Brandyn Simmons

Brandyn Simmons stays busy as a pastor, professional certified coach, writer, mystic, and single dad of three great kids. His passions are around coaching people to an awareness of their True Self and journeying with them to living into that Self. Brandyn has a coaching practice serving clergy, caregivers, and churches and leads regular retreats. He believes that the church can still be a base camp for great societal transformation, but realizes it takes healthy leaders to bring that to fruition.

Sessions:
412 Spanda: The Journey to Your True Self

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

Alison Burchett

Co-Director, LeadNOW!

Alison Burchett is the Managing Director of The Center for Faith and Service at McCormick Theological Seminary where, among other things, she coordinates Seminaries that Change the World. Alison is passionate about helping seminaries and divinity schools, denominations, and congregations re-imagine, recruit, and develop innovative church leadership. Alison received her MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary and is a member of the Presbyterian Church (USA).

LeadNOW Pre-Festival event

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

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!

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

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

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

Andie Scott

Sessions:
116 Interactive Stories with Body Art
419 Epiphany Collection (Youth Tent)

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

Andrew Breitenberg

Andrew Breitenberg is (currently) a street-artist and translator. I’m producing a new translation of the New Testament from the original Koiné Greek called Pilgrim Bible at pilgrimbible.com. It’s meant for hearing, being performed, getting lived in, and reaching anyone who’s like bro f*%k church. Come find me at the Goose if you like this stuff: The Philokalia, inclusive table-hanging, spray paint, ancient Greek, sneaking cigs, mutual affirmation, pointing out beauty, Gurdjieff, black tea with milk, books, well-designed office supply, signposting the good the beautiful and the true, interdependence, unified human diversity, contemplative spiritual praxis, love, talking, not talking, etc.

Sessions:
433 Postchristian Bible

Andrew Heintz

Sessions:
246 Down to the River to Pray

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Sessions:
273 Music Performance: Paul Demer and Ben Grace

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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?

Brenda Denton

Sessions:
265 Creation Care: A Practice of Love

Brett W. Copeland

BrettWCopeland.com

Sessions:
121 Creating a Community Commons

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

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

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

Brittian Bullock

Brittian Bullock is a teacher and author interested in primal spirituality, the masculine journey, and heartful living. He was a founding member of a neo-monastic community that existed for over a decade, drawing on the rich tradition of Orthodox, Catholic, and Protestant mystics. He has also traveled extensively to South America and Europe to learn from spiritual practitioners.
https://www.evolvingwild.live/

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?”

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.

Sessions:
280 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

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

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

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

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/?

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

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

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

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

Carolyn Wetzel

Administrative Support, LeadNOW!
Carolyn is a Lutheran PK (preacher’s kid) who has lived in California, Hawaii and raised 3 kids in Southern Oregon. Decades after her dad introduced her to the writings of Marcus Borg and John Shelby Spong, she discovered the Wild Goose WEST (Oregon) in 2012 and many new voices, She immediately called her parents and said they HAD to go to North Carolina in 2013! (They did and have been every year since).
This will be Carolyn’s 4th journey across country to be a part of this amazing community. She loves behind the scenes volunteering (number crunching / database work). At home, she just ended 8 years as the treasurer of her Presbyterian congregation and is now providing database help to a nearby UCC congregation and to Holmes House, a new residential hospice facility.

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

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

Chad Hallyburton

Chad Hallyburton is a student, teacher, and practitioner of yoga from Cullowhee, NC. His passion is bringing people together to explore their own physical, mental, and spiritual strengths and frailties in the context of community.
www.centeringyoganc.com

Sessions:
83 Yoga, Spirituality, Religion, and Modern Life

Chad Markley

Chad is the co-founder of Beer and Hymns Orange County. It has grown from a small gathering of friends to a monthly event of 200+ people. Chad runs an I.T. company by day and loves connecting people through music. He has been a worship leader for over 20 years

Sessions:
249 How to start your own Beer and Hymns Chapter
250 Beer and Hymns Afterhours Sing-Along
251 Beer and Hymns 2.0 – Let’s share ideas!
252 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Marketing and Social Media
253 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Managing the Band
254 Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall: Partnerships with breweries

Charlene Brouwer

Sessions:
81 Spiritual Authenticity: when spiritual growth and traditional beliefs collide

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

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

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

Christian Piatt

Christian Piatt is the creator and editor of BANNED QUESTIONS ABOUT THE BIBLE and BANNED QUESTIONS ABOUT JESUS. He has a memoir on faith, family and parenting called PREGMANCY: A Dad, a Little Dude and a Due Date, and Hachette published his first hardcover book, “postChristian: What’s left? Can we fix it? Do we care?” in 2014. His first novel, “Blood Doctrine,” has been optioned by a Hollywood production company for a possible TV series. Christian is the cofounder and cohost of the Homebrewed CultureCast, a podcast about popular culture, current events and spirituality that has a weekly audience of 25,000 people.
www.christianpiatt.com

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

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

Claire Clyburn

Rev. Claire Clyburn is an ordained Elder in the UMC and pastor in Raleigh, NC. She’s the co-founder of Raleigh Beer and Hymns.

