I'm back from my second annual trip to the January Adventure in St. Simons Island. This year showcased two lectures by two wonderful authors:

"Beyond Literalism: The Bible and the Church Today" by Marcus Borg

"Reclaiming the Language of Faith" by Barbara Brown Taylor

I enjoyed the them both. It was the first time I had heard Barbara speak and she didn't disappoint. Marcus Borg was solid and informative as always. He always seems to give me the words I need to express my own sense of faith. One of the most interesting things to see at this conference was the wide range of Christian denominations that were represented. It was fun to spend 3 days in conversation with a wide variety of people from around the nation as we discussed both our desire to hang onto the language of faith and our need to look past the common literalistic views of scripture that seem to be the norm in popular Christianity.

An unexpected surprise was that we were treated to a bonus lecture by Dominic Crossan. I had read his books and seen him on many TV specials, but never heard him speak in person. It was fascinating. He holds a wealth of knowledge about the historical Jesus and the culture that surrounded him in the 1st century.