism. Nor is it between organized religion and personal spirituality or between Christianity and other religions. The tension is located within the heart of Christianity itself because it is a radical conflict between faith that is life-giving for all and faith that is damaging and destructive of people and the earth. Jesus vs. Caesar serves as an indictment of the pieties of empire and their push for political, economic, cultural, and religious domination. Some forms of Christian faith (Jesus) versus other forms of Christian faith (Caesar). Whom and what will we trust and serve? Jesus embodies and exposes this tension in ways that transform destructive images of God, engender political and economic resilience, and model solidarity with others who are radically different, including other religions.
Joerg Rieger
Joerg Rieger is Distinguished Professor of Theology and holds the Cal Turner Chancellor’s Chair at Vanderbilt University. His work reflects on the misuse of power in religion, politics, and economics. His main interest is in movements that bring about transformation and in the positive contributions of religion and theology. He is author and editor of more than 20 books, translated in 6 languages, and over 140 articles.
www.joergrieger.com
Sessions:
302 Jesus vs. Caesar
Session #302
Jesus and the Buddha: Meditation, Prayer, and the Human Potential
Sat Noon | Landing
Bushi is a name well known throughout The Wild Goose Festival with his beginnings as a novice Buddhist monk at Shakori Hills, North Carolina. Former Christian minister-turn-Zen Buddhist monk, Bushi Yamato Damashii knows how to connect the dots, and helps the Christian to understand the ‘human/mental element of faith”. Bushi returns to WGF 2018 and shares Jesus and the Buddha: Meditation, Prayer, and the Social Potential of Being the Change. This is a serious conversation on liberating oneself of the mental, religious, and social contaminations that devour and stagnate our abilities to be happy, socially altruistic, and compassionate beings. Bushi will offer both guided and independent meditation experiences and dialogue for the attendees. Daily walking meditations will be available with Bushi and other monks present. Participants will engage in mindfulness and compassion activities throughout the WGF.
Bushi Yamato Damashii
Bushi Yamato Damashii, born Torrence Marquis Ramsey, is an authorized Dharma teacher, mystic, and Abbot at Daishin Buddhist Temple Monastery in Thomasville, North Carolina. He is a student of Lama Rod Owen, and Lama Justin von Bujdoss (Repa Dorje Odzer) under whom Bushi practices Vajrayana Buddhism in the Repa tradition. Bushi is a former Christian minister who has studied and teaches what he calls The Wisdom and Practical Parallels of Christianity and Buddhism as a method for healing human suffering for twenty five years. Now as a Buddhist teacher, he returns to the Goose with Wisdom of both Jesus and the Buddha that may enhance your depth of what it means to be human in the body of Christ.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
303 Jesus and the Buddha
Session #303
“
From the Building to the Bus: Spiritual Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Sat 5 PM | Landing
Ra’Shawn Flournoy and Chris Davies
Chris Davies of the United Church of Christ, and Ra’Shawn D’Angelo Flournoy, an Adese Fellow and entrepreneur, will tell stories of spiritual innovation and think together about what that looks like in your context. Includes small group discussion as well as presentation.
Rashawn Flournoy
Ra’Shawn received his license to preach the gospel in September 2001 and was ordained in 2006. Over the years God has allowed him to connect with phenomenal men and women of God and assist with church planting across the country. God has truly favored his ministry and caused his name to be spread abroad. He is a highly sought after minister of the Gospel who has been boldly fighting for social justice and proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ with the power and demonstration in church services, news interviews and conferences across the United States. His unique style of preaching has reached beyond traditional barriers and touched the lives of many. He has opened an enterprise of businesses; Coffee Shop, Co-Working Space, Event Center, Party Bus & Mobile Stage Truck to, expand outreach and social justice efforts.
Sessions:
304 From the Building to the Bus
Chris Davies
Chris S. Davies is the curator of Queer Clergy Trading Cards. She currently works for the United Church of Christ and is the point person for Congregational Assessment, Support, and Advancement at the National offices. Chris is a local beer enthusiast, creative queer liturgist, and dreamer beyond the normative church. She is a Connecticut native, a Cleveland transplant, and a wandering Irish Rover at heart. This project is a project of revolutionary love, bringing visibility to queer clergy, using humor and irreverence to help change the conversation to highlight common awe (and absurdities) in faith work. The project tells the stories of what oft is an isolating experience, and invites community beyond denomination. Chris loves Jesus and church deeply, and wants to help vision how we can transform the world, for the sake of the Gospel.
www.queerclergytradingcards.org
Sessions:
274 Creative Rite-ing, New Ritual Creation
304 From the Building to the Bus
305 Lament in the Church
Session #304″
Lament in the Church
Sat 3 PM | Episcopal
Drew Brown and Chris Davies
How do we teach our churches to worship together in our night seasons? Let’s discuss. Looking on how incorporating, creating, laments within our spiritual communities can grieve, mourn and move to action.
Drew Brown
There is a deep story woven into the lyrics and melodies of this award-winning Canadian Singer-Songwriter and Producer. Influenced by styles of pop, soul, indie, folk, electro and hard rock – the self-produced and 2015 Juno nominated album “Analog Love in Digital Times” takes you on an honest and adventurous ride through stories of love and all of its complications. His 2017 EP “Homecoming”(which includes the new single “Where the Heart Is” as well as b-sides and songs recorded live on tour) continues the movement into deeper soundscapes and storytelling. He has crafted an instantly recognizable sound that is familiar and comfortable, yet all his own.
Drew also has a heart for pouring into other artists and musicians. And to help with that.. he started the Personic Creative Collective to be a hub for creatives to grow, learn and be resourced. Offering production, photography and a community/support system to assist in launching their projects.
Sessions:
305 Lament in the Church
Chris Davies
Chris S. Davies is the curator of Queer Clergy Trading Cards. She currently works for the United Church of Christ and is the point person for Congregational Assessment, Support, and Advancement at the National offices. Chris is a local beer enthusiast, creative queer liturgist, and dreamer beyond the normative church. She is a Connecticut native, a Cleveland transplant, and a wandering Irish Rover at heart. This project is a project of revolutionary love, bringing visibility to queer clergy, using humor and irreverence to help change the conversation to highlight common awe (and absurdities) in faith work. The project tells the stories of what oft is an isolating experience, and invites community beyond denomination. Chris loves Jesus and church deeply, and wants to help vision how we can transform the world, for the sake of the Gospel.
www.queerclergytradingcards.org
Sessions:
274 Creative Rite-ing, New Ritual Creation
304 From the Building to the Bus
305 Lament in the Church
Session #305
Sat 3 PM | Healing Arts
Zenaida Chandler
Zenaida Chandler
Zenaida Ortiz Chandler is a Clinical Herbalist, Holistic Healer, and Inspirational Performer. She travels the country performing for the young, and young at heart, as Spark the Fairy. On and off stage she is known for rekindling magic, joy and wonder – while delivering a message of nature preservation, love, and a more accepting and cohesive community. The remainder of her time is occupied furthering her knowledge of herbs, and healing any who come to her in need. Also a Reiki Master, with extensive training in Crystal Healing, and Native American Healing and studies, as well as a degree in Herbalism, she is known to many as the Medicine Woman, and has no shortage of opportunity to heal holistically while also teaching others how to heal themselves. You can follow Zenaida on social media @SparktheFairy or contact her directly at sparkthefairy@gmail.com
www.sparkthefairy.com
Sessions:
306 Healing Arts
Session #306
HeartSync
Bill Venable/Desanka
Available during daytime hours at Desanka
HeartSync is a healing modality that creates a connection space with God and the individual. HeartSync practice focuses on the primary mission statement of Christ to “heal the brokenhearted” (Luke 4:17-18a), whereby Christ gives us singleness of heart and action (Jer. 32:39) to the end that we are then able to “love the Lord our God with all our heart and with all our soul and with all our mind” (Matt. 22:37). HeartSync does this by intentionally synchronizing the most core parts of our being to the Creator in a short period of time.This is Bill’s seventh year practicing “speedy-HeartSync” (a 50-minute session instead of the normal 2-hour session) with Desanka at Wild Goose Festival. Desanka will now have two HeartSync tents running most daylight hours of the Goose. Come get an appointment and prepare to discover the you in you that you do not yet know!
Bill Venable
Bill Venable has been practicing in Raleigh since 1997. As co-founder and clinical director of LifeCare Counseling and Coaching, he desires LifeCare to be a Christian counseling center where the hearts of clients are transformed at the deepest levels and the training of future counselors is a priority.
Bill has a passion to bring healing to those who are fractured and deeply broken in their souls. For those who like to integrate prayer into the therapy room, he likes to use the HeartSync method developed by Andy Miller, LCSW.
Sessions:
307 HeartSync
Desanka
Desanka is a spiritual community with a mission to walk in the way of Love. “We bring LIGHT and LOVE into the dark places of those who are seeking Light and choose to give our lives away to love others – right where they are.”
We are a collection of individuals from varying faith streams who love to Love – to practice BEING Love. Our goal is to walk the Desanka Way – “to implement a conscious, Jesus-centered, Spirit-aware lifestyle in our community and life” – to walk in spiritually empowered Joy-Contentmen-Pleasantness- Gladness. We also seek to include others in our mission/lifestyle so that we might transform the world together, one person at time – one encounter at a time.
Desanka folks serve anywhere we are invited at events and in festivals, serving as volunteers and giving food and other gifts away as an expression of Love. This year, we will participate in 17 events and festivals, from our hometown near Raleigh, to the western US, to the U.K. and everything we do is at no charge (though “pay-it-forward” donations are welcome).
Session #307
T. Anthony Spearman
Fri 1 PM | Library
T. Anthony Spearman
Rev. Dr. T. Anthony Spearman is the senior pastor of St. Phillip A.M.E. Zion Church in Greensboro, the third vice president of the North Carolina Conference of NAACP Branches, and a candidate to become the civil rights organization?s next permanent state president now that Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II is stepping away from the post he?s held for 12 years. He is a key leader in the Moral Monday and Forward Together Movement that has brought national attention to the broad coalition of social justice organizations that are working together to change recent legislation in N.C. such as denying the expansion of Medicaid, significantly reducing access to early voting, eliminating Sunday voting, cutting unemployment benefits to long-term unemployed people, and budget cuts that reduced the number of teachers in public schools. During his time in Greensboro in the 90”s, Dr. Spearman was a member of the Pulpit Forum, a group of primarily African-American ministers who stood in solidarity with Greensboro K-Mart workers.
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
311 T. Anthony Spearman – TBD
Session #311
Mona Haydar – A Conversation with Jasmin Morrell
Fri Noon | Living Room
Mona Haydar
Mona Haydar
Mona Haydar is a Syrian American rapper, poet, activist, practitioner of Permaculture, meditator, composting devotee, mountain girl, solar power lover, and a tireless God-enthusiast.
Her single, “Hijabi”, was a groundbreaking debut with millions of views. Billboard critics named it one of 2017’s top protest songs and one of the 25 top feminist anthems of all time. Her work as an artist and activist has been featured on BBC, CNN, BuzzFeed, AJ+, NPR, Mic, Psychology Today, Refinery 29, The Huffington Post, Ms Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Boston Globe, New York Times, and many others. Her first EP is set to drop in 2018.
Mona practices a life of sacred activism, poetry, contemplation, and advocacy for living gently upon the Earth. She is currently working towards her Masters in Theology and lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband and their two sons.
www.monahaydar.com
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
316 Mona Haydar – TBD
Jasmin Morrell
Media Support
Jasmin Pittman Morrell is a writer and a collaborating editor for The Porch Magazine: a slow conversation about beautiful and difficult things. She is also the producer of the Movies and Meaning Experience, a conference, festival, and community gathering held in Asheville, North Carolina.
She’s been an editorial consultant for numerous authors and publishers, and Communications Director for Love Wins Ministries and the Wild Goose Festival.
Jasmin lives in Asheville, North Carolina, with her family and believes in beauty, radical hospitality, and deep laughter.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
282 The Hub of the Wheel: Disability, Spirituality, and Justice
Session #316
Practicing the Presence of People
Sat 11 AM | Workshop
David Bollt & Mike Morrell
Mike Morrell
Curator, Wisdom Camp
Mike Morrell is the Communications Director for the Integral Theology think-tank Presence International, co-founder of The Buzz Seminar, and a founding organizer of the Wild Goose Festival. Mike curates contemplative and community experiences via Relational Yoga, the ManKind Project, (H) Opp and Authentic North Carolina, taking joy in holding space for the extraordinary transformation that can take place at the intersection of anticipation, imagination, and radical acceptance. Mike is also an avid writer, publishing consultant, author coach, futurist, and curator of the book-reviewing community at TheSpeakeasy.info. He lives with his wife and two daughters in North Carolina. You can read Mike’s ongoing exploration of Spirit, Culture, and Permaculture – and receive free exclusive updates – right here: mikemorrell.org
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
319 Practicing the Presence of People
414 A Conversation with Mike Morrell
David Bollt
“Whatever I’m seeking in life, I realize I’m not going to find it alone. I believe our greatest opportunities for fulfillment and a sense of true connection can be found in relationship with others. I love creating spaces where we put aside all other distractions and dive into what really matters … being with people.”
Through years of personal transformation and relational training, David has cultivated a remarkable capacity to help people illuminate unconscious behavior patterns that cause them to suffer. Along with events in Asheville, North Carolina, he leads weekend workshops and retreats around the country, including the Servant Leadership School and the world famous Authentic Man Program. With his fluency in transformational work, David sees group facilitation and personal growth as an art form. He has developed his own highly articulate style of helping people realize authenticity and freedom.
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
276 Holding Space for God and One Another
319 Practicing the Presence of People
Session #319
God is the Fact That…Living to Die – An exploration of mortality and faith through poetry and personal reflection.
Fri 4 PM | Workshop
Rev. Adam Lawrence Dyer
Human beings have always been trying to understand what it means to be alive. As creatures with an awareness of our own mortality, we wrestle, often through various religious expressions with the ideas of birth, death and the afterlife. But what does this mean in a world that is increasingly multi-cultural and multi-religious?Rev. Adam Lawrence Dyer shares creative insights into mortality and religion from the perspective of a Unitarian Universalist minister who is often asked to develop worship and offer prayer that holds space and honors multiple religious expressions. Sharing his own journey to understand God in his life while recognizing equally deeply held humanist beliefs he invites you to explore your own spiritual path and language through a combination of lecture and poetry.
Adam Dyer
Board Member
Reverend Adam Lawrence Dyer is the Lead Minister at First Parish Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist Church in Cambridge, MA. He is thrilled to return to Wild Goose as a proud member of the Board. His ministry and writing focuses on embodied faith and exploring the intersection between race, sexuality and religion. A graduate of the Pacific School of Religion, he also holds a certificate in Sexuality and Religion and was the 2017 recipient of the Paul Wesley Yinger preaching award. His book of poetry/meditations Love Beyond God was published in 2016 by Skinner House Books. At First Parish, he is deeply engaged in ministry to address issues around homelessness supporting the work of youth shelters, meals programs and programs to support the elderly remaining in the home. In addition to serving First Parish, Adam is also the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain at Harvard University.
www.spirituwellness.org/
Sessions:
321 God is the Fact That…Living to Die – Mortality and Faith
338 Creative Defiance
Session #321
Mystic or Bust!
Sat 1 PM | Workshop
Roger Wolsey
Many progressive Christians have come to embrace new theological insights and understandings that help the Christian faith make sense to them in the 21st century. Many progressive Christians are not currently active in local church congregations and consider themselves “post-Church.” Roger will share how embracing and deepening into contemplative and mystic practices is not a mere option, it is necessary and integral for progressive Christianity if it is to be vital, transformative, and sustainable.”I am a progressive Christian mystic. As a mystic, I’m at a point in life where I don’t have to be a Christian. My connection to the Divine is primary and I do more and more solo connecting with God. However, I maintain my affiliation with and involvement in Christianity, including a local church, for very specific reasons.” Learn more about these reasons and these invitations to spiritual growth – and share what’s working for you!
Roger Wolsey
Roger Wolsey is the author of the book “Kissing Fish: christianity for people who doh’t like christianity” – a comprehensive introduction to progressive Christianithy . He runs the Kissing Fish page on Facebook which has over 232,000 followers. His blog, The Holy Kiss, is on Patheos and he is a contributing writer for the John Shelby Spong newsletter hosted by ProgressiveChristianity.org. Roger is a United Methodist pastor who currently serves as the Director of the Wesley Foundation campus ministry at the University of Colorado – Boulder. He recently graduated from the Benet Hill Monastery’s Spiritual Director training program. He is the father of a wonderful 17 year old son; and is an avid trail runner, trumpeter, poet, photographer, and blues dancer.
www.wesleyf.org
Sessions:
325 Mystic or Bust!
Session #325
Goose in the Round: Friday
Fri 6 PM | Goose in the Round, Mainstage
Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve (hosts)
Now a festival tradition, this year GITR will kick off the evening mainstage program. We again present a showcase of some of the finest singer-songwriters the Goose has to offer this year in an in-the-round setting. Two different artists hosted by Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve will take turns sharing their songs and the stories behind them. Who knows what Wild Goose magic will happen when these talented performers take the stage together as community?
Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve
Terry and Kirsti have been making music together since they met in 1994. The Wild Goose has become their home over the years, and they are responsible for the music programming and stage management. They are honored to host Goose in the Round and highlight the singer-songwriters of the Goose.
terrygonda.com
Sessions:
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Kiya Heartwood
Kiya Heartwood ( Stealin Horses, Wishing Chair ) is an award winning, internationally touring, roots/folk singer songwriter, composer and change artist. The UK’s Broadway Baby describes Kiya Heartwood as “an award-winning American singer-songwriter who writes smart, funny and poignant songs about the famous and not-so-famous legends of America.” Heartwood “serves up a lively batch of original songs that follow on to two of the oldest traditions of folk music: storytelling and political broadside.” Kiya is currently attending Starr King School for the Ministry in their MDiv. program. Kiya tours solo and with her band. Kiya makes her happy home in Austin, TX. More at www.kiyaheartwood.com
Sessions:
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
432 Musical Performance: Kiya Heartwood
Jenna Lindbo
Singer. Songwriter. Dog-lover. Bike-rider turned banjo player. Jenna Lindbo is a big-hearted human and multi-instrumentalist who loves creating connection and building community through music. Before putting roots down in NC, she spent a number of years touring full time, performing with Catie Curtis and sharing original music from coast to coast. Nowadays, Jenna lives with her wife in Asheville, where she serves as minister of music at Land of the Sky UCC and enjoys being part of a vibrant community rooted in the Mountains. She still travels to different pockets of the map, bringing music to conferences, classrooms, workshops, and retreats. Track her down at the Goose or reach out after the festival if you’d like to learn more about songwriting retreats or to find out about her collaborations with a positive psychologist, where music, stories, and science are intertwined with soulful reflection and life-affirming work.
www.jennalindbo.com
Sessions:
268 Musical Performance: Jenna Lindbo
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
Session #327
Goose in the Round: Saturday
Sat 6 PM | Main Stage
Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve (hosts)
Now a festival tradition, this year GITR will kick off the evening mainstage program. We again present a showcase of some of the finest singer-songwriters the Goose has to offer this year in an in-the-round setting. Two different artists hosted by Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve will take turns sharing their songs and the stories behind them. Who knows what Wild Goose magic will happen when these talented performers take the stage together as community?
Terry Gonda and Kirsti Reeve
Terry and Kirsti have been making music together since they met in 1994. The Wild Goose has become their home over the years, and they are responsible for the music programming and stage management. They are honored to host Goose in the Round and highlight the singer-songwriters of the Goose.
terrygonda.com
Sessions:
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Andy Buckner
Blending honky-tonk bravado and gritty seclusion, Andy Buckner’s music embodies a balance of party anthems and instantly relatable heartache healers. The 24-year-old’s grainy, soulful voice embraces his North Carolina roots and shares authentic songs inspired by his upbringing. After making a name for himself on Season 9 of “The Voice,” Buckner opened up for artists such as Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, and Jason Isbell, and also began work on a debut EP. Buckner’s debut EP, featuring “My Kinda People” and the “Ones that Do,” was produced by country hitmakers Derek George and Julian King, and is expected to be released in early 2018.
www.andybucknermusic.com
Sessions:
364 Musical Performance: Andy Bucker
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Heather McKoy, Greg Hathaway & Jimmy Paschke
2007 winner of Charlotte’s Idol, and lead singer for several prominent bands in the greater Charlotte Metro, Heather McKoy is currently an elementary school music teacher and professional vocalist. Heather graduated in 2001 from UNCG with a Bachelor of Music in Voice Performance. She recently set out to form her own band to develop her own original music. The Heather McKoy Band is a trio of friends from Gastonia, NC. Before combining and harmonizing with Heather, Guitarist/vocalist Greg Hathaway spent time in regional Charlotte bands including Enter Landscapes, Phlux, and The Process Notes. Greg is the Assistant Director of Spiritual Care at Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte (NC’s largest hospital) where he works as a nationally certified Spiritual Educator. Drummer Jimmy Paschke enjoys life and feels there is no better connection for him than sharing his love for music with others.
Sessions:
243 Musical Performance: The Heather McKoy Band
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Session #328
Wild Goose StorySlam: Failure (a love story)
Sat 4 PM | Studio
Rebecca Anderson
A fan of The Moth? This is gonna be your jam. Come and put your name in the hat to be one of 10 storytellers – or just come and listen to true stories, crafted for impact, humor, and connection. Our theme for the night is Failure: A love story. (Our title comes from the brilliant Philip Dawkins’ play.) From middle school awkwardness to grown-up sized mistakes, we’re telling stories of dropping the ball, messing up, screwing the pooch, bombing… What a bunch of knuckleheads we are (in ways big and small). The beauty of storytelling is you’ve got a room (or tent!) full of people who are on your side, who cringe and groan with you. A whole bunch of people who might even love you a little bit for your vulnerability and honesty. So come get yer fail on. To tell: Prepare a 5-minute, first-person, true story to tell without notes on your own or at our storytelling workshop. To listen: Um, just show up!
Rebecca Anderson
Storytelling
Rev Rebecca Anderson (church planter, Gilead Chicago; co-pastor, Bethany UCC) is ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She has a MDiv from the University of Chicago and a BA in Playwrighting from Hampshire College. A believer in the power of the spoken word, Rebecca’s been on Snap Judgment (radio) and The Broad Experience (podcast). In Chicago, Rebecca has worked with story-telling companies like 2nd Story, The Moth, This Much is True, and Do Not Submit. As Earshot Stories, Rebecca has developed and teaches workshops designed to introduce the craft of storytelling, foster interpersonal connection, and develop the ability of individuals to interpret stories and other texts, including Scripture. (EarshotStories.com) After a trip to Vancouver, technically speaking, she does this internationally. Outside of work, she’s about potlucks, gardening, weaving, knitting, bicycling (in season), or doing *nothing* on Chicago’s beaches.
www.GileadChicago.org
Sessions:
278 Gathering The Goose
329 StorySlam
330 Build a Story
331 Midnight Story Open Mic
Session #329
How to Build a Story
Fri 10 AM | Studio
Rebecca Anderson
You know a great story when you hear it — but what makes it work? Usually, people new to storytelling say a couple of things: “I don’t have any stories like that,” and/or “I wouldn’t know how to tell it.”The thing is: storytelling is a craft, a skill, that you can get better (and better) at. In this active and interactive workshop, mine your own life for story ideas; pick up (or hone) some tools; maybe even craft a story for Saturday’s StorySlam.Come get an introduction to the craft of storytelling – or dive deeper on your current skills.
Rebecca Anderson
Storytelling
Rev Rebecca Anderson (church planter, Gilead Chicago; co-pastor, Bethany UCC) is ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She has a MDiv from the University of Chicago and a BA in Playwrighting from Hampshire College. A believer in the power of the spoken word, Rebecca’s been on Snap Judgment (radio) and The Broad Experience (podcast). In Chicago, Rebecca has worked with story-telling companies like 2nd Story, The Moth, This Much is True, and Do Not Submit. As Earshot Stories, Rebecca has developed and teaches workshops designed to introduce the craft of storytelling, foster interpersonal connection, and develop the ability of individuals to interpret stories and other texts, including Scripture. (EarshotStories.com) After a trip to Vancouver, technically speaking, she does this internationally. Outside of work, she’s about potlucks, gardening, weaving, knitting, bicycling (in season), or doing *nothing* on Chicago’s beaches.
www.GileadChicago.org
Sessions:
278 Gathering The Goose
329 StorySlam
330 Build a Story
331 Midnight Story Open Mic
Session #330
After-Dark Story Open Mic
Sat Midnight | Café
Rebecca Anderson & Shawna Bowman
Come to the Cafe, for more true stories, late night edition. No judging, no competition, no theme, just you and a microphone, and 7 minutes to tell a true, first-person story. Maybe you’ve never told a story in public ever, or maybe you’re polishing up something to perform. Maybe you want feedback on an idea, maybe you just want some people to be quiet and listen for a minute (or seven). Use notes, or don’t, make us laugh, or don’t. It’s your 7 minutes. And if we’re lucky, maybe some AcoustaGoose folks will stay and play with us.
Rebecca Anderson
Storytelling
Rev Rebecca Anderson (church planter, Gilead Chicago; co-pastor, Bethany UCC) is ordained in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). She has a MDiv from the University of Chicago and a BA in Playwrighting from Hampshire College. A believer in the power of the spoken word, Rebecca’s been on Snap Judgment (radio) and The Broad Experience (podcast). In Chicago, Rebecca has worked with story-telling companies like 2nd Story, The Moth, This Much is True, and Do Not Submit. As Earshot Stories, Rebecca has developed and teaches workshops designed to introduce the craft of storytelling, foster interpersonal connection, and develop the ability of individuals to interpret stories and other texts, including Scripture. (EarshotStories.com) After a trip to Vancouver, technically speaking, she does this internationally. Outside of work, she’s about potlucks, gardening, weaving, knitting, bicycling (in season), or doing *nothing* on Chicago’s beaches.
www.GileadChicago.org
Sessions:
278 Gathering The Goose
329 StorySlam
330 Build a Story
331 Midnight Story Open Mic
Session #331
Discovering Self-care in worship: The importance of healing spaces
Fri 1 PM | GooseCast
Maya Camille, Laura Kigweba James, Tamika Jancewicz
Self-care is more than hot tea and yoga. Self Care manifests in the spaces we create. With For Collard Girls we have created healing, loving space where worship happens, where God is present and tangible to us. Our podcast is a practice of self-care that empowers us and can be shared with our communities to help transform our world. We believe it is important to craft spaces where everyone sees God reflected in them.We are eager to have this conversation live on the Goosecaster stage with all of you. For Collard Girls: A podcast
Maya Camille
Maya Camille is a spoken word artist from Baltimore City. She is currently working on a new project titled “To Baltimore, with love”. It will be a visual spoken word album. Ms. Camille is also the Social Media Manager and co-host of the amazing podcast For Collard Girls. To follow her art journey and see her progress on “To Baltimore with love” you can follow her Twitter and Instagram @camilladakilla_.
divinity.vanderbilt.edu
forcollardgirls.com
Sessions:
332 Discovering Self -care in worship
Tamika Jancewicz
Tamika is a seminarian from United Lutheran Seminary, currently on a two-year concurring internship at Christ Luther in Washington, DC. She is a mother and partner, and one of three co-hosts of a podcast called For Collard Girls.
Sessions:
332 Discovering Self -care in worship
Session #332
Desanka (Drop-In Space)
Desanka
Get description from Papy Fisher notes
Papy Fisher
Papy is a warrior-lover, attempting to love every person in the world with the One True Love. His paying gig is being an Outreach Pastor at Fellowship of Christ, EPC in Cary, NC where he is given amazing latitude to teach, train, equip and release some of the most giving and loving individuals in God’s green earth. Papy, when asked what he believes, considers himself “ biblically conservative and socially liberal”. Yes – oxymoronic, but that complexity is Love and Papy is all about Love.
In an attempt to revitalize and invigorate the faith-life of young adults in his circles, Papy has founded Desanka which is more of a movement rather than an organization or mission arm of a church. Through Desanka (and another non-profit he helped co-found called Journeymen Triangle, a mentoring network for boys and men), Papy hopes to mobilize a generation of “Lovers-of-Jesus” that seek to love others in the worth, the words, and ways of Jesus.
www.DesankaSpirit.net
Sessions:
234 Living the Desanka Way Every Day
333 Desanka
Session #333
Showing Up, Listening Deeply
Sat Noon | Greater Things
Ana Hernandez
Showing Up, Listening Deeply – What possibilities might open for the human collective if we learn to enter into conversations with a posture of Generative Listening? How to nurture internal quiet and be fully present to one another? Using music as a metaphor to listen and sing our way into Beloved Community, finding places of comfort and repose, and places where we’re not comfortable at all. Join me; let’s practice navigating into the possibilities together. Warning: You may have epiphanies in the context of group learning, and transformation and fun are highly likely to occur.
LISTEN
Ana Hernandez
Ana Hernandez is a song leader, recording artist, author and workshop facilitator. She teaches chanting as a spiritual practice and songs for street actions, while delighting in the ability of sound to revitalize prayer, open our hearts, and build engaged and playful communities. Ana loves collaboration and the endless possibilities that arise when we listen deeply, invite, and encourage the contributions of absolutely everyone. She knows there’s a leader in every chair. Every. One.
anahernandez.org
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
334 Generative Listening
Session #334
Congregational Change: Why it’s hard, why it’s necessary and what to do
Fri 1 PM | Greater Things
Brian McLaren & Anna Golladay
How can the wildness of the Wild Goose become more a part of our local congregations? Why is bringing needed congregational change so hard? What are the essential components of a healthy change process? What kinds of pushback and struggle are inevitable, what are avoidable, and is it worth it in the end? Anna and Brian will talk about the challenges that make change a matter of survival for our churches, and we’ll spend some time in personal reflection and interaction about our experiences as change agents in the past and present. But honestly, we’ve also learned some important things over the years about instituting such change, so we’ll take a few moments to summarize and discuss the literature and lore of congregational change. Most importantly, let’s look at a template for change and discuss simple and adaptable options for guiding your congregations or organizations through a change process.
Anna Golladay
Art Director/Creative Guru
Anna is the Sr Director of Communications and Marketing for the Center for Progressive Renewal / Convergence. She thrives on curating creative, spiritual & entrepreneurial possibility.
Via her social enterprise Work of Place she helps urban churches understand how their underutilized facilities can work alongside burgeoning entrepreneurs, often lacking in resource and financing, with the intent of sparking both neighborhood revitalization and an increase in ideators who change their communities. Additionally, she is the Executive Producer of the Inhabit Conference and works in a multitude of other ways with the Parish Collective and their affiliates..
She is a pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her ministry is focused on social justice and any inequity that exists both in and outside the walls of the corporate church. She is diligent in her advocacy of full inclusion of all persons in the United Methodist denomination.
http://www.workofplace.com
Sessions:
335 Creating Congregational Change
336 How Faith Should Influence Equitable Economic Growth
337 Bridging Radical Difference
Brian McLaren
Board Vice-Chair
Brian D. McLaren is an author, speaker, activist, and public theologian. A former college English teacher and pastor, he is a passionate advocate for “a new kind of Christianity” – just, generous, and working with people of all faiths for the common good. Notable among the many books he has authored are: “A New Kind of Christian”, which won Christianity Today’s “Award of Merit” in 2002; “Everything Must Change” tracing critical ways in which Jesus’ message confronts contemporary global crises; and We Make the Road by Walking, marking a turn toward constructive and practical theology. His 2016 release, The Great Spiritual Migration, has been hailed as his most important work to date. Brian is married to Grace, and they have four adult children and five grandchildren. His personal interests include wildlife and ecology, fly fishing and kayaking, music and songwriting, art, history, and literature. www.brianmclaren.net
Sessions:
209 How did we get here and where are we going
226 Brian McLaren, Topic TBD
278 Gathering The Goose
128 Taking to the Social Streets
87 A Dialogue With Brian McLaren and Reverend Trier
335 Creating Congregational Change
Session #335
If Not Us, Then Who? The Role of the Faith in Equitable and Sustainable Economic Development
Sat 5 PM | River
Anna Golladay
Corporate congregational attitudes toward money, assets and Kingdom should present us with a dilemma of conscious. We must speak of money AND meaning – never one without the other. Because it is not the money part that defines our covenant. It’s the meaning part. What do we mean to God & one another? What does money mean to us & God? Most importantly, is our act of stewardship one of obedience or liberation? Looking outside the walls forces us reckon with a disgusting level of income. In our urban neighborhoods we face a significant lack of equity. Income inequality exposes itself in the lack of entrepreneurial opportunity and start-up support for these community members. People of color are not able to secure funding because of a multitude of issues, most as a result of racial bias. What could happen if churches intentionally engaged in solving the crisis of financial inequity? Could we imagine a partnership between neighbors that is free from the dilemma of consciousness and instead immersed in transformative partnership?
Anna Golladay
Art Director/Creative Guru
Anna is the Sr Director of Communications and Marketing for the Center for Progressive Renewal / Convergence. She thrives on curating creative, spiritual & entrepreneurial possibility.
Via her social enterprise Work of Place she helps urban churches understand how their underutilized facilities can work alongside burgeoning entrepreneurs, often lacking in resource and financing, with the intent of sparking both neighborhood revitalization and an increase in ideators who change their communities. Additionally, she is the Executive Producer of the Inhabit Conference and works in a multitude of other ways with the Parish Collective and their affiliates..
She is a pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her ministry is focused on social justice and any inequity that exists both in and outside the walls of the corporate church. She is diligent in her advocacy of full inclusion of all persons in the United Methodist denomination.
http://www.workofplace.com
Sessions:
335 Creating Congregational Change
336 How Faith Should Influence Equitable Economic Growth
337 Bridging Radical Difference
Session #336
Bridging Radical Difference – Walking Together In Comradeship
Fri 4 PM | Library
Anna Golladay
In order to change the world, we must change ourself. This is hard work, especially when we are socialized to be opposed to ideas and politics that might be harmful. Bridging is a chance to cross into new relational space that has the power to fiercely hold the complexities of multi-dimensional people. None of us are single-issue folk who are attempting to do justice work, but oftentimes, we fail to enact relational politics in the work we are doing. And, so, the work of bridging radical difference is at the cusp of both personal and interpersonal change. Through the radical act of bridging, we find renewed capacity to our mission for social change and find unlikely comradeship in the process.
