I'm blogging from my hotel room in Charlotte after the first session of the "Everything Must Change" book tour. This is the first time I've heard Brian McLaren speak in person. He is not an overly charismatic figure, but I do love what he is doing. It seems that his goal is to wake up Evangelical Christians to the idea of progressive political views. His stump speech is very good. He also does a wonderful job of keeping the conversation out of the "left vs. right" and "democrat vs. republican" mode. Obviously, it IS about being progressive and that means being democrat on most issues, but he frames the discussion without making specific party statements. So many young people are completely turned off by politics. Brian is a master of connecting the dots for people who have yet to see the connections. There isn't much "new" here, but I'm sure it will be new to some. It is the right message at the right time.

There was some interesting music and art presented. Evangelicals can't talk without singing coombiyah a few times and praying first, so this was no different. I wasn't particularly impressed with the trimmings, but only because trimmings not are my "bag". After the first session, we had some small group discussions. Holly Rankin Zaher lead our group in a discussion about anti-consumerism. I know Holly's sister from way back, so it was good to meet her. She has made some amazing changes in her life including using many homemade products, using only vinegar and water to clean instead of chemical cleaners, and no longer shopping at big box stores like Wal-Mart. We had a good discussion even if it was cut short. I hope tomorrow will allow more time to get connected. There seems to be an eclectic group here this weekend.