Engage! Wild Goose Festival 2025 Preview with Tim Kerr

Join Tara as she welcomes special guest Tim Kerr, Sponsor Relations Director of the Wild Goose Festival. They discuss the festival's new Labor Day weekend schedule, the variety of activities and workshops available, and the importance of creating an inclusive and engaging community. Tim and Tara share personal stories of spiritual journeys, the power of conversations, and the significance of deconstruction and healing in today's world. Tune in for an unpredictable spiritual adventure that is sacred but never stuffy.

Transcript

S6 E12 Engage! Wild Goose Festival 2025 Preview

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: [00:00:00] Hi there, it's Tara. Thank you for joining me today at Holy Shenanigans Podcast. Have you made any plans for summer yet? The Wild Goose Festival is a gathering in harmony, North Carolina on Labor Day Weekend. It's a diverse and inclusive space for individuals to explore spirituality, justice, and the arts.

Tim Kerr is part of the team that makes this festival happen. Tim, it is so good.

To have you here with me again to talk about all things wild goose.

Tim Kerr: It's an honor and a pleasure to be here with the head shenanigator, if you will. Good morning out there to all you new and old goose friends. The old goose friends, we look forward to seeing y'all at the end of the summer and new goose friends. We're truly [00:01:00] excited about y'all joining us as well.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: this is going to be a little bit different this year at the wild goose, isn't it? A different time of year. Could you say something about that for our listeners?

Tim Kerr: as you well know from your experience at the festival, July is is sort of hot. The beauty of the festival on one hand is that it's outside in nature and the On the other hand, it's outside in nature, so it can be relentless. We have spent a lot of time, a lot of effort, and realistically a lot of money on trying to mitigate heat between, you know, running big cooling fans, misting fans, shade sails.

And obviously we're allowed to say climate change on this podcast, right? Is that, I'm in Florida. I'm in Florida. So we can, you know, our governor, he gets a little upset if we say that. So the insurance companies believe it. He doesn't. But, you know so we decided to move it [00:02:00] to Labor Day weekend, which is 6 weeks.

You know, we think it will still be warm. Our hope is in the mornings and evenings, it'll be a little more bearable. It did affect some folks schedule a little bit, but the majority of the responses we had were very, very positive. We're in the process right now. Our co creator submissions are coming to a close.

And Rick Meredith, who's our program director, shared with us yesterday afternoon at this point in time, we're, I think, 30 or 40 more co creator submissions ahead of what we were last year. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Oh, wow.

Tim Kerr: so that, that really gives me hope, you know, that, people are okay and moving forward.

And that just adds more to the, as you well know the craziness of the festival

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah. There's, so many different things for people to be involved with I mean, you can take part in a storytelling workshop you can go and enjoy music. You can go take a yoga class. You can go hear, a world renowned [00:03:00] theologian. Talking to you in a tent, , three feet away.

Tim Kerr: and the beauty is being outside, I mean, there's no quote unquote green room per se. So that world class theologian will probably be sitting next to you on a picnic table having coffee or lunch or a cold beverage and the conversations can ensue. You know, conversations that happen around the festival really is the true magic.

I think you and I have probably had some conversations on a golf cart riding around and you know, that sometimes the golf carts make you say a prayer for it. That's

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: bouncing all over the place.

Tim Kerr: right. We'll call it prayer by being precatory prayer.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: You can have full body prayer. There's movement and prayer. I have, I have seen that and experienced it myself. Wonderful. this year the theme is called engage, correct? 

Tim Kerr: We've always hoped for just that people to engage the beauty is for those that don't know, the festival is co [00:04:00] created everyone that's there from the world class the logins to a person still in seminary straight out of seminary person with no seminary training whatsoever.

Right. Submit what they want to present to the group. So everyone's a co-creator, so we engage that way. Our hope as festival staff is that we could convince people to take that back to their community with them. Take that wild goose spirit that. willingness to create conversation, the willingness to push the boundaries a little bit to, you know Jeff Clark, who's our CEO for lack of a better term.

He hates that term, but one of his sayings, it's really something that I love is, I'm not living in the world I want to die in. And, I think, all of us that gather there, we come there and, and, and gather the strength for, for such a time as this to coin a phrase that we go back in our communities and say, we do care [00:05:00] about you.

 We do see you, we do respect your dignity as a human being and, we're going be there and we're going to be a part of the beloved community. So.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: That's beautiful. I have to say that, , the word deconstruction wasn't a thing when I was going through it. Right. But I, left a tradition of, fundamentalism. And it took me, it was, it was a journey. Right. From one experience to another.

But I remember years ago when I first got connected to what folks understood as the emerging church movement, in the early two thousands. I got connected with a group of folks in the Pittsburgh area. And I learned about all of these amazing new ways that people were being the body of Christ or being spiritual communities where everybody was invited from, the trained theologians to friend on the corner.

