Where do I begin?  What a wonderful event!  [Thanks to all the creators, organizers, speakers, and volunteers—it’s a job well done!]

The Goose, modeled after the long-running Greenbelt Festival in the UK, was an attempt to gather people of all walks of life together, in one place, knowing not everyone would agree, but encouraging amicable and open-minded discussions about topics not typically had in church (or most religious settings).  In other words, it was creating a safe, accepting place to hash out topics you may have been longing to discuss with someone…but haven’t been able to.  As Richard Rohr says, Christianity has to change, or it’s going to die.

I’m feeling increasingly like I’m on the fringe when it comes to Christianity.  In fact, I don’t call myself a Christian anymore, taking refuge in the fact Jesus wasn’t one either.  And since my research (for my next novel) has forced me to ask some hard questions (of science, philosophy, and theology), I’ve gone past simple questioning into some serious doubting territory.  [My talk at the Goose was “The Role of Doubt in Faith,” which I’ll be posting in two parts next week.]  I’ve “crossed over” the acceptable line, to some people—caring people who think I’m floundering dangerously.

Except that I met more people like me at the festival, which was immensely reassuring.  It doesn’t mean I’m right; it means I’m not traveling alone.

Tony Campolo and his wife, Peggy—married 50 years—did a spectacular interview on sexuality.  Tony holds a more traditional view of homosexuality.  Peggy has been a LGBT advocate for 25 years.  Their conversation was remarkably kind, even though they held different views.  Not only did they both exude love for LGBT people, but they demonstrated how to agree to disagree in a fashion that makes it clear why they’re still together after all these years.

Jay Bakker talked on why grace covers everyone…including the LGBT community.  It’s time for the church to “stop this bullshit” and stand up for the LGBT community’s civil rights.

Matt Ward, the Grassroots Director for Blood:Water Mission spoke on why missions trips do more harm than good.  It’s a little arrogant to assume we have something another country needs, without taking into consideration what they may be giving us (meaning, oftentimes, the experience is more transformative for the church than for the recipients).  For example, there are broken-down wells in Africa.  Churches have gone on short-term trips to build these wells, to provide clean water for a village, but they’ve left no instructions on how to operate them…or fix them.  So, the well sits, unused, while back home the church is congratulating itself on a job well done.  He suggested other ways of giving, such as raising money and awareness locally, like the Ride:Well Bike Tour or some other sort of venture.  For kids and/or families, there’s the Walk for Water events where families and friends walk 3.5 miles with a bucket, filling it at the halfway point and carrying it to the finish line, mirroring what millions of people (mostly children) have to do everyday to get clean water.

Richard Twiss, who calls himself a “Lakota/Sioux recovering evangelical” and is the Co-Founder and President of Wiconi International, was hilariously honest.  He said that initially when he became a Christian, he found out, to his consternation, that he had to not only accept Jesus into his heart, but he had to accept John Calvin and Martin Luther and John Piper and Rick Warren, too.  He had to decide on Dispensationalism and whether or not he would be a Mennonite or a Methodist or a Lutheran or…see what I mean?  He made his point brilliantly.

Frank Schaeffer talked about his fundamentalist background (his memoir is Crazy for God: How I Grew Up As One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (Or Almost All) of It Back).  My background, almost to a T.  My only complaint with Frank is that he seems to still be harboring quite a bit of anger about the whole thing, meaning he hasn’t done the work (and I mean work) of forgiveness and grace, which would make his message even stronger and more accessible (in my humble opinion).

I could go on and on.  Topics covered pretty much anything—politics, sexuality, doctrine, doubt, social justice, religious pluralism, art, music, sustainability, Islam, Kabbalah…

So, the disappointing aspects…for me?  I didn’t get to hear Brian McLaren speak, since my departure was before his talk.  Although I did get to meet him, simply  to thank him for his books (if you haven’t read him, start with his fictional trilogy…A New Kind of Christian).

And I didn’t meet any atheists.  But then why would they come to such an event?  I wanted to converse with someone who’d rejected the very notion of God or Jesus.  Only because that’s the one group that’s left out somehow (in these interbelief conversations)…not intentionally, just logistically, in an event such as this.  Perhaps there was an atheist there; I just didn’t run into him or her.

If you’re on such a journey, like I am, I would strongly encourage you to attend next year’s festival.  This year, it was held at Shakori Hills in NC—a wooded campground perfect for such events.  I’m not sure if the venue will be the same for next year, or if they’ll be taking it around the country (the latter being a spectacular idea, in my opinion), but either way, stay tuned and make plans.

I’ll see you there.

[Reminder: Yesterday’s Episode 19 of the Living the Questions podcast is up: How Are You Different From the Person You Dislike?]  Enjoy!