VIP Invite to Progressive Faith BlogCon

Over the course of the last two years I've become immersed in the progressive faith blogosphere. What I've found in that time has been an amazing group of passionate, faith inspired men and women doing some incredible blogging.

In less than one month these bloggers will have a chance to come together under one roof at the First Annual Progressive Faith Blog Con at Montclair State University Conference Center!

Scheduled for Friday, July 14 - Sunday, July 16 2006 this conference/unconference will talk about the intersection of religion, politics and technology; the diverse faith traditions we blog about; ecumenical and interfaith blogging engagement; and the challenges, blessings and opportunities present in our pluralism. There will be faith-tradition specific breakout sessions, as well as opportunities for participants to talk about justice, poverty and progressive faith activism.

The conference promises to be not only incredibly enagaging but also fun! I've had the chance to meet several of the people planning this event and also some of the people who will be facilitating the panels and break outs and I have to tell you they are some of the most interesting, fun and smart people around.

Some highlights:

Rachel Barenblat, Velveteen Rabbi

David Buckley, Faith in Public Life: Blogging Faith

Rev. Chuck Currie, Chuck Currie

Thurman Hart, Xpatriate Texan

Mata H., Time's Fool

Mik Moore, JSpot and Jewish Funds for Justice

Michelle Murrain, Pearlbear's blog

Jon Niven, State of Belief

Rev. Bruce Prescott, Mainstream Baptist

Stephen Rockwell, Crossleft.org

Emily Ronald, The Pluralism Project

Andrew Schamess, Semitism.net

Lorianne Schaub, Hoarded Ordinaries

Pastor Dan Schultz, Street Prophets

Chris Tessone, Even the Devils Believe

Chris Walton, Philocrites

Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center

Bruce Wilson, Talk 2 Action

Myself of course *smile* ...and others.

If you find yourself reading this blog and thinking, "This sounds great, I wish I could go...." please consider this your VIP invite to join us the week-end of the 14th. We would love to see you there!

To register go here.

In an effort to make this event as diverse and inclusive as possible, we are also offering scholarships to those who would like to join us but who might not have the budget to do so. These scholarships will be distributed on a first-come, first-serve basis. Priority will be given to bloggers whose travel expenses are high and who might benefit the most from the conference. To access the scholarship application form go here. Please use your discretion in choosing or not whether you should apply. If you would like to invest in these scholarships and provide another blogger with the opportunity of participating please make a small donation. If you do choose to make a contribution, please also follow that up with an email to Thurman at xpatriated_texan-at-yahoo-dot-com and let him know.

For those of you that can't be there in person, no worries there is still a way for you to be engaged! We are working on arranging live chat during the con, so those who are not with us in person can key into the conversations and share their thoughts via chat. There will undoubtedly also be folks blogging live while the conference is happening.

Looking forward to seeing you there or online!