Anna Golladay
Art Director/Creative Guru
Anna is the Sr Director of Communications and Marketing for the Center for Progressive Renewal / Convergence. She thrives on curating creative, spiritual & entrepreneurial possibility.
Via her social enterprise Work of Place she helps urban churches understand how their underutilized facilities can work alongside burgeoning entrepreneurs, often lacking in resource and financing, with the intent of sparking both neighborhood revitalization and an increase in ideators who change their communities. Additionally, she is the Executive Producer of the Inhabit Conference and works in a multitude of other ways with the Parish Collective and their affiliates..
She is a pastor in the United Methodist Church. Her ministry is focused on social justice and any inequity that exists both in and outside the walls of the corporate church. She is diligent in her advocacy of full inclusion of all persons in the United Methodist denomination.
http://www.workofplace.com
Sessions:
335 Creating Congregational Change
336 How Faith Should Influence Equitable Economic Growth
337 Bridging Radical Difference
Session #337
Creative Defiance:An African American and South African conversation about decolonization. The use of colonial symbols as the embodiment of the struggle for equality.
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 4
Sat 5 PM | Convo Hall 4
Rev. Adam Dryer & Siki Dlanga
What are the parallels between Rhodes Must Fall and the taking down of Confederate icons from the American Civil War? A South African and African discuss how creative defiance is a means of disrupting the narrative of our colonial histories.
Siki Dlanga
Siki Dlanga is a graduate student at American University in D.C. She is midway through her Political Communication masters degree. In South Africa, Siki has written political columns, been part of the South African Christian Leaders Initiative board as the youngest member and for a time the only woman on the board. She started Freedom Mantle which worked to mobilize young Christian leaders to be engaged in social change in South Africa. She also worked with Rhodes Must Fall and Fees Must Fall activists/leaders by creating inter-generational mentor-ship spaces and safe spaces for them to engage their faith in their activism. In USA, Siki’s poetry has been featured on PBS with her poem titled Black Lives Matter alive or dead in protest of the desecration of the graveyard that belongs to the first freed Africans in Maryland by business.
Sessions:
338 Creative Defiance
Adam Dyer
Board Member
Reverend Adam Lawrence Dyer is the Lead Minister at First Parish Cambridge, Unitarian Universalist Church in Cambridge, MA. He is thrilled to return to Wild Goose as a proud member of the Board. His ministry and writing focuses on embodied faith and exploring the intersection between race, sexuality and religion. A graduate of the Pacific School of Religion, he also holds a certificate in Sexuality and Religion and was the 2017 recipient of the Paul Wesley Yinger preaching award. His book of poetry/meditations Love Beyond God was published in 2016 by Skinner House Books. At First Parish, he is deeply engaged in ministry to address issues around homelessness supporting the work of youth shelters, meals programs and programs to support the elderly remaining in the home. In addition to serving First Parish, Adam is also the Unitarian Universalist Chaplain at Harvard University.
www.spirituwellness.org/
Sessions:
321 God is the Fact That…Living to Die – Mortality and Faith
338 Creative Defiance
Session #338
Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion – Where Are We Now?
Fri 5 PM | Greater Things
Rev. Dr. Paula Stone Williams
Between 2007 and 2015 the number of Evangelicals supportive of marriage equality jumped from 26 to 36 percent and 51 percent among Millennials. But 100 of America’s 100 largest churches are still not open and affirming. What are the obstacles to full inclusion and when can we expect them to be overcome?Rev. Dr. Paula Stone Williams, a national speaker on LGBTQ issues of faith and gender discrimination, will explore current trends in American religion and what they mean for vulnerable populations.
Paula Williams
Rev. Dr. Paula Williams is a nationally known speaker on gender equity and transgender advocacy. She is also the Pastor of Preaching and Worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, and the president of RLT Pathways, Inc., a non-profit providing counseling and coaching services. Paula serves on the board of the Q Christian Fellowship, the Union of Affirming Christians, and the WITH Network of progressive churches. As a transgender pastor, Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, NPR and The Huffington Post. Paula’s TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equality has been viewed over a half million times on YouTube. For more information visit paulastonewilliams.com.
Sessions:
216 Paula Williams TED talk
339 Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion
349 A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Session #339
One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation
Fri 11 AM | Chapel
J. Dana Trent
Scheduled and guided 10-minute sessions in the Chapel to help festival goers be still and fully absorb their Goose experience.These Wild Goose meditation breaks will help reframe meditation for those of us who are skeptical, doubtful of our ability to be still/quiet, don’t know where or how to begin, have trouble finding time, or are simply unsure if meditation is a viable Christian spiritual practice. Using five approaches—breath meditation, lectio divina, centering meditation, loving-kindness meditation, and devotional meditation—One Breath at a Time will provide festival goers with a guided breaks and tools for beginning, continuing, and sustaining a Christian meditation practice to take home.
J. Dana Trent
The Rev. J. Dana Trent is a graduate of Duke Divinity School, Baptist clergywoman, award-winning author, speaker, and workshop facilitator. She teaches World Religions and Critical Thinking at Wake Technical Community College. Her work has appeared in Sojourners and The Christian Century, as well as on Time.com, Religion Dispatches, and Religion News Service. Her third book, “One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation,” releases in January 2019. She lives in Raleigh with her husband, a devout Hindu and former monk. Their Christian-Hindu interfaith marriage is chronicled in Saffron Cross: The Unlikely Story of How a Christian Minister Married a Hindu Monk. Her second book with Upper Room Books, For Sabbath’s Sake: Embracing Your Need for Rest, Worship, and Community, explores the how and why of slowing down for spirituality in a 24-7 world. She loves naps with cats, vegetarian food, and teaches weight-lifting for the YMCA.
http://jdanatrent.com/
Sessions:
111 Sabbath for the Activist
340 One Breath at a Time: A Skeptic’s Guide to Christian Meditation
Session #340
I Love You, Bible . . . . Just Not That Way
Fri Noon | Main Stage
Pete Enns
I love the Bible, but not for reasons you might think. I love it for its ancient, ambiguous, and diverse weirdness. When those qualities of the Bible are allowed to shine through, rather than clinging to the safe code words our tribe might expect us to use, we will see the Bible’s true depth and life-giving character. The Bible is not an owner’s manual of timeless information used by God to helicopter parent us, but a book that is set up to give us an “invitation we can’t refuse”—to accept for ourselves the sacred responsibility of reimagining God here and now rather than simply repeating the past.
Pete Enns
Pete Enns is a Bible professor at Eastern University, but is nevertheless a semi-interesting person who loves animals and binge watching great dramas with his wife Sue. He writes a lot about dealing honestly with the messiness of the Bible and the reality of doubt in the life of faith, and his two most popular books are The Bible Tells Me So: Why Defending Scripture Has Made Us Unable to Read It and The Sin of Certainty: Why God Desires Our Trust More than Our “Correct” Beliefs. His popular blog and podcast, The Bible for Normal People, can be found at peteenns.com.
https://thebiblefornormalpeople.podbean.com/
Sessions:
293 B4NP Podcast
341 I Love You, Bible . . . . Just Not That Way
Session #341
The Death of… is a workshop in which students collaborate to develop eulogies.
Sat 3 PM | Library
Zach Mills
“The Death of…” “The Death of…” is an interactive workshop where participants collaborate using principles of preaching, rhetoric, and communication studies to produce short eulogies about an idea, reality, phenomenon, etc. that has “died” recently. The tone for these eulogies can be humorous or serious, celebratory or mournful. Participants will have opportunities to sharpen their skills using metaphor, audience analysis, and emotional appeals. Skills emphasized in this workshop are designed to strengthen communication practices among participants in life beyond Wild Goose.
Zach Mills
The Rev. Dr. Zachary W. Mills is a communications scholar and ordained minister who studies race, religion, media, and popular culture. He is the author of The Last Blues Preacher: Rev. Clay Evans, Black Lives, and the Faith that Woke the Nation (Fortress Press, 2018), a biography about Chicago civil rights hero Rev. Clay Evans.
Mills holds two master’s degrees from Vanderbilt University: a Master of Divinity emphasizing social justice and a Master of Arts focussing on African American preaching. He recently earned his Ph.D in Rhetoric and Public Culture from Northwestern University.
Through his writing, speaking, and consulting, Mills works to inspire change and help people find and develop authentic voices – especially within unfamiliar and even hostile cultural landscapes. He is a storyteller who uses the power of words to empower people to be the best versions of themselves and to find common ground despite social, cultural, religious, or political differences. For more, visit his website zmills.com
zmills.com
Sessions:
343 “The Death of…” is a workshop in which students collaborate to develop eulogies
393 Here’s What Sucks About My Preaching…
Session #343
COWARDS No one ever says to come alive is like a death.
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 2
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 2
Cedars
“If we die before we wake, that will be a shame.”
What happens if we never wake up to the beauty that is our authentic self?
Drew Heaton and Sandeigh Kennedy, who helm the musical collective Cedars, invite you into a discussion about an ongoing journey towards an authentic life and what making authentic art has looked for them so far. Growing up in the church, being rejected by the church, rejecting the church, and currently looking for the Divine everywhere, they will share music, art, and poetry in hopes to spark conversation and connection.
Cedars
Cedars is more than a band – it is a collective of people who believe that beauty will change the world.
A mixture of formal education and self-training, Cedars is helmed by Drew Heaton and Sandeigh Kennedy. Together they direct Cedars and combine their talents to develop unique music with a genre-defying style. Poring over sounds and textures, they find the right instruments, both traditional and experimental, to tell their heartfelt and beautiful stories as honestly as possible. They believe that music and art are there to hold us up, to fill us and expand us, to make space for suffering and for celebration. They believe music and art allow us to heal and to spread joy and so often say what words cannot.
Through a mixture of song, poetry, art and conversation, this collective hopes to inspire & impact the world around them.
www.cedarstheband.com
Sessions:
344 COWARDS
Session #344
A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
Fri 11 AM | Convo Hall 9
Paula Williams
Male and female transgender participants can share how their understanding of God and spirituality has expanded or changed since they transitioned.
Paula Williams
Rev. Dr. Paula Williams is a nationally known speaker on gender equity and transgender advocacy. She is also the Pastor of Preaching and Worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, and the president of RLT Pathways, Inc., a non-profit providing counseling and coaching services. Paula serves on the board of the Q Christian Fellowship, the Union of Affirming Christians, and the WITH Network of progressive churches. As a transgender pastor, Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, NPR and The Huffington Post. Paula’s TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equality has been viewed over a half million times on YouTube. For more information visit paulastonewilliams.com.
Sessions:
216 Paula Williams TED talk
339 Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion
349 A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Session #349
A Conversation on Coming Out to Conservative Families
Sat 11 AM | Convo Hall 9
Amber Cantorna
LGBTQ participants can discuss their experiences growing up with and coming out to their conservative families.
Amber Cantorna
Amber Cantorna is an author, speaker, advisor, and leader in the movement of LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church. As Founder and President of Beyond, Amber is passionate about dissolving shame, fostering self acceptance, and generating messages of hope for LGBTQ+ people of faith. Her memoir, Refocusing My Family is now available everywhere books are sold and she blogs at AmberCantorna.com.
AmberCantorna.com
Sessions:
73 Refocusing My Family
350 A Conversation on Coming Out to Conservative Families
Session #350
Spiritual Direction
All day every day at the Spiritual Direction Tent
Spiritual Direction is the ancient practice of a “soul friend” who accompanies others on their spiritual journey, helping them to notice, discern, and claim their own experience of God. It is likely that you will encounter the “Wild Goose” in a variety of ways during the next several days. The WGF Spiritual Direction Team is available throughout the weekend to companion folks for spiritual exploration, processing, conversation, companionship, and/or prayer during 45-minute individual sessions. Signups are at the Spiritual Direction tent where there are also self-led contemplative practices sponsored by the Charlotte Spirituality Center.
Spiritual Direction Team
Linda Flynn-Serepca
Leader, Spiritual Direction Team
Team Linda Flynn-Serepca is Executive Director of the Charlotte Spirituality Center, a spiritual and educational institute that offers training of spiritual directors, companionship in spiritual formation and spiritual direction in the Southeast. A seven year WGF veteran, spiritual director and retreat leader for sixteen years, she specializes in Ignatian Spirituality, discernment, twelve step, and the Enneagram. With a degree in Hospitality Management, Linda received her ministry training through the Jesuits, the Enneagram Institute, her certification from the Charlotte Spirituality Center and supervisory certificate from “Together in the Mystery Supervision Program” associated with San Francisco Theological Seminary. A member of Spiritual Directors International, Linda describes herself as a progressive, ecumenical Catholic who values community, non-violence, and equality. Linda is author of the retreat workbook “Praying Twelve Steps With Jesus.”
www.charlottespiritualitycenter.org
Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction
Chet Amalean
Chet earned his certificate in spiritual direction from the Charlotte Spirituality Center in 2013 and offers didactics to the students of the CSC. His specialty as a spiritual director is in mindfulness. He most recently completed a 70+ day retreat focused on the technique of devotion and surrender at the Surrender Retreat House in Sedona, Arizona. He brings direct experience from many spiritual traditions which gives the directee a well-rounded approach and connection to their own divinity during sessions. He believes that spiritual direction is to listen with an open mind and heart while recognizing that God is the real director. In his practice, he aspires to be a collaborator and instrument of God’s Love.
www.mindfulnessdirector.com
Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction
Randy Bell
I am the Director of Spring Creek Spirituality based in Asheville, NC, welcoming all faiths and backgrounds as we explore each person’s individual spirituality using our everyday language. My spiritual path has taken me to many diverse sources, though I am principally a follower of the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, Buddha, Lao-Tsu, and have been a Zen practitioner for 40 years. I write extensively on various spiritual topics, including 14 books, 2 blog sites, and various reference materials. I serve as a guest speaker/session leader, lead spiritual and personal growth workshops and retreat sessions, and am a meditation teacher. I provide spiritual direction and companioning, and in 2016 & 2017 was on the Spiritual Direction Team at Wild Goose. I am also a member of North Carolina Writer’s Network and Spiritual Directors International. My personal resume website can be found at www.RandyBellSpiritualTeacher.blogspot.com. Books and publications can be found at www.McKeeLearningFoundation.com.
www.SpringCreekSpirituality.com
Sessions:
53 Wisdom of A-I-M
351 Spiritual Direction
Lucinda Clark
Lucinda Clark resides in Charlotte, NC where she received her spiritual direction training at the Charlotte Spirituality Center. Lucinda is honored to journey and witness the unfolding of the Divine in those that she companions, as they seek a deeper awareness of self and the mystery of the Divine. Lucinda is a contemplative interfaith spiritual director, respectful of all faith traditions and inclusive of all people. Lucinda is also a Reiki practitioner and incorporates Reiki when desired by her companions. Lucinda looks forward to being of service at Wild Goose.
Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction
Anne Findlay-Chamberlain
Anne Findlay-Chamberlain has devoted her adult life to journeying with people as they seek wholeness. She has a B. S. in Health and Physical, and Masters Degrees in Counseling and Divinity. She is an ordained United Church of Christ pastor. She is a graduate of Ashland Seminary’s Pastors of Excellence program as well as Shalem Institute’s Clergy Spiritual Life and Leadership program. She is continuing her training through the Charlotte Spirituality Center Spiritual Director’s program. She is a staff member of In Christ Supporting Ministries in Charlotte where she works with small groups as well as congregations. In her work as a pastor, spiritual director, and retreat leader, Anne loves accompanying individuals, small groups and congregations in discovering God’s presence in their lives. Anne is married to Rod Chamberlain and they have two adult sons and four delightful grandchildren.
Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction
Sarah DeShields
Sarah DeShields is an artist, musician, mother and Spiritual Director originally from Scotland, now residing in the mountains of North Carolina. Claiming a Celtic Spiritual heritage and a newness to the contemplative life, Sarah can be found holding spaces for the contemplative arts in communities, forming creative liturgies and sacred spaces where the invitation for all is deeply felt. As a spiritual director she has experienced the beautiful ministry of companioning others in their unique experiences, and is delighted to be returning for a third year at the Goose to offer her time as a director.
Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction
Marshall Jenkins
J. Marshall Jenkins, Ph.D., is a writer, counseling psychologist, and spiritual director. Through his listening ministry, Marshall strives to facilitate discernment, graced healing, and everyday spirituality. His writing ministry carries that work forward through his Beatitudes Blog (www.jmarshalljenkins.com) and his books, including his most recent one, Blessed at the Broken Places: Reclaiming Faith & Purpose with the Beatitudes (Skylight Paths, 2016). He received certificates in spiritual formation at Columbia Theological Seminary and in spiritual guidance at the Shalem Institute for Spiritual Formation. Since 1987, he has served as Director of Counseling at Berry College and conducted an evening private practice in psychotherapy and spiritual direction in Rome, Georgia, where he lives with his lovely wife, Wanda Cantrell.
www.jmarshalljenkins.com/
Sessions:
55 Discernment
351 Spiritual Direction
Session #351
She Is Called: A Conversation for Women Who Lead
Sat 5 PM | Greater Things
She Is Called Panel
She Is Called Co-Creators Tina Schermer Sellers, Carla Ewert, Paula Williams, and Lanecia Rouse Tinsley will discuss female ambition, desire, and leadership. We’ll discuss what the divine feminine has to do with the state of women’s ambition and leadership.
