{"id":3182,"date":"2011-06-30T09:53:21","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T14:53:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/?p=3182"},"modified":"2011-06-30T07:04:29","modified_gmt":"2011-06-30T12:04:29","slug":"the-wild-goose-festival-my-talks","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/tonyjones\/2011\/06\/30\/the-wild-goose-festival-my-talks\/","title":{"rendered":"The Wild Goose Festival: My Talks"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

<\/p>\n

I actually didn\u2019t give any talks, per se, at the Goose.\u00a0 I was a speaker host, I sat on a panel, I moderated a panel, and led a discussion in the GeoDome.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad about this, actually, for it afforded me just the kind of dialogue in which I think I work best \u2014 that is, the more I mature as a theologian, I think I\u2019m better at dialogue than I am at monologue.<\/p>\n

The first was a panel on Friday, moderated by Becky Knight<\/strong>, on the topic of sexuality.\u00a0 It was held in the GeoDome to an overflow crowd.\u00a0 Along with me were Paul Fromberg<\/strong>, Andrew Marin<\/strong>, Mark Scandrette<\/strong>, Seth Donovan<\/strong>, Rachel Swan<\/strong>, Jay Bakker<\/strong>, and Becky Kuhn<\/strong>.\u00a0 With so many panelists, we didn\u2019t get much time individually to talk, but we each made an introductory statement, then we had a chance to respond to questions from the audience.\u00a0 My opening salvo was basically this: A clergyperson acted as an agent of the government and married me, binding me in a legal contract; but that clergyperson was nowhere to be found when it came time to undo that legal contract; therefore the church should get out of the marriage business<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I would say that the consensus of the panel and the crowd is that we must make the issue of sexuality in the church be about a lot more than \u201cwhat to do with \u2018the gays.'\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Wild Goosers gather for a Sexuality Panel (photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second panel was on the topic of \u201cSexuality and Justice,\u201d and it was held in front of the largest crowd that I saw all weekend to attend something at the Coffee Shack stage.\u00a0 I moderated (and chimed in), and the panelists were Paul Fromberg<\/strong>, Andrew Marin<\/strong>, and Phyllis Tickle<\/strong>.\u00a0 I asked them each to 1) reflect on whether the issue of human sexuality is a justice issue on par with the biggies (poverty, women\u2019s rights, human trafficking, clean water); 2) share an experience of an ecclesial practice that they\u2019ve seen help a church deal with sexuality); and 3) offer a word of hope.<\/p>\n

I thought this discussion was fascinating and many people in the crowd told me afterward that they really appreciated it.<\/p>\n

Finally, I led a conversation at the GeoDome on Sunday morning.\u00a0 For these discussions, we were asked to present a question to which we do not have the answer \u2014 begin with a 15-minute intro and then engage in conversation with the crowd.\u00a0 I asked the question, \u201cWhy Pray?\u201d\u00a0 The dialogue that followed was, honestly, the most beautiful and life-giving part of the entire festival for me.<\/p>\n

It seems to have touched a couple of others as well.\u00a0 Jodi-Renee Adams blogged about it for Clayfire<\/a>:<\/p>\n

There were a few comments Tony made that flew at me in 3-D given the audience and the context. The first was this: \u201cThere\u2019s lots of things [Jesus] didn\u2019t talk about that we have opinions on, but he did talk about prayer\u2026 and he did [pray].\u201d Here we were \u2013 sitting in the middle of a phenomenal landscape with a radical group of spiritual people, really seeking out the Divine imagination around issues like creation care and sexuality and being ready to carry those flags in the name of Christ (and for that I say, thanks be to GOD) but in that one statement, I felt like Tony captured my fear and struggle with my own faith and with the context in which I must work that faith out. [read the post<\/a>]<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And mothersara<\/a> wrote a beautiful villanelle (poem) based on the discussion:<\/p>\n

Someone asked me just the other day\u2014\u201cwhy pray?\u201d
\nTo re-align our own intent or seek to change God\u2019s mind?
\nOur measure here as ever is \u201cwhat does Jesus say?\u201d<\/p>\n

I have always reasoned praying as the faithful way
\nto sing along in steady tune with plans divine.
\nThen someone asked me recently: why pray?<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

[Read the post.<\/a>]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I actually didn\u2019t give any talks, per se, at the Goose.\u00a0 I was a speaker host, I sat on a panel, I moderated a panel, and led a discussion in the GeoDome.\u00a0 I\u2019m glad about this, actually, for it afforded me just the kind of dialogue in which I think I work best \u2014 that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3205,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17,28,34,40],"tags":[510,707,678],"class_list":["post-3182","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-glbt","category-prayer","category-spirituality","category-travels","tag-prayer-2","tag-sexuality","tag-wild-goose-festival"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Wild Goose Festival: My Talks<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"I actually didn't give any talks, per se, at the Goose.\u00a0 I was a speaker host, I sat on a panel, I moderated a panel, and led 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