We didn’t really know enough about the recent Wild Goose Festival to attempt to make sense of it for you. But thanks to the Odyssey Networks we can let the festival speak for itself. Here is a brief description of the enterprise, followed by a video. What do you make of it?
Modeled after the nearly 40-year-old annual Greenbelt Festival in England, The Wild Goose Festival, recently held in Shakori Hills, N.C., was described by organizers as a opportunity for followers of Jesus to celebrate justice, spirituality, music and the arts. The festival, though, was open to all, regardless of belief, ethnicity, gender, sexuality, denomination or religious affiliation. “What we all share is this sense that there is this spiritual dimension to life that we want to live from and and work from,” Brian McLaren, a pastor and one of the festival organizers.”Secondly, we’re all interested in issues of justice and the common good. My little summary for is it that we’re concerned about poverty, the planet and peace. And I think we all share the sense that the arts play a key role in this.





peace-loving, inter-faith, environmentalist, gay-friendly, social-justice hippies dancing around in the forest and playing guitars be immediately called out for not being PC enough. …that can’t come off as good image of our church, … Which, honestly, doesn’t really attract people.
That depends, Chase.
Is to be peace-loving, religious diversity-respecting, environment-protecting, LGBT-affirming, social justice-building merely being “PC”?
Or are those things ESSENTIAL to the Gospel of Jesus Christ?
The answer to those questions will determine whether this is counter-productive or not.
JC Fisher
[I’ll agree that dancing in the forest playing guitars is *strictly optional*, and may not present TEC in the best musical light! ;-/]
Of course we’re at Mass, Clint, but we’re harder to spot there because we aren’t wearing our tie-dyed tee shirts.
Pamela Grenfell Smith
Bloomington, Indiana
It sucks when you believe in all the things these folks believe in but find no way to identify with, nor have any desire whatever to participate in, an event like this. Do “liberals” only show up at Woodstock, and never at High Mass?
P.S. It signed me in under a friend’s Facebook account, as for the different name!
I say this with no offense intended, but ONLY in an Episcopal Church blog could a video showing nothing but what amounts to a bunch of peace-loving, inter-faith, environmentalist, gay-friendly, social-justice hippies dancing around in the forest and playing guitars be immediately called out for not being PC enough. I mean, to someone perhaps just looking in on this website, that can’t come off as good image of our church, makes one think more that our church is dominated by a bunch of angry old ex-Woodstock types. Which, honestly, doesn’t really attract people. – Chase Schuster