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The Wild Goose what?

Come to Jane and Gary Smith's home on Tuesday, August 22, from 7-8PM.  Over beer and snacks, the Smiths will regale you with stories from this summer's Wild Goose Festival.  RSVP to Jane so we have enough beer and she can give you directions.  Don't be shy; if we haven't met you yet, it's time we did!  Children are welcome to play in our garden room while you listen, as long as they don't need to be supervised by us. smithjeg@mindspring.com

One of those people, beer in hand, is Gary at Beer and Hymns.
Only one of many tents and activities.
Imagine several thousand people of all ages camping in the woods on NC's mountains for a long weekend. From 10am-6pm there are hour-long sessions, 8 choices at a time, on everything from how to build a cross-cultural coalition to healing from "whiteness" to how to write a song for the movement to the sacred stories of tattoos (and you could get one there!).  Participate in a live-streamed podcast, attend a panel, brainstorm a justice problem, recite your poem at a slam, fashion something new at the art tent, or sip a frosty glass at the daily gathering to sing old hymns.  Interwoven are spiritual practices - communion with the Anglicans, symbol-rich worship with The Many, study
On right, 2 of the 3 UCC pastors who
officiated at the closing communion.
UCC was in the house!
of mindfulness with a Buddhist monk, yoga by the river, and 12-step gatherings.  This year's 4 main tent worship services featured Trinity UCC's Rev. Otis Moss III & 35 members of their choir, Rev. William Barber, Rev. Nadia Boltz-Weber, and "nun on the bus" Sister Simone Campbell.  Every night we unwound with music on the main stage from jazz to country to folk, one performance after another, dancing encouraged.  A place where questions are the norm, post-Christian is the common language, and conversations with strangers become deep quickly, the festival is a place where justice, spirituality and the arts intertwine under the wings of the Wild Goose (an ancient Christian symbol of the Holy Spirit).