Sessions:
77 B & H 2.0
249 How to start your own Beer and Hymns Chapter
250 Beer and Hymns Afterhours Sing-Along
251 Beer and Hymns 2.0 – Let’s share ideas!
252 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Marketing and Social Media
253 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Managing the Band
254 Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall: Partnerships with breweries

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

David Fluker

Sessions:
239 Taize Vespers

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

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

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

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

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

Dirk van der Duim

Dirk van der Duim has been stumbling toward the light for a while now, and just might be getting the hang of it. Along with pastoring a Christian community, he enjoys spiritual, technological, musical, and photographic adventures with friends old and new. He is grateful to be part of the Goose and enjoys how we are all students and teachers here.

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

Dr. Robyn Henderson-Espinoza

Curator, Justice Camp
Named at 1 of 10 Faith Leaders to watch in 2018 by the Center for American Progress, Dr. Robyn is an anti-oppression, anti-racist, non-binary Trans*gressive Latinx. Dr. Robyn takes seriously their call as an activist theologian and ethicist to bridge together theories and practices that result in communities responding to pressing social concerns. Dr. Robyn sees this work as a life-orienting vocation, deeply committed to translating theory to practice, and embedded in re-imagining our moral horizon to one which privileges a politics of radical difference.

To learn more, check out Dr. Robyn’s website: www.iRobyn.com
www.irobyn.com

Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-Festival Event
46 Surviving The Tyranny of The Now
117 Preaching as Resistance
128 Taking to the Social Streets
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom
290 Sacred and Profane
337 Bridging Radical Difference

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

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

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

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

Elle Miller

Sessions:
351 Spiritual Direction

Emilie Bowman

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

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

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

Emily Miller

Sessions:
158 Raising Bad-Ass, Jesus-Loving Kids

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

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

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

Emily Wimbish

Emily Wimbish is an artist, activist, landscrapa’, and professional weirdo based out of central NC. Her favourite things include making art of all kinds, laughter, and all things sparkly.

Sessions:
398 Life After Faith

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

Eric Mayle

Rev. Eric Mayle serves as the Minister of Community Justice at Centenary United Methodist Church in Macon, GA. Eric also serves as the Executive Director of Centenary Community Ministries, Inc. a nonprofit started by the church in 2009 offering transitional housing for men in recovery from drugs and alcohol.
www.centenarycommunityministries.org/transitional-housing-2/

Sessions:
137 Basement Spirituality

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

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

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

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

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

Gaelyn Evangreene

Administrative Support

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

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

Greg Hathaway

Sessions:
243 Musical Performance: The Heather McKoy Band
328 Goose in the Round

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

Hannah Paasch

www.hannahpaasch.com

Sessions:
413 A Conversation with Hannah Paasch
122 Life After Missions
413 A Conversation with Hannah Paasch
115 Screaming and Shouting: Subversive Liturgies
126 Beyond #ChurchToo

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jarrod McKenna

Jarrod McKenna is the co-founder of First Home Project, a community welcoming, housing and “giving a hand up not a hand-out” to recently arrived refugees, is the Teaching Pastor at Cornerstone Church in Perth, was a part of initiating the #LoveMakesAWay movement, and is a peace award winning nonviolent social change trainer, working primarily in the Middle East and Eastern Europe when not at home.

Sessions:
Justice Camp Pre-festival Event
169 Faith-Rooted Organizing
395 A Conversation with Jarrod McKenna

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

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!

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

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

Jeff Costa

Communications and Programming Support
Jeff has found a way to use his skill-set in IT to give back to the Wild Goose Festival, a place he has come to renew his spirit every year since 2012. He has worked for the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School system for 26 years in a variety of roles, starting with teaching at-risk youth Biology and Environmental Science, to his current position in the District Office. When not working at his day job, Jeff can be found enjoying some craft beer with friends, remodeling houses, playing golf or leading a small group discussion at the Inclusion Community in Cornelius, NC. Jeff is married to the love of his life Teresa and has 3 children, Amy, Jacob, and Hannah.

Jeff Koetje

Jeff is the Education and Research Director for the American Medical Student Association (AMSA), and identifies as an academic, activist, anti-racist, sex-positive queer feminist.

Sessions:
46 Surviving The Tyranny of The Now
289 Loving Our Way to Freedom

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

Jenna Bowman

Site Operations
Jenna can usually be found riding around the grounds in various trucks, putting up and down the festival, and making sure it all works. When she’s not doing that, you may find her helping out at the Desanka tent. She’s been volunteering here since the Goose’s second year. She’s traveled and lived in Kenya, India, Peru, South America, and the U.K.; knows various different sign languages; and has worked with the Deaf worldwide. Jenna treasures family and community, and has a heart to serve, to give, and to spread love to anyone and everyone. She’s interested in anything and everything involving human connection, nature, meditation, and spirituality.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Jim Holmes

Sessions:
239 Taize Vespers

Jimmy Paschke

Sessions:
243 Musical Performance: The Heather McKoy Band
328 Goose in the Round

Joanna Ciccarello

ASL Coordinator

Joanna is a life loving, daughter raising, hand waving sign language interpreter. This will be her fourth year at the Goose and after the first year she was hooked. She believes in access in every form and feels that ALL the greatness that the Goose has to offer needs to be accessible to the Deaf and Hard of Hearing community.