And one of the things that captured my imagination was there's a. [00:06:00] A tattoo shop in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania called In the Blood. And this tattoo shop was an extension of PC USA outreach and hot metal bridge church which was also , a fresh expression church. And my second tattoo I got at, in the blood tattoo.

Tim Kerr: it? 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: It's a swallow and it's in the style of Sailor Jerry, which is a traditional tattoo artist, like back in the day, World War II and the swallow was often something sailors would get. I'm not a sailor. But it represents going on a journey and returning back to a sense of home. And so on my shoulder, I got this colorful swallow and it's carrying a banner that says freedom in Christ, but I had it done in Welsh because I come from a Welsh background.

Tim Kerr: Plus I, plus I wanted there to be a sense of mystery to it. You know, the people be like, What? What say? 

Tattoo [00:07:00] stories is usually a very profound conversation when people gather. Like with your swallow or whatever, let me tell you about why, how, and the meaning it has for me.

Tim Kerr: And it really starts bringing out some beauty. my wife and I we were in that same journey you were, and we didn't know we were on this journey, but, again, there was no name for it. but think you probably agree now that that journey has been taken. The beauty on the other side of that journey, the freedom, like you say, that I can now breathe into, whether it's the Holy Scriptures, whether it's other faith traditions, no longer living in fear of, oh my goodness, don't talk to those people because they'll lead you astray or as You well know it. It's a slippery slope, right? That's a shameless plug for our venue at the 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yes, it is a venue. It is a venue at the wild goose. [00:08:00] If friends you do happen to attend, we encourage you to do so and and visit the slippery slope and you get to see Tim and his crew. And I have to say, you know one of the things that I'm interested in is to come and do some conversations and storytelling around, tattoos.

Last summer I was part of the official wild goose podcast team. I would love to, you know, come back and do another live recording talking about people's stories of sacred non stuffy adventures.

Including co creators, the guest audience, you know to have that opportunity to give other folks the microphone that might not always have that opportunity to share their stories. 

Tim Kerr: That's another beautiful way to engage. The pop up podcast tent, we've tried to get off the grounds for a couple years. You know, we have the Goose Cast Tent, which is the curated All day Friday all day Saturday, we've had a pop up podcast 10 before, but it was just basically a tent sitting there [00:09:00] with a table in the chairs.

Nobody really knew about it. So, this past year. We were more intentional because of people like you, it was you there's equipment there. Our hope is for that to really take off. If you're a podcaster and you come, there's equipment there it's kind of like karaoke night.

We'll have a chalkboard. if you want to do a podcast at 2 PM, you sign up. If you want to do a podcast at 2 AM, you sign up and, like you say, there's content galore from, the Diana Butler basses, Brian McClaren's, But to the regular folks, they're just kind of wandering around that these stories are just amazing

I know you've heard hundreds of those stories, you know, that just like, oh, my goodness, the world needs to know this, the journey that this person has taken or is on or the beauty that they can share.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Something I would say to folks if they haven't attended Wild Goose is look at your, you know, digital program or [00:10:00] outline of events, and you can circle a couple things here and there, but there is no way you're going to get to all the things that you would like.

Make a loose plan, but allow space for something to surprise you and somebody to, have a conversation with somebody over coffee. You never know, that could be for some folks, they're most memorable parts of the wild goose.

I know this last summer, I made it a priority to make it to the silent disco 

Tim Kerr: right. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: And it was the first time I had that opportunity and let me tell you, if I need to think about joy or be reminded of a joyful moment, I think about that silent disco. And I think about Ms. Tina, who gave me my headphones as sweaty as I was.

Tim Kerr: get, then you see all the people flailing about and flashing lights and there's no noise other than in your headphones and you,

you choose your channel. Yep. Yep. My dear friend, Cody Burton, who [00:11:00] lives in Denver, but he's here in Jack's heading to our house right now. Matter of fact, for. a couple of days.

Silent Disco is his passion. He will be thrilled to hear that you have a magical time there.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: I did. 

Tim Kerr: One of the ads we had, I think last year, we'll use again this year, is FOMO, you know, the fear of missing out. That there's literally well over 200 things, if not more by 2 50 in the course of the weekend.

2 stories related that 1, mine and 1 of my wife's when we 1st. Started going to the festival. Of course, I was being, you know, anal me. I would have my whole day planned out, you know, this and that. A couple years in, I realized I would be having this deep, meaningful conversation with someone, and I would say, listen, I hate to run, but I have to go to this session on how to have deep, meaningful conversations with And then the cognitive dissonance finally said, what the hell, man, what are you doing? You're doing this right here. Stop, you [00:12:00] know. And so your advice is correct. Hold on loose, make a plan, but, leave room for the, Holy Spirit and the Holy shenanigans and all that to do what she does.

