Can we talk?
So, you’re interested, but a conference? Really? I know what you’re thinking. I’ve 
done my time at “church” conferences and academic show-and-tells. Most of those events leave me glancing at the clock, to understate things a bit. It seems at so many festivals, conferences, and seminars the goal is to talk the audience into submission and to tie the event up in a nice marketable knot. In short, there’s an agenda, a product to be sold, kool-aid to drink, a condo to rent in Florida, but that’s not what you’ll find at Matter ‘09. I haven’t been to Florida in years.
Our guiding principle is to create a space for conversation. It’s not often that artists, theologians, philosophers, educators, clergy, and those of us who find ourselves somehow between the labels can all get together and revel in discussion. Methodist ministers and post-modern philosophers, mystical poets and Episcopal seminarians, cynics and idealists, teachers and playwrights, the faithful and the skeptical, it’s sure to be a diverse group of people sitting down together for a weekend. We’re not all going to agree, but then, it wouldn’t be any fun if we did.
Throughout the weekend, there will be presentations from a wide variety of perspectives, a premier play by up-and-coming playwright Joseph Frost of Jackson, Mississippi (watch this site for more details to come soon), a concert by Bill Mallonee & Vigilantes of Love (a songwriter who’s been there and back again and has more than a few stories to tell), keynote discussions by noted author and speaker Peter Rollins (a guy who stands firmly at the intersection of faith, the arts, and philosophy), interactive art installations, poetry readings, photographic displays, and more we haven’t announced yet.
What is it that a graphics designer and a filmmaker can teach a theologian? How many ways can a philosopher influence a down-in-the-trenches pastor? Not the type to relish that much discussion? Great. There’s a place for you too. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the show. Matter ‘09 is surely not going to be your typical conference. Grab a cup of coffee before the morning session with someone you never thought you’d talk with, and later, find out what happens when a Episcopal priest, an playwright, a Baptist pastor, and a philosopher walk into a bar.
