American Cookies! and Greenbelt

I love this. One of the food booths from the Greenbelt Festival. I didn't take many photos at the Greenbelt Festival because a lot of the time was spent in talks and prayer, which didn't seem like a place to be photographing. The Greenbelt Festival is a Christian festival that takes place outside of Chelthenem. The festival had its highlights... two of which were the fantastic vegetarian savory pies and the hemp clothes booth (excellent!) but I was disappointed that there wasn't more chance for conversations between people about what Jesus is doing in their lives and more testimonies or preaching.

There is a real call for a place where people can feel safe and connected to God; the meditation tent as well as the meditation floor were packed for most of the weekend as people gathered together in prayer. That was my favorite bit of festival life. That, and the fact that we pre-booked our showers (you camp when you go to festivals) so we didn't have to wait in line! Most excellent.

I also enjoyed running into friends from Christchurch (Chester) who were volunteering or attending the festival. Tim and I came across a band called Hope and Social and they were definitely worth a listen. They did a pretty fantastic cover of Paul Simon mixed into one of their songs. I don't suppose they can put that on their albums, so I recommend seeing them live if you can.

Another highlight was hearing a talk by Pastor Nadia Boltz-Weber on Preaching. She represented ELCA Lutherans well and her talk not only illuminated the process of preaching, but also shared her personal story and relationship to the Gospel and to Jesus Christ. I appreciate the honesty and vulnerability with which she speaks. I have met her a few times before at PLTS and it was nice to run into her in this other context where she was a familiar face and one of the few fellow Lutherans at the Festival.