My wife's story is really even more beautiful. Same way she made her plans for the day, well, whatever, let's say 11 o'clock in the morning, there were two things she really wanted to do both, obviously, you can't so she picked 1 later that afternoon and evening roll back around the campsite and everybody's kind of debriefing.

Who'd you see today? What was meaningful to you? And she's like, I really wish I had went to the other one. So not too bad, blah, blah, blah. So like 1130 that night now around the campfire there's a guy sitting across the picnic table from me that for some reason look familiar.

 he was the guy that was presenting. The session that she didn't go to

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Oh, wow. Yeah.

Tim Kerr: Told him the whole story. He's like, oh, my God, I'd love to. So she literally at almost midnight. Got a one on one.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Oh, that's wonderful.

Tim Kerr: She just let the [00:13:00] thing come to her, No intentions.

It just happened. And so amazing stories like that. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: You had said earlier how it's the hope of the folks that are, hosting and cultivating wild goose is for folks to be able to continue this kind of relationship even afterwards and take it back home with them. Like even my friend Tina at the silent disco.

we had an email conversation this week. We connected through the podcast and a Lenten resource that I had to give away to folks, and, it's just so amazing that, , months later, here we are and I got to thank her. Thank you so much for, making me feel at home and welcoming me in that space.

Tim Kerr: that's the story. 1 of my closest friends. In the world lives in Detroit area. We met at the goose and try to rendezvous somewhere and spend a few days at a national park or whatever. But yeah, those connections happen, , they really do. Middle of the night you wake up with the.

Imposter syndrome and is it worth it? And am I making a difference? why are we even worrying about it? And that [00:14:00] happens, with the festival when we're struggling along and you're like, man, all this work? worth it? And then you start hearing stories and then you're like.

Yep, it's worth every second, you know, because the, important thing is, like you said, you been through that deconstruction journey and, found the other side, you found a goose, you found people that are like, you can say, oh, my God, I'm not crazy. Well, that's still happening to people 

You know, evangelical churches, they're doing horrific things to people right now in the name of Christian nationalism and there's going to be wounded people everywhere when this thing finally shakes out, those of us that have made that journey, I think we owe it, to the coming onslaught of wounded people that have been thrown in the river.

You know, it's, our job to fish them out. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: Yeah, I was thinking about being welcomed by the folks years ago in the emerging church movement and, at that particular point, I [00:15:00] remember wrestling with, you know, I don't belong over here and do I belong somewhere and, oh, maybe I should be part of making something that.

Is welcoming for all people to extend that, abundant love and grace and mercy of the divine. And here I am, many years later, and I have the opportunity with this podcast and in my vocation as a pastor to cultivate that space. And sometimes it just, blows my socks off. I had an experience just this last week where, , an individual had been talking about their grief and the different things they had experienced, unfortunately, in church world.

And there was a moment of healing that they had this past week. And it wasn't necessarily something I did, but it was just giving the space, right. and and to see them go, Oh my goodness, this was so healing for [00:16:00] me. it's almost like I'm looking back at myself, right?

Tim Kerr: yeah. think it's Brene Brown, whatever the, most comforting words in the world was like, Oh, you too, you know, in other words, I'm not the only one that feels this way, that that's fighting this battle. Making that space, like you say, that you help them to know that.

this too shall pass. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: And, to say, Oh, I validate your experience. Yes. This happened to you. this wasn't right. Yeah. That is a huge opportunity for healing. And I think this year, especially with our political climate, church climate in the world folks are really going to need that space to engage with some healing and others to just say, Hey, I see that I honor that.

And yes, your experience is real and you are a beloved.

Tim Kerr: I think for quite a few years, that's going to be our challenge. We got to keep telling each other that

I know that's right. That's what we do. The beauty of the Bible.

[00:17:00] It's a story of people in oppression. From start to finish, the stories of the oppressed people usually don't make it to the light of day. And, I take great hope in that, we need to be champions for that.

I mean, as an old white guy, I'm, you know, I'm the privileged thing. I can, you know, get away with stuff and do stuff. I, I hate that. I can't change who I am or whatever, but I feel , if I can correlate that in some way to help someone tell their story, help someone push back, help someone heal.

I'm going to do my best with what life I have left. 

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: I think that that is a very worthy cause.

Tim Kerr: yeah, thank you.

Pastor Tara Lamont Eastman: The Wild Goose Festival. It's a week of spirituality, justice, art, and music happening Labor Day weekend in Harmony, North Carolina. Listeners can find more details at www wild goose [00:18:00] festival.org. 

I am your holy shenanigans muse. Tara Lamont Eastman. Thank you so much, Tim, for joining us for Holy Shenanigans. That surprise, encourage, redirect, and turn life upside down, all in the name of love. This is an unpredictable spiritual adventure that is sacred, but never stuffy. And I'm so excited to have you along as a fellow Holy Shenanigator.

As well as those who are listening today. May you be well, may you be at peace, and may you know that you are always beloved.