Tina Schermer-Sellers
Tina Schermer Sellers, PhD, has had a distinguished career as an educator, sex therapist, medical family therapist, speaker, author, consultant, and thought leader. She serves as an Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy and Director of Medical Family Therapy in the School of Psychology, Family & Community at Seattle Pacific University. Dr. Sellers also founded the Northwest Institute on Intimacy, whose mission is to provide training in sex therapy and spiritual intimacy for psychotherapists and to provide a solid referral source for physicians, clergy, and community leaders. Her relentless passion for couples and families to know sexual and spiritual abundance, health and healing have won her several awards and requests for radio, TV and podcast interviews.
tinaschermersellers.com
Sessions:
352 She Is Called Panel
Carla Ewert
Carla Ewert is the director and founder of She Is Called, a national conversation for women who lead. She hosts the Holy Writ Podcast and is a regular panelist on the Christian Feminist Podcast. Carla lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where you might find her on a summer day in cycling on the city trails or playing at Lake Harriet with her daughters. The long northern winters give her plenty of time for her other diversions: coffee, bourbon, and books.
Sessions:
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Paula Williams
Rev. Dr. Paula Williams is a nationally known speaker on gender equity and transgender advocacy. She is also the Pastor of Preaching and Worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, and the president of RLT Pathways, Inc., a non-profit providing counseling and coaching services. Paula serves on the board of the Q Christian Fellowship, the Union of Affirming Christians, and the WITH Network of progressive churches. As a transgender pastor, Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, NPR and The Huffington Post. Paula’s TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equality has been viewed over a half million times on YouTube. For more information visit paulastonewilliams.com.
Sessions:
216 Paula Williams TED talk
339 Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion
349 A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Lanecia Tinsley
Lanecia is an abstract painter, photographer, workshop leader + speaker based in Houston, Texas. She mostly works with acrylic, encaustic wax, oils, cold wax, pastels + paper collage on canvas + wood. She creates work that draws upon her travels — the life, palettes, textures + stories she discovers there. Her work also explores the “negative spaces” in life — those times of ambiguity + uncertainty, silence + mystery through subtle textures, color, markings + layers to create a history within the work.
As an artist, she believes her call is to create opportunities for people to encounter beauty through the work of her hands + the spaces she cultivates for others to tap into their creativity. She is currently in partnership with Holy Family HTX as their Artist-In-Residence.
www.larartphotography.com
Sessions:
352 She Is Called Panel
Session #352
I Wanna Be Like You: Mentors, Gurus, Friends in the Pursuit of Justice
Fri 2 PM | Workshop
Micky ScottBey Jones in conversation with Jacqui Lewis, Alexia Salvatierra, and Corey Pigg
Finding your way in social justice movements means exploring who you are inside yourself and in relationship to the world. Different relationships with guides, teachers and friends can help you build resilience to do the work long term – not as a replica of those you admire, but as your best, bravest, most authentic self. Your mentors and gurus shape you. Are you connecting to that source of wisdom? Not sure what any of this looks like? Come share your experiences and hear from a panel of folks who have tapped into this source of wisdom and strength.
Micky ScottBey Jones
Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is a mama-activist-contemplative-healer-holy-disrupter who believes in throwing parties as a key revolutionary strategy. She loves bringing people together to explore brave space, awaken empathy and fight oppression. Micky is the Director of Healing Justice with Faith Matters Network and is a core team member with The People’s Supper who has gathered more than 4,000 people around tables since the 2016 election for bridging and healing conversations.
mickyscottbeyjones.com
Sessions:
168 Pop-Up People’s Supper
354 Micky ScottBey Jones & Panel
391 A Conversation with Micky ScottBey Jones
404 Voices in the Divide
Jacqui Lewis
The Rev. Dr. Jacqui Lewis is Senior Minister at Middle Collegiate Church, a 1000-member multiracial, welcoming, and inclusive congregation in New York City. She is an activist, preacher, and fierce advocate for racial equality, economic justice, and LGBTQ equality. Her work has included co-founding The Middle Project, an institute that prepares ethical leaders for a more just society. She has also written three books, hosted a television program, been a frequent contributor to MSNBC, and taught at seminaries across the country.
Jacqui earned her Master of Divinity from Princeton Theological Seminary, and earned a M.Phil. and a Ph.D. in Psychology and Religion from Drew University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), Jacqui is the first African American and first woman to serve as senior minister in the Collegiate Church, which was founded in New York City in 1628.
http://www.jacquijlewis.com/
Sessions:
281 Sending The Goose
7 Jacqui Lewis, Topic TBD
Alexandra Salvatierra
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World (Intervarsity Press). She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational and community organizing and legislative advocacy. She is an affiliate professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct at four other academic institutions. In addition to coordinating the Guardian Angels Project and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association. She is a national leader in immigrant justice, co-founder of the New Sanctuary Movement, the Evangelical Immigration Table and M25 (Matthew 25/Mateo 25).
http://www.alexiasalvatierra.com/
Sessions:
169 Faith-Rooted Organizing
170 M25 – Creating Immigrant Justice
383 Alexa Salvatierra
Corey Pigg
Corey is a former missionary, recovering pursuer of Jesus and a cult survivor. After several years of traveling the globe as a missionary and in recovery as a cult abuse survivor, Corey’s work is devoted to helping others reconnect with themselves after the loss of a lifestyle steeped in spiritual vocation and/or spiritual abuse in order to find their way forward.
Corey is responsible for Failed Missionary, a new podcast/blog that explores topics and narratives related to the modern approach to missions and questions the odd ways we’ve interpreted the great commission.
www.failedmissionary.com
Sessions:
122 Life After Missions
248 Failed Missionary
Session #354
Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate
Fri 10 AM | Convo Hall 3
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 3
John J. Thompson
In the stories of a baker, a farmer, craft brewers, a chocolatier, a woodworker, one of the top coffee experts in the world, and his own musical history, Thompson searches for truth rippling beneath the surface of the handcrafted and small batch culture shift happening all around us. Inspired by the artisanal way and driven by a personal journey to a deeper spirituality, he suggests that keeping the faith today starts with going back to the gospel’s grassroots and extricating it from the clutches of industrialism. (Chocolate may be served.)
This conversation with John J. Thompson will include some brief excerpts from his book, some stuff to taste (if we can pull it off) and maybe even a special guest or two. What might beer, chocolate, music, and a really cool table tell us about how we might build and experience Church in a more meaningful and satisfying way? Come taste and see.
John Thompson
John J. Thompson, author of Jesus, Bread and Chocolate; Crafting a Handmade Faith in a Mass Market World (Zondervan) is a 30-year music industry veteran, author, artist, record producer, and teacher who currently serves as Associate Dean at Trevecca Nazarene University’s School of Music and Worship Arts in Nashville. He is a frequent blogger, speaker, and consultant, as well as a worship leader and house church pastor. (Twitter: @JohnJThompson)
www.JohnJThompson.com
Sessions:
355 Jesus, Bread, and Chocolate; Crafting a Handmade Faith in a Mass Market World
Session #355
Love in a Dangerous Time
Fri 10 AM | GooseCast
Russ Jennings
The topic of this episode will be the immigration crisis in the world and what Churches and lay Christians are doing to extend hospitality. My guest is Rev. Robert Brashear, of NYC, who is working, with people of faith in the US and Germany, on an international sign-on statement.Love in a Dangerous Time is mostly focused on the dramatic changes going on in the Protestant churches of the US. Many feel that the model we have for Church is no longer appropriate and a new kind of community is needed to focus more clearly on supporting people in the work of “becoming the Gospel” in our world. The show features critics of the church, experimenters, and theologians, as well as topics of more general interest to justice-seeking Christians.
Russ Jennings
Goosecast Curator
Russ Jennings lives in New York City. In addition to his podcasting career he is an activist in justice work all over the city, mostly through The Micah Institute, a faith-based, multi-faith coalition of clergy and activists. For twenty years, Russ produced concerts and special events in the San Francisco Bay Area and he plied those skills at Wild Goose, where he was stage manager of the main stage for four years. He founded the GooseCast program in 2016 to showcase the excellent podcasts in our Goosey niche.
Sessions:
356 Love in a Dangerous Time
Session #356
Musical Performance: Infielder
Fri Noon | Café
A simple acoustic trio challenge assumptions and narratives with dense lyrics, tight harmonies, and catchy songs once flatteringly described as “beautiful acoustical music played well”. Listeners are encouraged to engage in improvised audience participation and visual displays. If the spirit moves, there will be dancing. Fun will most certainly be had but be warned: white dudes plus acoustic instruments don’t always equal bluegrass. Neal Curran-Mandolin, Peter Daaleman-Bass, Will Postlethwait-Guitar.
LISTEN
Infielder
Infielder is a Durham NC-based acoustic trio that formed to work the edges of folk, rock, jazz, classical, and what-have-you. Infielder explores complex musical and lyrical themes through hooks and melodies that get stuck in your ear. Find Infielder at www.infieldermusic.com
Sessions:
357 Musical Performance: Infielder
Session #357
Responsibility of Privilege in the Era of Trump
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 2
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 2
Michael J. Kimpan
There is no doubt that the current cultural climate and political landscape has shifted since our last presidential election. In the era of Trump, what responsibility do each of us carry in creating a more peaceful and productive world? What part does my privilege play? What can I do personally, and how might we continue to organize to ensure the safety of others targeted by this administration?Join Michael Kimpan for a time of honest and thoughtful conversation on how to better engage the world in which we find ourselves.
Session #358
New Communion: The Practice of Table
Fri Noon | Bridge
Rev. Monica L. Banks
Join Rev. Monica L. Banks of New Communion for a fascinating exploration of practical theology. How are we transformed by Eucharistic praxis? Come experience the story of New Communion and the transformation of a community. Where does spiritual hunger meet the real world and respond to poverty and food insecurity? Join us for real dialogue about the church’s response to hunger/food insecurity. We will also explore food justice as prophetic mandate.
1: The story of New Communion: How Shared Abundance Changed A Community
New Communion Mobile Market & Pantry is a faith-based organization with the goal of enhancing community relationships and diminishing the impacts of hunger and food insecurity.
2: New Communion: The Hospitality of Table
When we begin to understand the idea of “Christian” hospitality as a means of transformation and relationship, it looks different than simply a proposition of manners. This understanding includes manners and etiquette which is why this particular study transitions into the practical world with the help of Luke 14:12-24.
3: New Communion: Dinner Church
Join us for our final movement. As churches, families, and communities are fractured…we look for more meaningful ways to connect. Join us for “Dinner Church” a new way of connecting with story and neighbor.
Monica Banks
Reverend Monica L. Banks currently serves as founding Co-Director of New Communion; a faith-based community organization with the goal of enhancing community relationships and diminishing the impacts of hunger and food insecurity. She is Nebraska native, with nomadic tendencies, she values hard work, relationships, and family meals. She serves as Chaplain Resident at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina. Monica believes in the interconnected and liminal spaces that exist between and within the ordinary and the sacred. She is passionate about creation care and knows that sometimes all we need is to take our shoes off and feel the grass, knead the dough of bread amidst creation, or cry/sing with a neighbor. Rev. Banks is an ordained pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Rev. Banks is a 2017 Re:Generate Fellow, a published writer/blogger, preacher, grant writer, community organizer, and justice seeker.
Sessions:
359 New Communion: The Practice of Table
360 Dessert Church with New Communion and Friends
Session #98
Dessert Church with New Communion and Friends
Sat 11 PM | Café
Rev. Monica L. Banks
New Communion/Dessert ChurchYou’ve Heard of Dinner Church, right? Well come experience a late night liturgical experience unlike any other. We will sing, fellowship, delight in the presence of the divine and one another while dining on pie, cookies, cupcakes, and other confectionary delights. Grab your kids, your neighbor, and come on out!!!Victoria Martinez
Monica Banks
Reverend Monica L. Banks currently serves as founding Co-Director of New Communion; a faith-based community organization with the goal of enhancing community relationships and diminishing the impacts of hunger and food insecurity. She is Nebraska native, with nomadic tendencies, she values hard work, relationships, and family meals. She serves as Chaplain Resident at Moses Cone Hospital in Greensboro, North Carolina. Monica believes in the interconnected and liminal spaces that exist between and within the ordinary and the sacred. She is passionate about creation care and knows that sometimes all we need is to take our shoes off and feel the grass, knead the dough of bread amidst creation, or cry/sing with a neighbor. Rev. Banks is an ordained pastor in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Rev. Banks is a 2017 Re:Generate Fellow, a published writer/blogger, preacher, grant writer, community organizer, and justice seeker.
Sessions:
359 New Communion: The Practice of Table
360 Dessert Church with New Communion and Friends
Session #360
Sidebar Stories: Storytelling for Social Change
Fri Noon | Studio
And drop in any time at Sidebar Stories or the Studio to make your storyboard
Ron King with Debbie King, John Kauffman, Debbie Clevenger
Here, you’ll learn to organize and present life experiences in a simple and undeniable story. This interactive session teaches structure and biology of the Sidebar Story format. Using an effective story pathway allows you to tell your life story in a way that is memorable and capable of shifting dominant social narratives. Drop in the Sidebar Stories space near the Studio Tent anytime to meet the Sidebar Stories team and pick up materials to draw the change you want to see by making your own storyboard. Frame your storyboard, display it during the festival and take it home with you. Sidebar Stories can also post your story online for others who need to know things you’ve learned. Hand drawn storyboards are about authenticity, not artistic ability or performance storytelling. They can also be used to create a dynamic graphic record of your life together in community.
Stop by the Sidebar Stories space to find your muse in someone who listens and cares about what you have to say. It’s surprising what a good ear can do to reveal an untold story. Let’s talk about how your story can be used to make a real difference in the world. www.sidebarstories.org
Session #361
Musical Performance: Andy Buckner
Fri 5 PM | Café
Sat 6 PM | Goose in the Round, Main Stage
LISTEN
Andy Buckner
Blending honky-tonk bravado and gritty seclusion, Andy Buckner’s music embodies a balance of party anthems and instantly relatable heartache healers. The 24-year-old’s grainy, soulful voice embraces his North Carolina roots and shares authentic songs inspired by his upbringing. After making a name for himself on Season 9 of “The Voice,” Buckner opened up for artists such as Dierks Bentley, Zac Brown Band, and Jason Isbell, and also began work on a debut EP. Buckner’s debut EP, featuring “My Kinda People” and the “Ones that Do,” was produced by country hitmakers Derek George and Julian King, and is expected to be released in early 2018.
www.andybucknermusic.com
Sessions:
364 Musical Performance: Andy Bucker
328 Goose in the Round: Saturday
Session #364
Open Studio
All day every day | Studio
Come explore materials, join in community art-making and check out art supplies for use across the festival!
Session #365
Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
Fri 3 PM | Living Room
Ruby Sales, Jeff Clark
Ruby Sales
Perhaps no one is more rooted in history, engaged in the present, and leaning more intentionally into the future than Ruby Sales.
Ruby is a public theologian, historian, activist, social critic, and educator. She first answered the call to social justice in the 1960’s as a teenager at Tuskegee Institute to join the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) and work on voter registration in Lowndes County, Alabama. Among her many great achievements since then, she is one of fifty African Americans from the Civil Rights Movement to have her oral history spotlighted at the Library of Congress. She also founded, and still directs, the SpiritHouse Project, a national nonprofit organization.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Sales
Sessions:
366 Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
7 Jacqui Lewis & Ruby Sales
Jeff Clark
President/Producer
When Jeff isn’t leading The Goose, he’s probably either teaching grad students at MTSU, riding a bike, consulting in a political campaign, dancing in a club on Broadway, directing an academic conference in Chicago, or out finding the best ice cream shop in town. Jeff is happiest when he’s multi-tasking. Jeff loves music and production and creating. In addition to bringing strategic thinking to The Goose, you’ll find him all over the festival grounds making sure the lighting and sound are perfect. And dancing in front of the stage. Jeff is President and Producer of the Wild Goose Festival and Director of Graduate Studies in IT at Middle Tennessee State University.
Sessions:
431 Welcome
366 Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
437 Goose Talk
Session #366
Art, Inspiration, and Justice: aijcast Podcast Live
Fri 5 PM | Studio
Marthame Sanders, Dan White Hodge
Marthame Sanders, host of the weekly podcast aijcast, will be hosting this conversation and performance at the intersection of art, inspiration, and justice. The panel will include several others (TBD).
Marthame Sanders
Marthame Sanders is an Atlanta-based dad, pastor, and artist. His latest project, aijcast, unites his passions for art, faith, and justice. The weekly podcast, featuring artists in conversation and performance, is in its second year. Marthame performs improv comedy, while also using the tools of improv to teach others the power of saying “Yes And.” Under the nom de rock Marred Fame, he released Preachy in 2016, a throwback to the grunge/unplugged era of the 1990’s. In 2004, he and his wife Elizabeth produced a documentary film series Salt of the Earth: Palestinian Christians in the Northern West Bank. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Chicago, Marthame has served in ministry in the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) as international mission staff, youth director, and solo pastor. Marthame and Elizabeth are busy parenting their two sons, ages 7 and 12, who are awesome but—let’s be honest—kinda immature. Marthame is excited for his first Goose!
