See You At Wild Goose!

Have you heard of The Wild Goose Festival? If not, you have been missing out. For the past two years, I have attended this gathering of progressive-ish Christian pastors, theologians, leaders, and laypeople in the foothills of the Smoky Mountains in North Carolina and every year I have had a tremendous time of spiritual nourishment and just plain fun. Wild Goose is unlike any other conference or festival I have ever been a part of. For four days, hundreds of people converge on a camp site to talk, sing, cry, dance, dream, and create. Everyone is equal at Wild Goose- all of the speakers and performers pay to be at the festival and camp right alongside everyone else. There is no hierarchy. Just a rag-tag family of spiritual misfits, innovators, and dreamers who come together to encourage, exhort, and inspire each other to keep on working for the Kingdom. It’s truly unlike any other event I have ever been a part of.

This year I will be attending the festival along with one of Revangelical’s contributors,Troy Medlin, as a speaker. Next Sunday at 9:45 I will be giving a talk entitled “Liberating Evangelicalism?” and then Troy and I will host an audience discussion and interview with some special guests around the question of whether Evangelicalism is worth saving. It’s sure to be a fantastic and stimulating time. If you’re at the festival, I do hope that you’ll join us! But even outside of our session, if you’re hanging around Hot Springs this week, I hope you’ll connect with me! One of my favorite things is meeting people that I have interacted with virtually and getting a chance to know them in the flesh. So if you see me around, please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself!

I am so excited to be returning to the festival this year, which for me has become more of a family reunion than a conference. I always leave feeling encouraged and hopeful for the future of Christianity in our world. I can only imagine that this year will leave me feeling the same way.

All of that is also to say that things will be quite around The Revangelical Blog this week. But stay tuned! I look forward to sharing with you about my experiences at Wild Goose next week!