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Wild Goose People
We are a community creating a festival at the intersection of justice, spirituality and art. The first festival took place in June 2011; the next one is June 21-24 2012. We take inspiration from many places, such as Greenbelt, Burning Man, the Iona Community, SXSW, and others. The festival is open to everyone; we don’t censor what can be said; we invite respectful - but fearless - conversation and action for the common good.
The Wild Goose is a Celtic spirituality metaphor that evokes unpredictability, beauty, and grace. The festival resonates with this image because we recognize that in the current climate of religious and political division and lack of civility, embracing the creative and open nature of our faith is perhaps our greatest asset for re-building and strengthening our relationships with each other, with our enemies, with our stories, our questions, and the other. In that spirit, in an informal setting, and in the context of creative and respectful relationships, we invite you to imagine a new world with us.
About Us » Wild Goose People
Wild Goose Board
Mike King: President
Mike is in his 36th year in youth ministry and serves as President/CEO of Youthfront. Youthfront is a community committed to creating holistic, missional environments for Christian formation. Mike also serves as the Executive Editor ofImmerse: A Journal of Faith, Life and Youth Ministry, is an Elder in his church – Jacob’s Well, serves on several boards, including Chairman of The Wild Goose Festival, and is an adjunct Professor at Nazarene Theological Seminary in Kansas City. His current book is Presence Centered Youth Ministry: Guiding Students into Spiritual Formation (InterVarsity Press). Mike and his wife, Vicki, live in Kansas City, Missouri. They have two sons, a daughter, a daughter-in-law, a son-in-law and a granddaughter.
Karla Yaconelli: Board Member
Karla’s background encompasses ministry, business, publishing, and the arts. As a University dance major with extensive training in classical ballet, Karla owned and operated The Upstairs Studio, Ballet Northwest, and was co-owner/operator of The Dance Factory, all located in Northern California. She was Managing Editor of The (Wittenburg) Door magazine and, as co-owner (with her late husband, Mike Yaconelli) of Youth Specialties in San Diego, CA, served as Associate Managing Editor of Publishing, Budget and Human Resources Director, CAO, and ultimately became CEO in the wake of Mike's untimely death in 2003. She has been in ministry of one form or another for the past 25 years. Now retired but ever at work on philanthropic endeavors (with a bit of writing and speaking thrown in), Karla currently serves as a lay leader of Grace Community Church in Yreka, CA, is on the board of Revolution NYC, and is a founding member of the Wild Goose Festivalboard. As a Greenbelt Festival devotee since the late '80s, the Wild Goose Festival is a 20-year dream come true for her!She has five (grown) kids/step-kids, seven grand-kids, and lives part-time in each Yreka and San Diego, CA, with her husband, Ralph Diaz, two small dogs, and three not-so-small cats.
Ian Cron: Board Member
Ian Morgan Cron is a speaker, retreat leader, Episcopal priest and
author (Chasing Francis: A Pilgrim’s Tale, Jesus My Father, the CIA,
and Me…A Memoir of Sorts). He and his wife Anne have three children
and live in Tennessee. Visit his website at www.iancron.com.
Joy Wallis: Board Member
Joy is known as a preacher, writer and as one of the first women to be ordained as a priest in England, and the youngest elected clergy member of the General Synod. As a priest she has spoken on behalf of women and others marginalized by church and society. Her ministry in inner-city parishes has embraced the poor, homeless, mentally ill, families and the elderly. Her experiences as a priest became the inspiration behind the hit BBC situational comedy, “The Vicar of Dibley” starring Dawn French. Joy now lives in Washington D.C. with her husband, Jim Wallis, and her two children, Luke and Jack.
Melvin Bray: Board Member
Melvin Bray is a devoted husband, committed father, learner, teacher, writer, storyteller, lover of people, connoisseur of creativity, seeker of justice, and believer in possibilities. As founder of Kid Cultivators, he lives, loves, and dreams with friends in Atlanta, Georgia.
Wild Goose Staff
Gareth Higgins: Executive Director
Wild Goose Festival Executive Director is a writer and activist from Northern Ireland, now living in North Carolina. Having been involved in Greenbelt, the inspiration for Wild Goose, for several years, he's excited to be part of the team nurturing into being this new gathering of music, art and conversation at the intersection of justice and spirituality. He blogs at www.godisnotelsewhere.wordpress.com, and co-presents the award winning movie podcast www.thefilmtalk.com.
Jacob Kuntz: Operations Coordinator
With a background as an educator and project facilitator Jacob Kuntz, the Operations Coordinator for the Wild Goose Festival, has been involved in building education for reconciliation programs in Israel/Palestine, Northern Ireland and between Native and Non-Native youth in his home state of Montana. His interests include building both physical and technological spaces for engaged inter-cultural dialogue. He is excited to be included in the engaged with the always-entertaining Wild Goose team!
Sarah Cunningham: Head of Communications
Sarah is an author with a background in education and event production. She has written and edited several books and been teamed with meaningful organizations like STORY, People of the Second Chance and Wild Goose. Sarah's long-running interest in urban studies has lead her to live in a homeless shelter in Chicago, lead disaster relief at Ground Zero following the 911 attacks and teach at-risk teens for 9 years. She blogs about brotherhood, writing and bringing people together around good at sarahcunningham.org.
Mike Morrell: Sponsor Relations and Social Networking
Mike is a journalist, editor, and Technorati Top 100 Blogger on Living and Religion. He's a Graduate Fellow in Emergent Studies, M.A. in in the Strategic Foresight program at Regent University. Mike's background is in publicity, working with authors and publishers to get their ideas in front of the best readership possible. He loves working with the Wild Goose Festival, talking to contributors, nonprofit organizations, churches, and campuses nationwide to help make our inaugural festival a singular gathering of deep collaboration on uncommon ground.
Angie Stanley: Administrative Associate
Angie Stanley works in the home office of Wild Goose as our administrative associate. She is new to the Friends of Wild Goose but looking very forward to the Wild Goose Festival 2012 and the many open discussions that will come. She has recently moved back to her home city with her husband and four children after six years in downtown Kansas City where they started an inner-city youth ministry that continues today.
Tamara Feightner: Volunteer Coordinator
As the Volunteer Coordinator, Tamara hopes to usher in the spirit of hospitality at the Wild Goose. She has a varied background with ministries and organizations. Tamara is a Licensed Professional Counselor, Certified Grief Recovery Specialist, an unintentional business owner, a former Starbucks Barista, and is currently a house parent at a non-profit boy's academy in Savannah, GA. She has worn many hats including being a volunteer in several churches and communities, so she is committed to making the volunteer experience rich and rewarding.
Todd Fadel: Music Curator
Based in Portland, OR, Todd and his family helped birth pioneering US alt-worship community, The Bridge, in 1998. There, he and his wife, Angie, currently co-ordinates jalopy-gospel, arts/music collective AGENTS OF FUTURE. His creative endeavors have landed him opportunities to play piano for a grade-school choir at a recent MLK day celebration, sing the national anthem at a roller derby and lead communion for 15,000 Greenbelt festivalgoers in the UK. His thoughts on play, visions for inclusive community and collaborative papercraft-ephemera can be found on loveisconcrete.com.