Sessions:
367 Art, Inspiration, and Justice: aijcast Podcast Live
Daniel White Hodge
With 23 years of urban multi-ethnic youth work experience, Daniel White Hodge, PhD, is a recognized urban youth culture expert & cultural literacy scholar. Dr. Hodge is Associate Professor of Intercultural Communications & department chair of Communication Arts at North Park University in Chicago. His research interests are the intersections of faith, Hip Hop culture, race/ethnicity, & young adult emerging generations. His four books are Heaven Has A Ghetto: The Missiological Gospel & Theology of Tupac Amaru Shakur (VDM 2009), The Soul Of Hip Hop: Rimbs, Timbs, & A Cultural Theology (IVP 2010), Hip Hop’s Hostile Gospel: A Post Soul Theological Exploration (Brill Academic 2017) and Homeland Insecurity: A Hip-Hop Missiology for the Post-Civil Rights Context (IVP Academic, 2018). He plans to release a co-authored text with Irene Cho (Fuller’s Youth Institute) dealing with current ethnic minority young adult contexts called Between God & Kendrick: Youth Work in a Post-Civil Rights Context (IVP Academic).
www.whitehodge.com
Sessions:
297 Profane Faith
Session #367
Musical Performance: Atlantic Bar Church
Liquid Liturgy – Bob Dylan
Sat 6 PM | Café
LISTEN
A full service of Word and Sacrament using the music of Bob Dylan in the various parts of the order of worship in order to draw people into the message of Christ. The order of worship for the Bob Dylan Liturgy is as follows: Gathering – Mr Tambourine Man Confession – Like a Rolling Stone Absolution – Shelter from the Storm Prayer of the Day – Blowin in the Wind Gospel: Mark 6:30-34, 53-56 Sermon: Hymn of the Day – A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall Prayers – Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door (Prayers are offered in the community as the congregation is invited to offer prayers in the places where they need to see God at work in their lives and to offer thanksgiving for the blessings that God has bestowed on them.) Sharing of the Peace Offering – Rainy Day Women #12 and 35 Preface – The Times They are a’changin’ Eucharistic Prayer and Words of Institution: Communion Hymn 1- Positively 4th Street Communion Hymn 2 – Tangled Up in Blue Post-Communion Prayer – Highway 61 Revisited Sending Hymn – Forever Young
Atlanta Bar Church
Atlanta Bar Church is a worship community located in Midtown, Atlanta. ABC was founded in 2014 as a gathering of folks who wanted to drink beer and sing hymns and eventually people began to ask to take communion. Shortly after ABC began offering monthly liturgies based on a standard Lutheran order of worship but utilizing non-church (e.g. secular) music.
As might be guessed from the name, ABC gathers in a bar because we feel like that’s where Jesus would be. We also seek to reach out to those who have been hurt by the church and to be a refuge for those who are seeking and questioning.
ABC is a Reconciling in Christ congregation, meaning that our statement of welcome is actively inclusive of the LGBTQ community.
At the Festival we will be leading a Bob Dylan Liquid Liturgy; celebrating the love of Christ in our world through the music of Bob Dylan. Come join us!
https://www.barchurchatlanta.com/
Sessions:
368 Musical Performance: Atlantic Bar Church
Session #368
Musical Performance: The Pinkerton Raid
Fri 1 PM | Main Stage
Sat 5 PM | Cafe
LISTEN
The Pinkerton Raid
Near the start of The Pinkerton Raid’s newest album, Jesse DeConto asks, “Where’s the star to lead us home?” The answer, in a cycle of realistic truth-telling and undeterred hope, is simply this: We sing together.
Inspired by the first Wild Goose, Jesse and band members have been leading Beer & Hymns back at Fullsteam in Durham, North Carolina, gravitating toward songs that have soundtracked social movements since the 1940s. WHERE THE WILDEST SPIRITS FLY captured that energy with a sing-along choir, earning high praise from THE ALTERNATE ROOT, MOTHER CHURCH PEW and more. CHARLESTON CITY PAPER dubbed it “love-one-another songs.”
The Pinkerton Raid has shared stages with The Collection, Annabelle’s Curse, Forlorn Strangers, Lowland Hum, Noah Gundersen, and Denison Witmer. 2017’s TOLERANCE ENDS, LOVE BEGINS brought the band from Durham to Chicago to Washington D.C., with festival slots, a DAYTROTTER session, and critical acclaim from PASTE, NO DEPRESSION and more.
www.pinkertonraid.com
Sessions:
370 Musical Performance: The Pinkerton Raid
409 AcoustaGoose
Session #370
Musical Performance: I,Star
Fri 8 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
I,Star
From the heart of Appalachia, I,Star rises… Encompassing a core fusion of husband-wife duo, MC/poet Truth-I Manifest’s potent lyrical flow, and singer/songwriter Aradhana Silvermoon’s angelic melodies- with their stellar band’s profoundly funky prowess- I,Star’s performances are a dynamic interplay of hard-hitting rhymes weaving through evocative refrains, building to harmonies in the hooks. Their wholly original “folk-hop” carriage bears keen commentary on personal and global transformation, stewardship of the Earth, social justice, and love amidst it all. Whether in configuration as a duo with acoustic guitar and bare vocals, with one or more accompanists, or with the powerful layers of a 7-piece band and their improvisational gifts, I,Star inspires listeners to groove deeply and journey into their rich imagery and soundscapes. Displaying wide, genre- crossing versatility with influences of funk, world, reggae, and rock to accent their folk-hop essence, I,Star’s music has broad appeal to lovers of many flavors. In the expanding constellation of progressive and conscious musical offerings, these luminaries shine brightly.
istarvision.com
Sessions:
371 Musical Performance: I,Star
Session #371
Musical Performance: Trey Pearson
Sat 1 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
Trey Pearson
With his band Everyday Sunday, Trey Pearson has sold hundreds of thousands of records, and amassed millions of streams. He has scored 5 #1 U.S. singles and 20 Top 10 hits. Pearson has toured in all 50 states and 20 countries, playing with top Christian musicians such as Toby Mac, Switchfoot, MercyMe, Jeremy Camp, Relient K and others.
Trey Pearson made the national news when he came out of the closet in 2016. His announcement started a national conversation that included coverage by The New York Times, Billboard Magazine, CNN and other media outlets.
treypearson.com
Sessions:
372 Musical Performance: Trey Pearson
Session #372
Musical Performance: Emily Musolino
Fri 7 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
Emily Musolino
Emily Musolino is a singer-songstress, producer and multi-instrumentalist from Durham, North Carolina. Her music is a mix of soul, rock, and blues that has been described as a “Soul Diva Mind Explosion.” The depth of emotion in her voice is stunning and she shreds the guitar like nobody’s business.
A Berklee College of Music graduate, Emily has performed and collaborated with artists such as Ani Difranco, Nikki Hill, Vinx, Shana Tucker, Anna Wise (Kendrick Lamar), and Eric Hirsh (The Beast, Orquesta GarDel.)
Emily released her newest album “The Vault” in April 2018. She has been featured several times on NPR’s the State of Things with Frank Stasio and has been written up in The News and Observer. She currently fronts the Emily Musolino Band and regularly performs as both bandleader and soloist around the country.
www.emilymusolino.com/epk
Sessions:
373 Musical Performance: Emily Musolino
Session #373
Musical Performance: Jason and deMarco
Sat 8 PM | Side Stage
LISTEN
Jason & deMarco
During their sixteen years together, Jason & deMarco have had the opportunity to perform at numerous high profile events including the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Awards in Los Angeles, the Matthew Shepard Foundation’s annual gala in Denver, and the 2006 Human Rights Campaign Gala at the Waldorf Astoria New York.” They have also been a part of the Human Rights Campaign star-studded benefit two-pack CD album celebrating marriage equality, “Love Rocks”, alongside artists such as Christina Aguilera, Pink, and The Dixie Chicks.
jasonanddemarco.com
Sessions:
374 Musical Performance: Jason and deMarco
Session #374
Welcome Reception
Thu 5-7 PM | Episcopal
Session #375
Morning Prayer
Fri 8 AM | Episcopal
Session #376
Tai Chi
Fri 9 AM | Episcopal
Session #377
Compline (Night Prayer)
Thu 9 PM | Episcopal
Session #378
Episcopal Young Adult Meetup
Fri 4 PM | Episcopal
Justin Gabbard
Justin Gabbard
As the Young Adult Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Justin Gabbard works to build non-traditional spiritual communities among young people in northern Kentucky. For most of the last fifteen years, he has made his home in downtown Covington, where he also serves as a curate for Trinity Episcopal Church.
Sessions:
379 Young Adult Meetup
380 Potluck Dinner & Eucharist
Session #379
Potluck Dinner & Eucharist
Fri 6 PM | Episcopal
Justin Gabbard
Justin Gabbard
As the Young Adult Missioner for the Episcopal Diocese of Lexington, Justin Gabbard works to build non-traditional spiritual communities among young people in northern Kentucky. For most of the last fifteen years, he has made his home in downtown Covington, where he also serves as a curate for Trinity Episcopal Church.
Sessions:
379 Young Adult Meetup
380 Potluck Dinner & Eucharist
Session #380
Musical Performance: J.Kwest
Thu 7 PM | Main Stage (As Julian DeShazier with Brian McLaren)
Sat 8 PM | Main Stage
LISTEN
J.Kwest
J.Kwest lives in the space between soul music and souls period. As an artist, advocate, and pastor, this Emmy-Award winning Chicago native has used his unique rhythm to tell true stories and defy boundaries.
As a national speaker, advocate and emcee, Julian “J.Kwest” DeShazier has appeared on ABC, CBS, FOX, and Dr. Maya Angelou’s “Oprah & Friends” radio program. J.Kwest is also an Emmy Award-winning musician, featured in the video “Strange Fruit,” a commemoration of the Billie Holiday song and a meditation on racial violence. In 2012 he and his group, Verbal Kwest, appeared in the OXFAM and Bread for the World-produced documentary The Line, providing a critical voice against poverty and violence in the US. The Chicago native and graduate of Morehouse College and the University of Chicago is also pastor of University Church, which most recently worked on a campaign for a trauma center on Chicago’s South Side. J is an adjunct professor at the University of Chicago Divinity School and McCormick Theological Seminary, and is a regular contributor to Sojourners and Huffington Post publications.
www.jkwest.com
Sessions:
278 Gathering the Goose (as Julian DeShazier)
381 Musical Performance: J.Kwest
Session #381
Musical Performance: Caroline Ferrante
The Intersection of Worship & #MeToo: Songs of Hope & Transformation
Sat 2 PM | Café
LISTEN
Dynamics on church music teams often reflect wider societal trends. Sunday morning music rehearsals can be a source of great healing or great hurt. How do we reclaim this sacred space? What can the #MeToo movement teach us about inclusion and respect on our worship teams?
Through performance, sing-a-longs, and storytelling, Caroline Ferrante and musicians from the greater Baltimore Area will illuminate the ways worship and music can bring healing and hope to church communities. Bring an instrument and come prepared to sing!
Caroline Ferrante
Caroline Ferrante is a singer-songwriter, advocate, and worship leader from Olney, Maryland. She has led worship at Cedar Ridge Community Church for eight years, and hosts a successful podcast at D.C’s O Street Mansion that celebrates the diversity and immigrant influences of American Roots Music.
Caroline is the founder of Songwriters Against Sexual Assault (SASA). SASA hosts “Concerts & Conversations” on college campuses across the DMV for Domestic Violence, Intimate Partner Violence, and Teen Dating Violence Awareness Months.
Caroline’s defiantly hopeful 2017 EP “SKY” gained national acclaim. Her original “Feels Like a Holiday” was ranked the #8 single release of the year. The four songs feature in the documentary “SKIN DEEP”, web series “The Haven”, play “The Goddess Diaries”, and the NAMI production of “This is my Brave”.
Caroline is an avid kayaker on the Chesapeake Bay. To see lots of photos of her dog Lily, follow her on social media. @carolineferrantemusic
www.carolineferrante.com
Sessions:
382 Musical Performance: Caroline Ferrante
Session #382
A Conversation with Alexandra Salvatierra
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 9
Alexandra Salvatierra
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra is the author with Dr. Peter Heltzel of Faith-Rooted Organizing: Mobilizing the Church in Service to the World (Intervarsity Press). She is a Lutheran Pastor with over 40 years of experience in congregational and community ministry, including church-based service and community development programs, congregational and community organizing and legislative advocacy. She is an affiliate professor at Fuller Theological Seminary and adjunct at four other academic institutions. In addition to coordinating the Guardian Angels Project and assisting at Hope Lutheran Church, she serves as a consultant (training, facilitating, organizing and leading strategic planning) for a variety of national/international organizations, including World Vision, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and the Christian Community Development Association. She is a national leader in immigrant justice, co-founder of the New Sanctuary Movement, the Evangelical Immigration Table and M25 (Matthew 25/Mateo 25).
http://www.alexiasalvatierra.com/
Sessions:
169 Faith-Rooted Organizing
170 M25 – Creating Immigrant Justice
383 Alexa Salvatierra
Session #383
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 9
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Emily Joy is a spoken word poet and yoga teacher RYT 200 whose work focuses on the intersections of faith and sexuality, spiritual deconstruction, and creative writing. Emily has released two studio albums of spoken word poetry, and travels the country performing at churches, schools, conferences, and festivals like Wild Goose. She also teaches yoga every week in her hometown of Nashville, Tennessee. Her work as the co-creator of the #ChurchToo campaign exposing sexual abuse in faith communities has been featured on websites such as Time, Teen Vogue, The Huffington Post, and more. Emily is passionate about helping others, especially other women, make spiritual and creative progress in the wake of religious trauma, painful past experiences, and self-doubt.
Sessions:
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo
133 Poetry Open Mic w Emily Joy
287 Embodied Grace: Sex-Positive Christianity
384 Emily Joy Allison-Hearn
Session #384
Frank Schaeffer
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 9
Frank Schaeffer
Frank Schaeffer
Frank Schaeffer is an artist and a New York Times bestselling author of both fiction and nonfiction. Frank is a much sought-after speaker and has lectured at a wide range of venues from Harvard’s Kennedy School to the Hammer Museum/UCLA, Princeton University, Riverside Church Cathedral, DePaul University, and the Kansas City Public Library. Frank has been a frequent guest on the Rachel Maddow Show on NBC, has appeared on Oprah, been interviewed by Terri Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air and appeared on the Today Show, BBC News and many other media outlets. Frank is also a blogger on Huffington Post, Alternet, and Patheos. http://www.frankschaeffer.com/index.html
www.frankschaeffer.com
Sessions:
212 Frank Schaeffer, Topic TBD
209 How did we get here and where are we going
385 A Conversation with Frank Schaeffer
Session #385
Jen Hatmaker
Fri Noon | Convo Hall 9
Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker
Jen Hatmaker is the author of eleven books, including New York Times Bestsellers For the Love and Of Mess and Moxie. She is the happy hostess of a tightly knit online community where she reaches millions of people each week. She and her husband, Brandon, founded the Legacy Collective, a giving community that funds sustainable solutions to systemic problems around the world. They also starred in an HGTV series called “My Big Family Renovation” and live in a 105-year-old farmhouse just outside Austin, TX with their five kids. She speaks at events all over the country and hosts the popular podcast For the Love with Jen Hatmaker. Check out her books, schedule, and blog at jenhatmaker.com/
Sessions:
194 Jen Hatmaker – Topic TBD
5 Jen Hatmaker, Topic TBD
386 A Conversation with Jen Hatmaker
Session #386
Want to change the world?- A very practical guide to getting elected.
Sat 4 PM | Library
Joe McLean
Elections matter. Just look at Donald Trump. But before you can change the world, you have to get elected. Political campaigns are not what most people think, but winning campaigns have certain elements in common. There are a few simple, common sense, concepts which work because they’re grounded in real research into human nature – how we perceive the world and how we make decisions. We’ll lay it out for you. We’ll also give you a practical guide to the actual mechanics of campaigning – how to get on the ballot, how to frame a winning message, and how to get that message to those voters who matter in your election. Who does what job in campaigns. How to raise money – and how to stay out of trouble with the law and the press. Come learn how it works, then go change the world.
Joe McLean
A veteran political and public affairs specialist with a winning history in groundbreaking political campaigns, not-for-profit institutions and advocacy organizations, McLean was part of the founding leadership team of Barack Obama’s successful U.S. Senate race and managed Governor L. Douglas Wilder’s historic election in Virginia. He is widely recognized for breaking new strategic ground to keep his clients ahead of the political curve. McLean established the development structure for VoteVets.org, which rose to prominence by making the voices of soldiers and veterans heard in the debate about the Iraq war. McLean currently serves as President of the Crockett Policy Institute, a non-partisan think-tank dedicated to finding practical solutions to policy roadblocks in our hyper-partisan, divided polity. McLean lives in Washington, DC with his wife, Kiki McLean and their two children.
Sessions:
387 Down and (not) Dirty, a Practical Guide to Getting Elected
Session #387
Talk, Talk, Talking about Mental Health
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 8
Sat 10 AM | Convo Hall 8
Christine Johnson
Isolation, disconnection, loneliness, fear are all enemies to good mental health. Let’s come together and talk to each other about our own experiences of mental illness and how either you’ve moved to mental health, or cope with your illness on an ongoing basis. The only way to blow apart the stigma that people live under is to acknowledge our reality and find the courage to say “no more!!” By sharing our stories, we can find ways to create healthy connections that are supportive and life-giving.