*contact WGF for interpreting services or if you are an interpreter willing to volunteer!

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

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

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!

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

John Prigmore

Vendor Co-Coordinator
My path led me to meditation about a decade ago and then back to the Church shortly thereafter. Through many twists and turns, I was eventually led to this amazing, open, generous and loving community we call Wild Goose. I have been morphing in wonderful ways ever since, spreading the Gospel of Wild Goose everywhere I go! Among other things, I volunteer to help with the setup and breakdown, coordinate food venders and will lead an Ignation meditation Sunday morning. If you are reading this, I’d love to meet you and share a big, sweaty warm hug! Honk Honk!

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

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

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

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?

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/?

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

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

Joyce Andersen

http://www.joyscream.com

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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

Kay Riggle

Sessions:
242 Transitions: How People Navigate Change

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

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

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

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

Kirsti Reeve

Music Curation
Kirsti was happily living in England until she fell in love with a woman from Detroit. In 2003, she moved to Michigan where she is still adjusting to the culture shock while loving married life, and working as a counselor, musician, and minister. She has been involved with Wild Goose since the first festival and is delighted to be part of the music curation team as well as increasing the Catholic voice in the festival planning. A strong INFP, Kirsti rarely goes anywhere without a good book, a mug of tea, and her knitting.

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

Kristen Howerton

Kristen is a licensed marriage and family therapist, mom of four, and the founder of the blog Rage Against the Minivan, where she writes about parenting a transracial family. Kristen has a passion for engaging people on the topic of racial justice. She spent 10 years teaching students at Vanguard University on the topic of psychology and diversity, and is now a full-time writer. She also helps lead Beer and Hymns in Orange County, CA.
www.rageagainsttheminivan.com

Sessions:
249 How to start your own Beer and Hymns Chapter
250 Beer and Hymns Afterhours Sing-Along
251 Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall
252 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Marketing and Social Media
253 Beer and Hymns 2.0 Convo Hall: Managing the Band
254 Beer and Hymns 2.0 in Convo Hall: Partnerships with breweries
259 Beer and Hymns Happy Hour
77 B & H 2.0

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

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

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

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

Laura James

Sessions:
332 For Collard Girls

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

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

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

Leeann Culbreath

www.facebook.com/sogaisnetwork/

Sessions:
148 Immigrant Detention Stories
152 Deacon Panel Discussion

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

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

Les James

Communications and Programming Support
With academic degrees in biological and cognitive studies, Les integrates an expansive love of science with a deeply mystical perspective. Inspired by patterns in nature, her creative work explores how the emergence of life from levels of subatomic, atomic, molecular, and cellular matter can help us reimagine the emergence of self from levels of physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual awareness. Her day jobs have included project management and educational technology support. She’s delighted to be using her professional experience and skills to support the Goose.

emergentcognition.com
emergentmysticism.wordpress.com

Leslie Mac

lesliemac.com

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

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.

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

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

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

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!

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

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

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

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

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

Margaret Gillikin

Margaret Gillikin is a clergy member of the Mountain Sky Conference of the United Methodist Church. She serves in church middle-management (yes, that’s a thing!) as a District Superintendent, with responsibility for 68 United Methodist churches and their pastors across 44,000 square miles of Eastern and Southern Colorado. She seeks to build bridges and maintain connections with progressive to conservative clergy serving moderate to conservative congregations in the midst of the UMC’s discernment regarding LGBTQ inclusion. When she’s not navigating challenging conversations, she delights in being the Fun Fairy for/with whoever is willing to play along.

Sessions:
95 Living Into A New Reality – UMC

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

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

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

Mario Farrow

SkyBlew, 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 & colorful sound, to breathe life into music, and the world.
www.facebook.com/SkyBlewMusic

Sessions:
255 SkyBlew

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Michael Kimpan

Founding Director, (un)common good collective

After working the past several years with faith and political organizations across the nation at the intersection of faith, gender and sexuality, Michael Kimpan has most recently expanded his life’s work in the creation of a resource-sharing organization called (un)common good collective, a network of individuals and communities across the country committed to a more just and generous expression of Christian faith. He has a proven history of helping individuals and institutions think critically about matters of faith and culture through his writing, teaching and consulting with churches, organizations, higher education institutions, and NGOs.

His work has been featured by Advocate magazine, Human Rights Campaign, The Huffington Post and TIME magazine as well as a number of nationally syndicated radio and podcast shows.

Sessions:
358 Responsibility of Privilege in the Era of Trump