A couple of pictures from the 2017 Wild Goose Festival in Hot Springs, NC:
Main Stage…
We were camped next to the French Broad River…
Tag: Sabbatical
With a week left to my sabbatical, I’ve obviously not reflected here on my blog like I originally wanted. The first month of my sabbatical was spent relaxing, finishing up some book details, going to the Festival of Homiletics (a preaching conference), along with some traveling and visiting friends. The second month was taken up with moving and the third month has been settling into my new apartment and attending the Wild Goose Festival. Both of the “festivals” I attended have been inspiring. I’ve already talked a little about the Festival of Homiletics. I certainly think that experience can make me a better preacher and Christian, more focused on what’s important not only to our spiritual life but our future as a human community. Perhaps I better say that by better Christian, I should say I mean more focused on loving relationships and helping build a more just world (i.e. following Jesus’ teachings rather than church dogmas).
Wild Goose was also inspiring with lots of focus on justice issues. I’m not sure I learned “things” but I did come away motivated. Some of the speakers there included William Barber, Otis Moss III, Nadia Bolz Weber, Diana Butler Bass, and Frank Schaeffer. All of them passionate speakers who made me want to be more passionate. Of course the trick is to turn that into something substantive. There was also lots of good music. I was especially taken with Tret Fure. Here are some links to explore:
Repairers of the Breach (William Barber): http://www.breachrepairers.org
Frank Schaeffer: http://frankschaefferblog.com
Tret Fure: http://www.tretfure.com
When I started my sabbatical my main goal was to spend time with the question of who I am and where I’m called at this point in my life. While I haven’t addressed that question in conscious reflection like I hoped to, I do feel confident I’m where I’m supposed to be. I’m feeling affirmed in my pastoral identity and look forward to continuing this journey of personal spiritual growth while accompanying others on their life journeys. So, with a week left in sabbatical my conclusion for this time off is kind of boring: to keep on moving forward, putting my trust in the Divine Presence to lead me where I need to go.
It’s hard to believe a third of my sabbatical has gone by already. The Festival of Homiletics was wonderful with lots of food for thought. I need to eventually get back to my notes and see what they inspire after sitting for awhile. After the Festival I’ve been traveling a bit with stops at Carlsbad Caverns, White Sands National Monument, Chiricahua National Monument, and Saguaro National Park. I’ve also been spent visiting old friends in Phoenix, Arizona, with a few days just to rest as well as side trips to Sedona, Arizona, Tonto National Monument, and the Phoenix Zoo. All the while I’ve also been working with my publisher on getting my book ready for publication. It’s looking like the publication date will be around the end of June.
It’s really been a wonderful trip. I’ll be starting the multi-day drive home tomorrow. It looks like June will largely be occupied by moving to a new apartment and I still have the Wild Goose Festival scheduled for July. And then there’s book-related stuff… I’m also still hopeful I can make time for some writing, reflection, and creating some better habits with my personal spiritual practices. I’m excited for these next two months and beyond. Wherever the Divine might lead, I know I must follow.
The second full day of the Festival is done. Who knew listening to great speakers could be so exhausting? After beginning Monday evening with Walter Brueggemann and Rob Bell, I began Tuesday with hearing great talks from Brueggemann again as well as Nadia Bolz-Weber. Then after finding lunch on San Antonio’s Riverwalk I went back for another lecture but could barely keep my eyes open. Went back to my hotel about 3:30 and just took it easy for the rest of the day. Today I heard Brian McLaren, Otis Moss III, and Craig Satterlee (who gave a great talk about preaching about money). All of the above speakers have been incredibly inspiring with lots to say about preaching and the future of Christianity and I have lots of notes to try to digest. Might have to buy the recordings of a couple of the lectures. Most of them fit well with my sabbatical goal of reflecting on who/what I am called to be/do as a minister. I just need time to take in what was said and meditate on it. I’m tired enough at the end of the day that I’m not sure reflection would be very fruitful but I’ve got lots of sabbatical left. To my preaching friends, I’d highly recommend coming to this Festival someday.
After 2 days of long drives I arrived in San Antonio for the Festival of Homiletics. Yes, a festival for and about preachers and preaching. 1800 church nerds. I got here early enough I had time to walk around the Riverwalk, have lunch, and take a nap before the first night’s gatherings. First up with the sermon in opening worship was Walter Brueggemann who talked about church shibboleths – how we identify ourselves – and how we’ve been getting it wrong (hint: church isn’t supposed to be about collecting power and wealth but about love and justice). Then Rob Bell gave a lecture about the craft of preaching. He talked about how we’re all connected and not just observers, how we need to notice what’s happening around us, and how we are called to create space for others to feel those connections. Both speakers were great and I took notes (better than the summaries above) so I can mull over some of the good points later. But what was really apparent and intriguing to me was their respective styles. Brueggeman stood at the pulpit and mostly looked down at his notes as he spoke. Bell was engaging and humorous, roaming the stage without any notes at all, and knew how to work the crowd. But there was a lot of fluff. Brueggeman had just as much of import to say in his 15 minutes as Bell did in his hour. I wouldn’t say one was better than the other. They were both captivating and inspiring in their own ways. I would happily listen to either of them again. Maybe the conclusion here, and what we need to remember as preachers, is that the message is what’s important, not the box it comes in.
How did it get to be day 8 of my sabbatical already? So far I’ve finished final edits on my upcoming book. Next step is to finalize formatting, cover, etc. Also spent a couple of days visiting family. Read a mindless fantasy novel. Other than that, just kind of been doing normal every day stuff. No profound revelations 🙂 Leave Saturday for the Festival of Homiletics and then do a little sight seeing and visit friends. Still want to carve out time for reading, writing, reflection, and maybe a little golf. And need to work on moving sometime in the next couple months. Lots to do so I need to set some priorities…
Day 2 of the sabbatical. Definitely in resting mode. Worked on some final edits for my upcoming book. Then I napped. Worked on a web page for my upcoming book. Then I napped again. I’m also finding it hard to take my mind off church business although I expect this will be easier as the days go on. I’ll probably get the hang of it about the time sabbatical is ending! Feeling blessed at the moment… had wonderful sleepytime comforting images running through my head during nap #2 🙂
As of today I’m officially on sabbatical for the next three months. It’s a time to be renewed and re-energized, but not exactly a vacation. I’ll be doing a little traveling: going to two conference type things (Festival of Homiletics and Wild Good Festival), doing a little sight-seeing, and seeing some friends. Other than that I want to rest, connect a little deeper with Spirit, do some reading and writing, and spend some time reflecting on life. Two other projects: I need to finish up final edits on my book that should be out fairly soon and I need to find a new place to live. That should all be plenty to keep me occupied. Right now, I’m thinking I’ll try to blog fairly regularly as a way of reflection, but who knows?