Christine Johnson
Christine Johnson makes art and is an ordained minister in the United Church of Canada. She is a preacher, fibre artist, and teacher, working to explore spirituality and the creative process. As a person who has suffered mental illness, she works to create safe spaces to discuss mental health and the challenges for all those who suffer. Currently, she serves Bethel-St. Andrew’s UC near Ottawa, ON and is working on a 7′ pom pom tree for a large fibre festival in Oct. 2018.
Sessions:
388 Talking Mental Health
Session #388
A Conversation with Joy Wallis
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 9
Joy Wallis
Board Chair
Joy Wallis was one of the first women ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England in 1994. She was the real-life Vicar of Dibley and the inspiration for the 1994 BBC comedy series of the same name. She’s the author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real Life Vicar of Dibley, and The Woman Behind the Collar. Joy and her husband, Jim Wallis (Soujourners), live in Washington, D.C. with their two children, Luke and Jack.
https://www.joycarrollwallis.com/
Sessions:
200 How to get the most out of the Goose
389 A Conversation with Joy Wallis
Session #389
A Conversation with Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Sat 2 PM | Convo Hall 9
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera
Lisbeth Meléndez Rivera is a 30+ year veteran of the LGBTQ and Labor movements. Lisbeth has extensive experience organizing and training at the intersections of sexual orientation, gender identity, and culture specifically as they relate to communities of color. Lisbeth has crisscrossed the country training workers and community leaders in organizing, leadership development, and community building strategies from a grassroots perspective. She has also done extensive work supporting LGBTQ leaders in America Latina.
Currently, Lisbeth, is the Director of Faith Outreach & Training at the Human Rights Campaign, where she works with people of faith across denominations to ensure we can be who we are, love who we love, and practice our faith free of judgement.
Lisbeth ia a biologist and sociologist by education, with a solid Jesuit and SND formation that makes her passions flare and her days move forward. Today Lisbeth lives in Hyattsville, Maryland, alongside her wife, Lisa Weiner- Mahfuz, and their chosen family, both human and furry!!
Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
196 Lisbeth Melendez-Rivera Topic TBD
390 A Conversation with Lisbeth Melendez Rivera
272 Just As They Are
Session #390
Pleasure, parties and healing as social justice?
Sat Noon | Convo Hall 8
A Conversation with Micky ScottBey Jones
A conversation about pleasure as a part of sustainable activism and everyday resistance – especially for Black & Brown folks, immigrants, women, queer folks, etc who want to turn work into werk.
Micky ScottBey Jones
Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is a mama-activist-contemplative-healer-holy-disrupter who believes in throwing parties as a key revolutionary strategy. She loves bringing people together to explore brave space, awaken empathy and fight oppression. Micky is the Director of Healing Justice with Faith Matters Network and is a core team member with The People’s Supper who has gathered more than 4,000 people around tables since the 2016 election for bridging and healing conversations.
mickyscottbeyjones.com
Sessions:
168 Pop-Up People’s Supper
354 Micky ScottBey Jones & Panel
391 A Conversation with Micky ScottBey Jones
404 Voices in the Divide
Session #391
A Conversation with Stan Mitchell
Fri 1 PM | Convo Hall 9
Stan Mitchell
STAN MITCHELL Stan Mitchell, an Arkansas native and fifth generation classical Pentecostal, has traveled extensively for over 30 years of preaching and teaching, including a lead position at the highly respected Christ Church in Nashville, TN. Mitchell currently serves as senior pastor of GracePointe Church in Franklin, TN. The core members of GracePointe commissioned Mitchell over a decade ago to be the rallying teaching force of a new church that began in his living room. This progressive, evangelical and interdenominational community has been on an expansive and deeply sacred journey in the last few years, bringing their initiatives to the forefront of many modern day issues surrounding the Christian church, namely their recent movement into full inclusion of the LGBTQ community.
gracepointe.net/who-we-are/
Sessions:
197 Stan Mitchell
392 A Conversation with Stan Mitchell
215 Barbara Brown Taylor Interview by Stan Mitchell
Session #392
Here’s What Sucks About My Preaching…
A Conversation with Zach Mills
Fri 2 PM | Convo Hall 9
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 8
Zach Mills
The Rev. Dr. Zachary W. Mills is a communications scholar and ordained minister who studies race, religion, media, and popular culture. He is the author of The Last Blues Preacher: Rev. Clay Evans, Black Lives, and the Faith that Woke the Nation (Fortress Press, 2018), a biography about Chicago civil rights hero Rev. Clay Evans.
Mills holds two master’s degrees from Vanderbilt University: a Master of Divinity emphasizing social justice and a Master of Arts focussing on African American preaching. He recently earned his Ph.D in Rhetoric and Public Culture from Northwestern University.
Through his writing, speaking, and consulting, Mills works to inspire change and help people find and develop authentic voices – especially within unfamiliar and even hostile cultural landscapes. He is a storyteller who uses the power of words to empower people to be the best versions of themselves and to find common ground despite social, cultural, religious, or political differences. For more, visit his website zmills.com
zmills.com
Sessions:
343 “The Death of…” is a workshop in which students collaborate to develop eulogies
393 Here’s What Sucks About My Preaching…
Session #393
A Conversation with Tony Campolo
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 9
Tony Campolo
Tony Campolo is professor emeritus of sociology at Eastern University and a former faculty member at the University of Pennsylvania. For 40 years, he led the Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education, an organization which he founded to create and support programs serving needy communities. More recently, Dr. Campolo has provided leadership for the progressive Christian movement, Red Letter Christians as well as, for the Campolo Center for Ministry, a program which provides support to those the church has called to full-time ministry. He has written more than 35 books and can be found blogging regularly on tonycampolo.org and redletterchristians.org. Tony and his wife Peggy live near Philadelphia and have two children and four grandchildren.
Sessions:
201 Tony Campolo, Topic TBD
394 A Conversation with Tony Campolo
Session #394
The Beauty of Vulnerable Sharing: Telling Our Stories in Church Settings
Fri 10AM | Convo Hall 8
Fri 4 PM | Convo Hall 2
Mark Acker
This workshop will offer ways for the power of vulnerable sharing to impact the life and energy of groups at church and beyond. This process is applicable in traditional and contemporary churches, in all kinds of groups (like choirs, committees and in retreat settings), and with all ages, particularly youth and adults. The workshop will offer practical suggestions for this process, and a few participants will have the opportunity to share their story. Vulnerable sharing is life-changing for everyone!
Mark Acker
Mark began his work at First Congregational United Church of Christ of Hendersonville, NC in January of 2016. His primary roles include leading the choir, serving as a pastoral presence to members of the choir and church, playing the organ, preaching, and working with various groups and work areas in the church. Prior to coming to First Congregational, Mark served for 26 years as Director of Music, Worship and the Arts at two churches in Nashville, Tennessee: first at Brentwood United Methodist Church and later at Belle Meade United Methodist. Mark also served at St. James United Methodist Church and Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church, both in Little Rock, Arkansas. He is the author of “The Passion Driven Youth Choir.” Mark’s passion now lies in helping the choir and the music of First Congregational to be a light in which all people – young and old, rich and poor, gay and straight – find inspiration, joy, community, and meaning.
Sessions:
396 The Beauty of Vulnerable Sharing
Session #396
On the Wings of the Wild Goose: Awakening to Divine Union
Fri 5 PM | Convo Hall 6
Sat 3 PM | Convo Hall 8
Kristie Ihde
Ancient Scriptures put forth lofty ideas about how to live: Do justly, walk humbly, love mercy. Love your neighbor as yourself. Be perfect as your Father in Heaven is perfect. Pray without ceasing. If we’re honest, most of the time our lives don’t reflect the call of these ideals. Underneath a shiny veneer, many people are struggling. What the Church or God seems to expect of us is a far cry from who we experience ourselves to be. So do we pray harder, serve more, flog ourselves spiritually? What if the pressure we live under isn’t the full life Jesus longs for us to have? Through story, teaching, and meditation, I’ll introduce you to a path based in self-compassion and curiosity that liberates us to live a life of mercy, kindness, prayer, “perfection”, and love, and that reveals what we most long for – Divine union. Let’s follow the Wild Goose on the best adventure we’ll ever take!
Kristie Ihde
Kristie is a practical mystic, teacher of psychological and spiritual wisdom, and lover of homemade kombucha! As a soul sherpa for self-aware, spiritual folks who feel stuck in the same old patterns of doubting their intuition and judging themselves, she leads people into their internal worlds to experience their true selves, union with Divine love, and ever-expanding freedom. She often works with people who wrestle with the Church’s dogma and the stories of the Bible, or feel an inner nudge to follow the Spirit into the spiritual wilds! When she’s not writing, vlogging, or leading workshops, she’s a homeschooling mama who follows desire and intuition wherever they lead. You’ll find her enjoying nature, marveling at her kids as they do their thing, or being amazed that, yet again, a children’s book led her right into the heart of the Great Spirit! You can join her community at www.theselfwardjourney.com.
Sessions:
397 Awakening to Divine Union
Session #397
Is the Bible True? A Quick Guide to a Terrible Question
Sat 10 AM | Workshop
Jared Byas
Many of us find ourselves in a tough spot with the Bible. On the one hand, it feels irrelevant, full of old tales and rules. On the other hand, it is what so many of us have leaned on for so long to find truth about our lives. So it’s only natural to ask, “Is the Bible true?” Join Jared Byas, co-host of The Bible for Normal People podcast for an honest conversation about truth, the Bible, and how that might not even be the right question.
Jared Byas
As a former mega-church pastor and professor of philosophy, Jared Byas discovered that leadership often destroys the creative impulse rather than fosters it. Now he runs MyOhai, a talent collective of designers, developers, and advisers near Philadelphia. His passion is to create systems where creative people can flourish in their work, family, and spiritual journey. He is the co-author of Genesis for Normal People (Patheos, 2012) and writes about faith and culture at JByas.com.
www.jbyas.com
Sessions:
401 Is the Bible True?
293 B4NP Podcast
Session #401
Musical Performance: Tracy Howe Wispelwey
Live, Social Gospel Soul
Sat 3 PM | Café
Tracy grew up in the South Platte River Watershed, in and around Boulder, CO, learning the mountains, canyons and desert plains of the Southwest United States. Touring full time from 2000-2009, she played music at colleges, small music venues and festivals, churches, house concerts and prisons throughout the U.S. and Latin America. Her songs have been used by faith communities and in movement work globally. She has served as the director of art and liturgy for many ecumenical and global events working with the Latin American Theological Fellowship, Micah Global, Sojourners, Ecumenical Advocacy Days, Bread For the World and more. Follow Tracy’s work and music on her social media @TracyHoweMusic.
Session #402
Noon Eucharist
Fri & Sat Noon | Episcopal
Noon Eucharist is a brief (30 minute) Communion service in the Episcopal tradition. All are welcome at God’s table.
Session #403
Voices in the Divide: Winning Hearts & Changing Minds in a Polarized Culture
Sat 2 PM | Workshop
Benjamin Corey, Micky ScottBey Jones, Phil Fox
Our culture is deadlocked—we are pushed to take sides and no one is persuading each other. How can we become people who bridge the gap, and actually change hearts and minds? How can we help move society forward into a more beautiful future instead of holding our beliefs in such a way that no one wants to listen? Join a conversation hosted by Patheos featuring several familiar faces as we explore the tempting tendencies that get in the way of the message, and how we can cultivate practices that lead to effective communication and positive change.
Benjamin Corey
Benjamin L. Corey is the creator of the blog, Formerly Fundie, and is also the managing editor for Patheos Progressive Christian. BLC writes and speaks about navigating dramatic shifts in faith and worldview, as both a former fundamentalist and as a career member of the armed forces turned nonviolence advocate. He is a two-time graduate of Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary, and received his doctorate from Fuller Theological Seminary. BLC is also the author of two books, Undiluted: Rediscovering the Radical Message of Jesus, and Unafraid: Moving Beyond Fear-Based Faith.
Sessions:
404 Voices in the Divide
Micky ScottBey Jones
Micky ScottBey Jones, the Justice Doula, is a mama-activist-contemplative-healer-holy-disrupter who believes in throwing parties as a key revolutionary strategy. She loves bringing people together to explore brave space, awaken empathy and fight oppression. Micky is the Director of Healing Justice with Faith Matters Network and is a core team member with The People’s Supper who has gathered more than 4,000 people around tables since the 2016 election for bridging and healing conversations.
mickyscottbeyjones.com
Sessions:
168 Pop-Up People’s Supper
354 Micky ScottBey Jones & Panel
391 A Conversation with Micky ScottBey Jones
404 Voices in the Divide
Phil Fox
Phil Fox Rose is director of content at Patheos, where’s he’s thrilled to curate a corner of the national conversation about faith and culture. His first time at the Goose was 2012, and he’s been a speaker and listener most years since. Before Patheos, he was the editor for Paraclete Press. Phil is a lay leader at St. Lydia’s—an awesome dinner church in Brooklyn, NY. He has been practicing centering prayer and guiding and teaching contemplative practices for over 25 years. Phil has been a writer on faith, tech and politics, a political leader, videographer, punk roadie, software designer, sheepherder and downtempo radio DJ. A common thread is the process of learning about stuff, figuring (at least some of) it out and then sharing that understanding with others. A related thread is being a bridge between specialists and the rest of us. He keeps saying he’s going to write a book, but so far that hasn’t happened.
Sessions:
404 Voices in the Divide
Session #404
What is W/? This panel will introduce you to W/, a collective of empathy building faith organizations.
Sat 11 AM | Greater Things
What is W/?
This panel will introduce W/, a collective of empathy building faith organizations.
Carla Ewert
Carla Ewert is the director and founder of She Is Called, a national conversation for women who lead. She hosts the Holy Writ Podcast and is a regular panelist on the Christian Feminist Podcast. Carla lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where you might find her on a summer day in cycling on the city trails or playing at Lake Harriet with her daughters. The long northern winters give her plenty of time for her other diversions: coffee, bourbon, and books.
Sessions:
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Joshua Adam Scott
Joshua Adam Scott has been the lead pastor at Morgantown Community Church (mcconline.org) for more than 12 years. He’s also a husband, father, U2 fan, coffee enthusiast, and an avid highlighter. You can find out more about Josh at joshuaadamscott.com
Sessions:
405 What is W/?
Paula Williams
Rev. Dr. Paula Williams is a nationally known speaker on gender equity and transgender advocacy. She is also the Pastor of Preaching and Worship at Left Hand Church in Longmont, Colorado, and the president of RLT Pathways, Inc., a non-profit providing counseling and coaching services. Paula serves on the board of the Q Christian Fellowship, the Union of Affirming Christians, and the WITH Network of progressive churches. As a transgender pastor, Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Denver Post, NPR and The Huffington Post. Paula’s TEDxMileHigh talk on gender equality has been viewed over a half million times on YouTube. For more information visit paulastonewilliams.com.
Sessions:
216 Paula Williams TED talk
339 Evangelicals and LGBTQ Inclusion
349 A Conversation on the Transgender Spiritual Experience
352 She Is Called Panel
405 What is W/?
Session #405
To Be Seen; To Be Loved: A liturgy for the rest of us. (Communion)
Sat 11 PM | Chapel
Cody Burton
The kingdom of God is for all people, but too often many of us have felt left out, overlook, abandoned, or forgotten by the church. This liturgy and invitation to communion is for anyone who has ever felt like they didn’t fit.
Cody Burton
Operations and Programming Support
Born and raised in North Florida, Cody is a passionate advocate for social justice and full inclusion of the LGBTQ+ community within the Church. He currently resides in Denver, Colorado where he is an active member of House For All Sinners and Saints. In 2016 he helped launch and currently runs the website IntersectionsFaith.com where he is a self-proclaimed wannabe blogger and Co-host of the Intersections Podcast. Cody has also assisted in starting Beer & Hymns Jax as well as The Intersections Festival. Cody started as a part of the Wild Goose Festival staff this year handling logistics and operations and looks forward to seeing the festival and the Wild Goose Community continue to grow.
Sessions:
406 A Liturgy for the rest of us (Communion)
139 Tattoo Stories: Art that Intersects the Spiritual and the Physical
Session #406
Does God require suffering for civilization to sustain to 2100?
Sat 4 PM | Convo Hall 8
Joseph Carson
Shelves of books address theodicy – how can an all-good and all-powerful God allow evil and suffering? This discussion will address whether the created moral order requires “suffering persecution for justice’s sake” as necessary to non-violently confront institutional evil, such as corporation or government agency law-breaking. We will consider whether God’s ultimate gamble in creating humanity “in his image” is whether enough “image-bearers” would exhibit supererogatory love of neighbor – where “neighbor” could half-way around the world or 100 years in future – to engage in the self-sacrificing action of whistleblowing (instead of bystanding out of self-love) to institutional evil they witness in their employment. Jesus commended and modeled – but does not command – supererogatory love of neighbor in non-violently confronting institutional evil. So why do Christian religious professionals today bystand to established legal records of corporation or government agency law-breaking?
Joseph Carson
Joseph P. Carson, PE, is a nuclear safety engineer in the US Department of Energy and a “multiple-time prevailing whistleblower” – he is a deeply concerned Christian, engineer, federal agency employee, American, and human. In a real sense, Joe has been a human sacrifice to “the gods” of the “suicide machine” that our unprecedented global civilization increasing resembles – one’s professional standing and economic security – via his decades of much “suffering persecution for justice’s sake” in confronting, non-violently, civilization-threatening institution evil in his profession of engineering and the federal civil service.
www.broken-covenant.org
Sessions:
407 Does God Require Suffering?
Session #407
Kids Tent Program
Registration and Parent Preview: Thursday, 4:00 to 6:00 p.m.
Ages: Kids Ages 3 to 12 (must be potty-trained)
Morning Sessions Friday and Saturday: 9:45 AM and (repeated at) 11 AM*
No programming for kids ages 3–5 at 11 AM session
Afternoon Session Friday and Saturday: 2 PM
Emily Griffin
In the Kids Tent we focus on creativity and finding our place in the larger stories of God’s people. Using the Godly Play* method as a foundation, we’ll sing, share stories, wonder together and have a time of free art response. Equipped with a secure check-in system, the program is facilitated by a team of volunteers, all of whom have received background checks. Each family will be assigned a number to be written on their wristbands upon registration. All adults with matching numbers will be able to pick up their child(ren). Wristbands MUST be worn by the whole family in order to drop off and pick up kids. Sessions are limited capacity, so parents should register Thursday night or (as possible) sign up for the following day’s sessions by the end of that afternoon’s session. A limited number of slots may be available for those with day passes. Fun, age appropriate activities are offered, but this is anything but a babysitting service. The kids will enjoy intentional community with other kids and adults while playing and discovering meaning together. *Interested in learning about Godly Play as a method of spiritual guidance? Come to our workshop at 4pm on Saturday at the Portal.
Emily Griffin
Director of Children’s Programming
Emily will be co-leading children’s activities at Wild Goose again this year. She’s an Episcopal priest at St. Alban’s in Washington, DC and a trainer in Godly Play – a hands-on, creative method of spiritual guidance used primarily but not always with kids. When she’s not in a circle sharing stories, she’s either reading voraciously, attempting French cooking with her husband, or brushing up on her Spanish. She’s most at home in the mountains and can’t wait to sing and work and pray and play again this year at the Goose.
www.godlyplayfoundation.org
Sessions:
90 Godly Play, Scripture and Wonder
408 Kids Tent Program
Sally Thomas
Co-Director, Children’s Programming
“Sally is the most irreverent reverent person” a childhood friend proclaimed. Yep! Since her own children declared their innate theology as tiny sage ones, Sally has been attuned to the spiritual wisdom children offer in this wondrous world. She currently serves as the Missioner for Children & Families at Holy Communion (Episcopal) Church in University City, MO and is a D. Min. student at Eden Seminary. She has been in cahoots with circles of children and their families using Godly Play for twenty years and is thrilled to join Emily Griffin and Nancy St. John for Godly Play’s 3rd year at the Goose.
Sessions:
408 Kids Tent Program
Nancy St John
Co-Director, Children’s Programming
Nancy is very much looking forward to joining teammates in co-leading children’s activities at Wild Goose this year. She is a trained early childhood Montessori teacher at a Montessori school in Scituate, Massachusetts. Nancy is also a trainer for the Godly Play, a religious method that helps children explore their faith through story. Both these passions compliment the other, as she sits on the floor with children most Sundays at a nearby Episcopal church telling stories. Nancy lives along the rocky Massachusetts seashore, where she marvels at its beauty and loves walking along the beach any chance she gets in search of “treasure.”
Sessions:
408 Kids Tent Program
Session #408
AcoustaGoose
Fri Midnight | Workshop
Sat Midnight | Workshop
Hosted by Jesse DeConto
AcoustaGoose is a late night “unplugged” jam session with an anchor host band each night. Bring your instrument – bring your voice – bring your curiosity – and enjoy beautiful and exciting music. AcoustaGoose is curated by Jesse DeConto of Pinkerton Raid.
The Pinkerton Raid
Near the start of The Pinkerton Raid’s newest album, Jesse DeConto asks, “Where’s the star to lead us home?” The answer, in a cycle of realistic truth-telling and undeterred hope, is simply this: We sing together.
Inspired by the first Wild Goose, Jesse and band members have been leading Beer & Hymns back at Fullsteam in Durham, North Carolina, gravitating toward songs that have soundtracked social movements since the 1940s. WHERE THE WILDEST SPIRITS FLY captured that energy with a sing-along choir, earning high praise from THE ALTERNATE ROOT, MOTHER CHURCH PEW and more. CHARLESTON CITY PAPER dubbed it “love-one-another songs.”
The Pinkerton Raid has shared stages with The Collection, Annabelle’s Curse, Forlorn Strangers, Lowland Hum, Noah Gundersen, and Denison Witmer. 2017’s TOLERANCE ENDS, LOVE BEGINS brought the band from Durham to Chicago to Washington D.C., with festival slots, a DAYTROTTER session, and critical acclaim from PASTE, NO DEPRESSION and more.
www.pinkertonraid.com
Sessions:
370 Musical Performance: The Pinkerton Raid
409 AcoustaGoose
Session #409
LGBTQIA Support Circle
Fri 11 AM | Episcopal
Gwen Fry
Making our way through the world as a member of the LGBTQIA community is not easy and can often be frightening and unsafe. This support circle is a safe place, within a safe place here at the Goose, to share our joys and fears, and to offer and receive support on our journeys through life. Whether it is your first time or you are a seasoned veteran attending the Goose, the queer community has an affirming home here.
Gwen Fry
The Reverend Gwen Fry is an ordained Episcopal priest in the Diocese of Arkansas. Her experience coming out as a trans woman of faith makes her keenly aware of the necessity for the equality of all God’s children. Experiencing the effects of discrimination first hand, she has been actively involved in the work of justice in the transgender community both in Arkansas and across the Episcopal Church. Gwen is an advocate and activist for the transgender community who was a leader in the coalition of organizations who fought back the anti-transgender bills introduced in the Arkansas General Assembly this year. She is the Vice President of National Affairs for Integrity USA. She is a board member of Pridecorps, an LGBTQ youth center in Little Rock, Arkansas. An active member of TransEpiscopal, Gwen, also serves on its steering committee.
Sessions:
238 Transgender Memorial Service
242 Transitions: How People Navigate Change
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
410 LGBTQIA Support Circle
Session #410
This is My Body: A Wild & Holy Late-Night Communion
Fri 11 PM | Café
The Many + Special Guests
We are constantly bombarded with messages about our bodies. We’re given plenty of ideas about what they should look like, smell like, act like. Told we need to fix them. How do we say no to no to shame, no to exclusion, no to bad theology? How do we truly love our bodies and remember that we all belong? Here’s one powerful way: Come together to sing, pray, lament and hope. To move, and maybe even dance. To share bread and cup and find our way to the God who made us, and made us good. This late night liturgy experience, now in its third year at Wild Goose, has become one of the highlights of the festival for many participants. Created by the music/art/liturgy collective The Plural Guild, and led by acclaimed indie band The Many along with Shawna Bowman, Lenora Rand, Gary Rand, and other special guests, this experience will ultimately be created by all of us, as we participate in this disruptive, spirit-provoking, liturgy-rooted gathering in which music, words, art, and ritual bring us into a new kind of holy communion.
The Many
The Many is an indie folk/Gospel, liturgically-grounded, new kind of worship band — an intentionally diverse collective creating music for people who want to do justice, love mercy, walk humbly, and follow the Jesus who so loves the world. This independent band’s first release, “Advent & Christmas 2015”, spent six weeks in the top five, new and notable Christian/Gospel downloads on Noisetrade, and was chosen as one of the six best Christmas albums of the year by the nationally syndicated radio program, “Under the Radar.”
The Many are from Chicago, Illinois, and include singers Darren Calhoun, Leslie Michelle, Hannah Rand, and Gary Rand. Most of their songs are written by Hannah Rand, Gary Rand, and Lenora Rand.
LISTEN
Sessions:
Music Revolution Pre-Festival Event
278 Gathering the Goose
411 This is My Body: A Wild & Holy Late-Night Communion
Lenora Rand
Communications & Social Media Consultant
Lenora is a writer, liturgy creator, and one of the founders of The Plural Guild, a collective crafting music, prayers, visual art & liturgy for people who want to worship in ways that more deeply reflect a peaceful, just, and open expression of faith. She is the lyricist for the band, The Many, and as a certified coach she leads Self-Proclaimed Workshops helping people write personal manifestos. And because she rarely sleeps, she runs a creative & strategic ad agency called SmallGood, which is helping all kinds of businesses and nonprofits committed to making a positive impact in the world “grow their good.”
www.pluralguild.com
www.themanyarehere.com
www.wearesmallgood.com
Sessions:
411 This is My Body: A Wild & Holy Late-Night Communion
Gary Rand
Creative Integration
Gary Rand loves making music and creating ritual experiences that open up people to mystery, justice, and a greater sense of community. He currently does that at LaSalle Street Church in Chicago and at McCormick Seminary, as well as through the arts/liturgy collective The Plural Guild. He also produces The Many, a collaboration working to create honest, reflective, and prophetic music for people to sing in worship. A regular on the LaSalle softball team, he even thinks bowling can be fun, especially when done ironically.
Sessions:
411 This is My Body: A Wild & Holy Late-Night Communion
Session #411
Youth – Handmade In the Digital Age : Make a Book and Use it
Fri 10 AM | Youth
Kate Elliot
The only thing I have done religiously in my life is keep a journal. I have hundreds of them, filled with feathers, flowers, photographs, and words – without locks, open on my shelves. – Terry Tempest Williams – In an increasingly digital society, many people are rediscovering the joy and utility of keeping an analog journal. As we enter into the spirit of the WildGoose, let’s talk about the many reasons – including spiritual growth and mental health – to write and make art by hand, even if only occasionally. Kate will lead participants in making a small book to be used at the maker’s discretion, perhaps as a way to record notes, thoughts, and feelings about the festival. No previous bookmaking experience is needed. All the necessary supplies – paper, thread, and glue – will be provided but feel free to bring any bits and bobs you might like to add to make the book your own.
Kate Elliott
Kate may have a resume full of administrative jobs that pay the bills and provide insurance but her true passion is making beautiful (and sometimes useful) things. Since her early tween years, journaling has been an essential part of her story, helping her process everything life has thrown at her. Along the way, she stopped merely writing in her journals and started making them, teaching herself bookbinding from various blogs and books before YouTube was invented. Kate enjoys any chance she gets to encourage others to document their lives through writing and visual arts. You can find her on Instagram: @kajellio: Come for the art, stay for the cats.
Sessions:
68 Handmade in the Digital Age
415 Handmade In the Digital Age (Youth Tent)
Session #415
Youth – Learning to Love Fat Bodies
Fri Noon | Youth
J. Nicole Morgan
So often we look at fat bodies as failures – whether it is our own or those around us. This session will look at some spiritual truths about fat bodies – that they are made in the image of God, tell us something unique about God, and are not a sign of sin. We will talk about some ways we can intentionally learn to love and honor fat bodies and what a size-inclusive world could look like. This will be a discussion-based session with the option to do a creative project as well.
J. Nicole Morgan
J. Nicole Morgan is a Christian fat-acceptance advocate, an amateur seamstress, an unlikely hiker, and the delighted aunt of four curious kids. She is the author of Fat and Faithful: Learning to Love Our Bodies, Our Neighbors, and Ourselves (Fortress Press, 2018) and co-host of the podcast Fat & Faithful. Nicole’s writing has been featured in Christianity Today, Sojourners, and other places. She earned her master of theological studies in Christian Faith and Public Policy from Palmer Seminary of Eastern University.
jnicolemorgan.com
Sessions:
57 Faith in a Fat Body
Session #417
Youth – All Tangled Up
Fri 1 PM | Youth
Sacil Armstrong
Create your own abstract art with an easy and fun method called Zentangle. Use 5 shapes – a dot, a line, an S, a C, and an orb (imperfect circle) – to create repeating patterns and make black and white art. The cool thing is that you can’t mess up because you don’t know what your finished tangle will look like! Everyone will get materials to take home.
Sacil Armstrong
Sacil Armstrong is an Intuitive Coach based out of Roanoke, VA. She helps individuals break down inner barriers that block personal growth and slow down progress towards their goals. She also facilitates corporate and community groups to reduce work stress and improve communication. She is an award-winning grassroots community leader and owner of art & being, where she leads clients through self-discovery and provides remote energy healing. She can be reached on social media at @artbeingva or at artbeingva.com.
artbeingva.com
Sessions:
97 Art Meditation
Session #418
Youth – Epiphany Collection
Fri 4 PM | Youth
Andie Scott
Heaven and earth, the Celtic saying goes, are only three feet apart, but in “thin places”, that distance is even shorter. An epiphany is a manifestation of a divine or supernatural being. Each of us experiences “thin places” and Epiphanies in very different. The Epiphany Collection hopes to collect your stories of “thin places”. Come with a friend or on your own. When you come with a friend, we will provide you with discussion questions and face/body paint. While you share your Epiphany or “thin place” your partner, they will try to recreate your story with face or body paint. If you come on our own we will interview you while painting your face or body. **If there is any part of the process that makes you feel uncomfortable, please let us know. We understand that face or body paint or photography is not for everyone. Please feel free to share your story with us in any way that you want.
Session #419
Youth – Open Forum
Wild Goose Youth
Fri 6 PM | Youth
A time for the youth of Wild Goose Festival to discuss the topics that matter to them. These two, thirty-minute sessions will be shaped and design by YOU.
Session #420
Youth – Claiming Who We Are
Fri 11 AM | Youth
Crystal Farmer
We are all created in God’s image, but even now we treat others differently based on their race. How can we love our neighbor by listening to their past and current struggles? How do we use our voices to amplify others’ without speaking for them?
Crystal Farmer
Crystal Byrd Farmer is an engineer turned educator. She is the organizer of New Culture Charlotte, owner of Big Sister Team Building, and editor of the Black & Poly online magazine. She is also writing a book and blogging about the history of her historically black neighborhood in Gastonia, NC. Her passion is encouraging people to change their perspectives on diversity and relationships. She identifies as black, bisexual, disabled, female, and neurodiverse.
www.bigsisterteams.com
Sessions:
256 Identity and Power
Session #421
Youth – A Conversation on Grief and Forgiveness
Sat Noon | Youth
Sheridon Hill
There are so many challenges facing our young people today. From the unsettling horror of school shootings to the dehumanizing harassment of a bully, our youth face many critical decisions points. The adage “hurt people hurt people” seems more relevant now than ever. But what is the best way to respond? How do we break the cycle of “hurt people hurt people”? How do we find healing from tragedy and loss? How do we find safety, both physical and emotional? The ancient tools of grief and forgiveness provide non-violent loving responses to these questions. Forgiveness and grieving are essential tools for healthy thriving people, and they are life skills that can be learned. Join Forgiveness Coach Lyndon Harris and Grief Dula Sheridan Hill for a conversation about these important life skills.
Sheridan Hill
My career as a biographer has taught me that life is a series of stories that you tell yourself; the mistake we make is believing our stories of victimization and repeating them in our heads, ensuring that we will continue to react instead of respond to each moment. Reactions rush forth out of past pain and are full of self-justification (the moral high horse); responses arise from an inner capacity to be-with-what-is (breathing into the vulnerability that love calls us to). I call myself a grief doula, as I help folks release grief and let vitality in. I’m honored to work with forgiveness activist Lyndon Harris. I believe in the healing power of rituals as simple as lighting a candle with an intention, both as private actions and as moments of community-building and group witnessing.
www.griefcircle.net
Sessions:
58 Joyful Soul of Grief
Lyndon Harris
Lyndon Harris is the Co-director of Tigg’s Pond Retreat Center in Zirconia, NC, where he is developing a Journey to Forgiveness Institute. Harris is also a forgiveness coach, and an inspirational and motivational speaker, having spoken at numerous conferences across the United States and around the world. He served more than 20 years as a pastor and his work at Ground Zero as priest-in-charge of Saint Paul’s Chapel (located directly across from the World Trade Center in New York City) has been written about widely, including the NY Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Christian Science Monitor. His work in forgiveness is featured in the award winning documentary, “The Power of Forgiveness” (Journey Films 2006). Harris is also the Executive Director of the Gardens of Forgiveness, an educational non-profit dedicated to teaching the way of forgiveness as tool for conflict transformation and peace making.
Sessions:
58 Joyful Soul of Grief
Session #422
Youth – Improv Theater and Spirit
Sat 1 PM | Youth
Discussion and games (but…mostly games) to explore how telling stories together can teach us how to be ourselves, how to be together, and how to be with God.
Lyndsey Medford
Lyndsey Medford is watching a new garden and a new church grow in Charleston, SC, and she’s making it all up as she goes along. She has an MTS from Boston University and four years’ improv experience at a Pentecostal university.
Lyndsey writes about spirituality, social justice, bodies, and church at lyndseymedford.com and elsewhere. Find her on the socials @lyndseymedford.
lyndseymedford.com/meet-lyndsey
Sessions:
129 Improv Storytelling
Session #423
Youth – Icon Making
Sat 4 PM | Youth
In this interactive art workshop, artist and iconographer Mary Button will lead participants in the creation of an icon for personal devotion. Creating icons is an important spiritual practice that offers people a creative outlet to lament and lift up people, places, and moments important to them. In recent years, Mary has created icons of contemporary martyrs, like Heather Heyer, as well as everyday heroes like the crowds of people who gathered at Women’s Marches across the world. Mary will provide materials and guidance so that every participant — regardless of drawing/painting skills — will leave the workshop with their own icon.
Mary Button
Mary Button was born and raised in the swampy wilds of East Texas, received a BFA in Photography and Imaging at the Tisch School of the Arts at NYU, and went on to earn a Master of Theological Studies with a concentration in American religious history and Christian ethics from the Candler School of Theology at Emory University.
Her artwork has been exhibited across the US and UK, with exhibitions at the Museum of Biblical Art in NYC, the Church Center for the United Nations, Woman Made Gallery in Chicago, and Wesley House at Cambridge University, to name a few. She has written curricula for Women of the ELCA on a number of social justice issues and is a frequent contributor to Believe Out Loud. You can find her at marybutton.com
Sessions:
91 Reproductive Justice Is …
92 Crafting Icons of Resistance
50 Crazy Creative
Session #424
Youth – S’mores and Celebration
Sat 7 PM | Youth
Wild Goose Youth
Celebrate the end of this wonderful weekend with s’mores around the fire!
Session #425
Youth – Affirmations and Farewells
Sun 9 AM | Youth
Wild Goose Youth
Affirmations and Farewells
Session #426
Youth – Opening Session
Thu 5 PM | Youth
Wild Goose Youth
Let’s all meet and get to know each other!
Session #427
Youth – Talking About Mental Health and Faith
Fri 5 PM | Youth
David Hosey
Good news: there is increasing openness to talking honestly about mental health struggles, especially among younger generations. Bad news: faith communities sometimes lag behind in this openness. We’ll have a time for sharing and honest conversation about mental health, mental illness, and spirituality with David Finnegan-Hosey. David is a college chaplain and author of Christ on the Psych Ward, a book that emerged out of his own struggles with mental health, faith, and identity.
David Finnegan-Hosey
David Finnegan-Hosey is a chaplain and campus minister. He currently serves as chaplain-in-residence at Georgetown University, having previously worked with campus ministries at American University and the University of Hawaii. He holds an M.Div from Wesley Theological Seminary and a unit of Clinical Pastoral Education from the National Institutes of Health Clinical Center. He is certified by Mental Health First Aid USA to provide initial help to people experiencing depression, anxiety, psychosis, and substance use disorders. In 2011, David was diagnosed with bipolar disorder after a series of psychiatric hospitalizations. He now speaks and writes about the intersections among mental illness, mental health, and faith. You can learn about his book, Christ on the Psych Ward, at christonthepsychward.com, and read more of his writing on his blog, Foolish Hosey. David lives in Washington, DC with his wife Leigh and their dog Penny Lane.
www.christonthepsychward.com
Sessions:
49 Christ on the Psych Ward
50 Crazy Creative
Rachael Keefe
Rev. Dr. Rachael Keefe is the author of The Lifesaving Church: Faith Communities and Suicide Prevention (Chalice Press, 2018), and pastor of Living Table United Church of Christ in Minneapolis, MN. She’s a favored conference presenter on topics related to and mental health, particularly suicide and congregations. Previously, she served as clinical chaplain at a state psychiatric hospital where she worked with patients, staff, clergy, and churches to increase understanding and welcome of persons living with symptoms of mental illness. She also served on a State Suicide Prevention Council. Since her ordination in 1992, Keefe has served in many different ministry settings. She has graduate degrees from Princeton Theological Seminary and Andover Newton Seminary at Yale Divinity School (formerly Andover Newton Theological School). She is a painter and a poet, and her other published works are three in a series of theological poetry, which you can find out more on by visiting Beachtheology.com
Sessions:
78 The Lifesaving Church
Session #428
Youth – My Body, Your Body, Our Bodies : Youth Forum on Bodies and Relationships
Sat 5-7 PM | Youth
This youth-only forum will focus on body, relationships, and how we think of our bodies and boundaries within relationships. The conversation will largely be guided by questions the youth raise.
Session #429
GooseHouse – Getting the party started right!
Thu 5:15 PM | Main Stage
Session #430
Welcome
Thu 6:15 PM | Main Stage
Joy Wallis, Jeff Clark, and Mona Haydar
Joy Wallis
Board Chair
Joy Wallis was one of the first women ordained to the priesthood in the Church of England in 1994. She was the real-life Vicar of Dibley and the inspiration for the 1994 BBC comedy series of the same name. She’s the author of Beneath the Cassock: The Real Life Vicar of Dibley, and The Woman Behind the Collar. Joy and her husband, Jim Wallis (Soujourners), live in Washington, D.C. with their two children, Luke and Jack.
https://www.joycarrollwallis.com/
Sessions:
200 How to get the most out of the Goose
389 A Conversation with Joy Wallis
Jeff Clark
President/Producer
When Jeff isn’t leading The Goose, he’s probably either teaching grad students at MTSU, riding a bike, consulting in a political campaign, dancing in a club on Broadway, directing an academic conference in Chicago, or out finding the best ice cream shop in town. Jeff is happiest when he’s multi-tasking. Jeff loves music and production and creating. In addition to bringing strategic thinking to The Goose, you’ll find him all over the festival grounds making sure the lighting and sound are perfect. And dancing in front of the stage. Jeff is President and Producer of the Wild Goose Festival and Director of Graduate Studies in IT at Middle Tennessee State University.
Sessions:
431 Welcome
366 Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
437 Goose Talk
Mona Haydar
Mona Haydar is a Syrian American rapper, poet, activist, practitioner of Permaculture, meditator, composting devotee, mountain girl, solar power lover, and a tireless God-enthusiast.
Her single, “Hijabi”, was a groundbreaking debut with millions of views. Billboard critics named it one of 2017’s top protest songs and one of the 25 top feminist anthems of all time. Her work as an artist and activist has been featured on BBC, CNN, BuzzFeed, AJ+, NPR, Mic, Psychology Today, Refinery 29, The Huffington Post, Ms Magazine, Al Jazeera, The Boston Globe, New York Times, and many others. Her first EP is set to drop in 2018.
Mona practices a life of sacred activism, poetry, contemplation, and advocacy for living gently upon the Earth. She is currently working towards her Masters in Theology and lives in Harlem, New York City, with her husband and their two sons.
www.monahaydar.com
Sessions:
Wisdom Camp Pre-Festival Event
316 Mona Haydar – TBD
Session #431
Musical Performance: Kiya Heartwood
Sat 4 PM | Café
Fri 6 PM | Goose in the Round, Main Stage
LISTEN
Kiya Heartwood
Kiya Heartwood ( Stealin Horses, Wishing Chair ) is an award winning, internationally touring, roots/folk singer songwriter, composer and change artist. The UK’s Broadway Baby describes Kiya Heartwood as “an award-winning American singer-songwriter who writes smart, funny and poignant songs about the famous and not-so-famous legends of America.” Heartwood “serves up a lively batch of original songs that follow on to two of the oldest traditions of folk music: storytelling and political broadside.” Kiya is currently attending Starr King School for the Ministry in their MDiv. program. Kiya tours solo and with her band. Kiya makes her happy home in Austin, TX. More at www.kiyaheartwood.com
Sessions:
327 Goose in the Round: Friday
432 Musical Performance: Kiya Heartwood
Session #432
Faith-based Filmmaking in the Trump Era
4 PM Fri | Greater Things
Eric Machiela, Evan Koons
A discussion with the filmmakers of “Camp Manna”, a new genre of faith-based film that they dub as satire with soul. The discussion will be around creating Christian films and art in a time when resistance is needed from spiritual communities to respond to the era of Trump. what it means to be prophetic artists in film, why it has not worked in the past, and where do we go from here.
Eric Machiela
Eric Machiela grew up in picturesque Holland, Michigan, a town which proudly boasts as many churches as people. He went through the Holland Christian school system from pre-school through graduation. Via peer pressure, he participated in Christian summer camps, the Cadets (Boy Scouts with a lot more Jesus), and Young Life. He became a counselor at a Christian camp in the summer of 2002. He was fired after 6 weeks. In one way or another, his Christian upbringing (which he still loves) has informed his filmmaking and the stories he pursues. He has co-written three feature films and produced five, all of which have won zero Dove Awards. Camp Manna is his co-directorial debut and a passion project that took 14 years from its Genesis to its Revelations.
Sessions:
434 Faith-based Filmmaking in the Trump Era
Evan Koons
Evan Koons is producer, writer, and actor. He was a co-producer on Camp Manna and also played the role of Bradley Sommers. Perhaps best known for the viral sensation “Church Appropriate Dance Moves,” Evan was also the host and co-writer of the 7-part series “For the Life of the World: Letters to the Exiles.” He penned the acclaimed hospice documentary “Except for Six,” a film Ken Burns called “heartfelt and important.” He also wrote for “Exploring Kaman,” a reality television series about NBA All-Star Chris Kaman. CBS Sports said it “looks insane.” It was. Other credits include “Pirate’s Code: The Adventures of Mickey Matson” with Christopher Lloyd.
Sessions:
219 Re-Member and Re-Imagine:Creation Care
Session #434
Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
10 am Fri | Greater Things
Doug Pagitt, Samir Selmanovic
Vote Common Good Bus Tour is an intentional effort to dislodge control of Congress from the Republican Party by engaging religiously-motivated voters, many of whom have reflexively voted Republican in the past but can’t do it any longer with a clean conscience, to vote in the midterm elections in 2018 with a new voting criterion – the Common Good.
This national bus tour will barnstorm the country for eight weeks, September 6 – November 6, 2018, passionately inviting people to vote for the Common Good.
We will motivate current voters and register new voters across the country as we visit 40+ crucial congressional districts, in 25 States, that we believe hold the promise of flipping congress.
This presentation is designed to recruit you to “get on the bus.”
Doug Pagitt
If by some odd set of circumstances we were to meet at a party where neither of us knew the host and were both the party-partners of someone else, and we were trapped in the kitchen, and in a kind effort you sought to break the awkward silence by saying, “so, who are you?”, I would want to tell you that deep down I am a novice ultra-marathoner and try not to talk constantly about having run a 100-mile race recently. And at this very moment, I wish I was out on a run.
But instead, in order to fit the protocol of casual, professional interactions I would tell you that I am a pastor, an author, a convener who seeks to be a goodness conspirator & possibility evangelist finding creative, entrepreneurial and generative ways to enlist people to join in the hopes, dreams, and desires of God for the world.
If you seemed at all interested in all that professional stuff I might include that I do that work by being the pastor of Solomon’s Porch in Minneapolis, speaking and writing on spirituality and leadership a
www.dougpagitt.com
Sessions:
227 Doug Pagitt, Topic TBD
298 Greater Than: How Ordinary People Are Outdoing Jesus, Why It Is Good News
299 Now Were Talk’n With Doug Pagitt Podcast
405 What is W/?
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
193 Breaking Bad-ass
Samir Selmanovic
Samir Selmanovic, Ph.D. PCC, has worked as a Christian pastor and community organizer across the nation for the last twelve years, founding Faith House Manhattan in 2007, an inter-religious “community of communities” and a co-laboratory of interdependence. Samir writes and lectures at universities and other institutions nationally and internationally, and has been profiled in The New York Times. In 2009 his first book, It’s Really All About God: How Islam, Atheism, and Judaism Made Me a Better Christian, a book about understanding and collaboration with the “religious other”, was published.
Session:
435 Vote Common Good Bus Tour enlisting religious voters to flip Congress
Session #435
Youth – Exploring Breath Prayer for Healing
Whitney Simpson
This meditation experience invites you to participate in group breath work and explore the ancient practice of breath prayer in community together (you will also be invited to hear the story of how Whitney began practicing breath prayer the day of her stroke, inside an MRI, on her birthday in 2004). During this session, you will be invited to participate in breath work, learn more about healthy breathing for the body, explore the ancient practice of breath prayer, and be invited to create and practice your very own breath prayer for your healing journey. If you have breath in your lungs and a desire for healing on your journey, join Whitney for this transformative meditation practice.
Whitney Simpson
A stroke at age 31 forced Whitney to slow down and listen more deeply to her body. In the process she discovered how to listen more deeply to God. Over a decade later, Whitney’s healing journey led her to author Holy Listening with Breath, Body, and the Spirit. Through her work as as a spiritual director and retreat facilitator, she incorporates yoga and other ancient tools, encouraging the sacred connection of breath, body, and spirit. Whitney completed certification in spiritual formation at Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary and is a 500-hour certified yoga instructor. She is the founder of Exploring Peace, offering soul care resources for exploring the gift of God’s peace with the whole self. Whitney lives with her family in Tennessee and can be found online at www.ExploringPeace.com. Good books, the great outdoors, hot tea, dark chocolate, and the Trinity are good for her soul. www.exploringpeace.com
www.exploringpeace.com
Sessions:
149 Trauma-Sensitive Yoga
153 Exploring Breath Prayer
#436 Youth – Exploring Breath Prayer for Healing
Session #436
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Goose Talk
Fri 6 PM | Convo Hall 1
Join wild Goose President/Producer Jeff Clark for a conversation about the vision for the Goose.
Jeff Clark
President/Producer
When Jeff isn’t leading The Goose, he’s probably either teaching grad students at MTSU, riding a bike, consulting in a political campaign, dancing in a club on Broadway, directing an academic conference in Chicago, or out finding the best ice cream shop in town. Jeff is happiest when he’s multi-tasking. Jeff loves music and production and creating. In addition to bringing strategic thinking to The Goose, you’ll find him all over the festival grounds making sure the lighting and sound are perfect. And dancing in front of the stage. Jeff is President and Producer of the Wild Goose Festival and Director of Graduate Studies in IT at Middle Tennessee State University.
Sessions:
431 Welcome
366 Spiritual Meaning of the Signs of the Times
437 Goose Talk
Session #437″
The Great Adventure: Thomas Berry’s One Sacred Community–Exploring the Earth-Human-Divine Relationship
Fri 3 PM | Convo Hall 8
Sat 1 PM | Convo Hall 4
Gerard and Diana Berry
We are living in a “convulsive moment” of history for the Earth-Human-Divine relationship, as eco-theologian Thomas Berry has often said. Ours has been a time of historic confusion in which the Sacred Story has been forgotten and must be remembered anew. The survival of both the natural world and the human depends on it. Our two fates are identical. The savage assault on the earth is essentially an assault on our home and on ourselves. In our own deepest places we know this to be true and in process.
Gerard Berry
Gerard Berry lives in Pfafftown, NC, where he has served in adult medicine for 35 years. He currently works with uninsured patients in mental health and addiction medicine. He writes poetry, memoir and short fiction, with a special attraction to ecospirituality and human transformation. Gerard and his wife Diana have five adult children.
Sessions:
438 The Great Adventure: Thomas Berry’s One Sacred Community
Session #438
What faith and courage can do!
Fri 11 AM | Living Room
The bandage has been ripped off the delusion that we lived in a post-racial America. The simmering racial animus is now boiling hot. In this session, you will hear practical but inspiring ways to practice faith and courage in daily life so that you can sustain your advocacy for racial tolerance, diversity and equity.
Jatrice Martel Gaiter
Jatrice Martel Gaiter
Jatrice Martel Gaiter is the executive vice president, external affairs for Volunteers of America. Ms. Gaiter builds national awareness and support for its mission to provide programs and services which enable people to reach their full potential. She provides managerial and strategic oversight of public policy, marketing, development, and communications departments. She is the immediate past board chair of the National Human Services Assembly.
Ms. Gaiter earned a BA in government from the University of Maryland and a Juris Doctorate from the Syracuse University College of Law.
www.voa.org
Sessions:
439 What faith and courage can do!
Session #313
Self and Soul: A Radical Inquiry
Sat 1 PM | Landing
Byron Belitsos
When we speak of the human soul, what exactly are we referring to? Do we mean the “subtle self,” or the psyche? Or, is the soul just a name for our identity—the “image of God” within us? Is the soul imperishable, or does it evolve? If so, how does it evolve? Further, is the soul the same as—or distinct from—what some have called the divine spark within (the biblical “pneuma”)? And if soul and spirit are actually different parts of the self, can we actually experience these two entities as energetically distinct? And if so, is the soul one component of a larger self-system? Within that system, what is it that makes us distinct persons who are beloved by God? This talk, which has experiential and interactive elements, tells the story of how humankind has slowly come to provide better answers to these vital questions. I use as a key reference The Urantia Book and Western philosophers and theologians, as well as insights from paranormal/NDE studies, Buddhist psychology, and the integral theory of Ken Wilber.
Byron Belitsos
Byron Belitsos is an award-winning publisher and the author or editor of many acclaimed books, including four related to the Urantia Revelation: The Center Within (1998); One World Democracy (2005); The Adventure of Being Human (2012); and most recently Your Evolving Soul: The Cosmic Spirituality of the Urantia Revelation (2017), which was the winner of the Nautilus Silver Award in Religion and an Eric Hoffer Award Finalist. A Christian mystic as well as a leading exponent of The Urantia Book, Byron has spoken widely on Urantia cosmology and spirituality, including appearances on GaiamTV and Coast-to-Coast AM Radio. He holds a B.A. in intellectual history from the University of Chicago; his graduate studies earlier in his career embraced psychology, history, and religious studies, and he is now a student of systematic theology at Union Theological Seminary. He was also an inaugural member of Ken Wilber’s Integral Institute.
Sessions:
440 Self and Soul: A Radical Inquiry
Session #440
