Meet our Wayfare Festival breakout speakers!

Learn with George Handley, Jeff Strong, Rebbie Brassfield, James Goldberg, Darlene Young, Brian Kershisnik, and more

Jun 04, 2026

This year we’re bringing 13 special breakout sessions to the Wayfare summer festival! These will be intimate, interactive opportunities to learn together with some of our tradition’s brightest and most expansive thinkers. Find the session descriptions below!

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Friends of Faith Matters get a 20% discount on all events—find your exclusive discount code here!

GEORGE HANDLEY

If God So Loved the World, Why Shouldn’t We? This breakout session will be devoted to understanding the importance of civic engagement and care for this world in the Restored Gospel. Our objective is to help you understand the benefits and blessings of LDS experience and how they might be extended beyond the walls of church to meet the considerable challenges of our time. You will be invited to find your path to more principled, informed, and civil engagement on issues that confront society today.

JEFF STRONG

Why are so many Latter-day Saints wrestling with faith, belonging, and connection to the Church? In a candid conversation based on research, personal experience, and insights from Torn, we’ll explore what is happening, why it matters, and how we can better understand and support those we love. The conversation will be followed by an extended Q&A.

KATHRYN KNIGHT SONNTAG

The Great Turning: Awakening to the Sacredness of the Earth. As John Philip Newell says, “We live in a threshold moment. We are waking up to the earth again. We are awakening to the feminine and the desire to faithfully tend the interrelationship of all things.” The Great Turning is a term popularized by eco-philosopher Joanna Macy and systems thinker David Korten to describe this threshold—the essential, ongoing global shift from a destructive, extractive Industrial Growth Society to a life-sustaining, regenerative civilization. It refers to a shifting consciousness, a cultural and spiritual awakening that recognizes human interconnectedness with all of nature. Join me as we reflect on the words of John Philip Newell, write, and share on this threshold moment in which we find ourselves.

JAMES GOLDBERG

Creative Reading, Creative Writing. Religions consistently teach that there is more to things than their surface appearance. In this workshop, we’ll start with an exercise in creative reading, visiting a text to identify multiple layers. We’ll follow that with an exercise in creative writing, visiting an experience to identify multiple layers. These exercises will give participants repeatable techniques for slowing and intensifying their attention.

J.B. HAWS & TYLER JOHNSON

Richard Bushman’s Two Poles: Boston and Salt Lake City. Richard Bushman told his college classmates—on the occasion of their 25th class anniversary—that his life had oscillated between two poles, Boston and Utah. In this session, J.B. Haws and Tyler Johnson will explore Bushman’s dual citizen-type life and his efforts to bridge different worldviews. What might stand out most, with all of the dualities he faced in his life, is the way Bushman has advocated for—and lived out—a kind of integrity that has made him the historian and mentor and disciple that he is.

BRIAN KERSHISNIK

Harvesting from chaos. Almost every religion has a creation mythology where the deity creates everything from chaos. Then we spend our energy trying to fight, avoid, or contain chaos, but apparently that’s where all the good stuff is. The artist Brian Kershisnik will lead a discussion on various life/art practices and methods of observation that help us to dance with, and harvest from, and not be consumed by, chaos.

REBBIE BRASSFIELD & CONOR HILTON

Coming soon to a breakout session near you, a lively, wide-ranging exploration of the intersections of pop culture and Mormonism featuring Rebbie Brassfield and Conor Hilton. Stay tuned for more tantalizing teases of what exactly this dynamic duo has in store for you!

JESIKA HARMON

In this session, Jesika will teach participants how meditation can drastically improve their connection with self, with God, and their Christian discipleship, through guided experience, instruction, and discussion.

HAYMITCH ST. STEPHEN

The Tree of Perception is an immersive, contemplative experience, designed to challenge the way we see, hear, feel, and live. By anchoring awareness on what appears to be a tree of mysterious origins and considering that what we see/hear/feel is not what we thought it was, we can deconstruct our self-centered programs for happiness, open ourselves to wonder, and learn to express beautiful, loving creativity. Jesus repeatedly told his followers to hear, look, or see differently. The Tree of Perception is a space to practice embodying that invitation.

DARLENE YOUNG

Poetry Writing as Archetype: How the Adventure of Writing a Poem Is Like the Adventure of Living in Faith. Committing to the process of creation is a lot like committing to a life of faith. In this section we will examine the creative process as a metaphor for the experience of a life of discipleship when we can’t know all the answers. How does one begin without a clear end in sight? How and why should we strive for authenticity, consider how we frame things, allow for space, and revise ourselves? Together we will walk through the artistic process and “liken” it to a faithful walk through life.

MICHAEL & ERIN ALLEN

Michael and Erin will be facilitating a Christ-centered, holotropic-style breathwork session consisting of deep cyclical breathing with inspiring music. Breath in many traditions and languages – including Hebrew, Aramaic, and Greek – is synonymous with spirit, wind, energy, and life-force. It is seen as the means not only to regulate the nervous system, but to experience higher states of consciousness, self-realization, and union with the Divine. Participants may experience tingling sensations in the body, processing and releasing of suppressed or repressed mental and emotional blocks, clarity in vision and purpose, and increased spiritual awareness and connection. David O. McKay said, “Meditation is the language of the soul. Meditation is a form of prayer... Meditation is one of the most secret, most sacred doors through which we pass into the presence of the Lord.”

MEGHAN FARNER

The Inner Marriage: Healing Masculine and Feminine Energies for Deeper Spiritual and Relational Connection. What if many of our struggles — spiritually, emotionally, and relationally — stem from ignorance of the deeper laws of creation written into the soul itself? In this collaborative breakout experience, we’ll explore masculine and feminine energy as sacred and eternal forces woven into human transformation. Together, we’ll discuss the eternal law of polarity, healing wounded expressions of these energies, and how polarity influences spiritual growth and partnership. Blending teaching, reflection, and group discussion, this session invites participants into a more whole, grounded, and conscious way of relating to themselves, others, and our Heavenly Parents.

JON OGDEN

Envisioning a Community on Fire. Religious life at times feels dead. Hymns sung half-heartedly, talks without soul, lessons void of verve. How can we collectively and individually spark a living fire inside and outside of traditional structures? What’s working? What’s not working? What new ways of being can we envision? Come share your stories with fellow festival attendees, meet each other, and map a new world together.

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GENERAL SESSION SPEAKERS

You're invited to the Wayfare Summer Festival!

May 22

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FULL AGENDA

SATURDAY JULY 11TH

8:15am Doors Open
9:00am Welcome: Rachel Jardine
9:10am Musical Performance
9:15am Invocation
9:20am Poetry Reading: Kathryn Knight Sonntag
9:25am Keynote Address: Luke Burgis on Becoming a Person
9:50am Conversation: Luke Burgis and Zachary Davis
10:10am Story: Mallory Everton
10:25am Break
11:15am Presentation: Thomas McConkie on Attentional Resilience
12:00pm Lunch Break (Catered)
1:15pm Breakout Session 1 (choose one)
- George Handley
- Kathryn Knight Sonntag
- Jeff Strong
- Jesika Harmon
- Haymitch St. Stephen
- Darlene Young
- Rebbie Brassfield & Conor Hilton
2:15 Break
2:20 Breakout Session 2 (choose one)
- James Goldberg
- JB Haws & Tyler Johnson
- Brian Kershisnik
- Meghan Farner
- Michael & Erin Allen
- Jon Ogden
3:20 Break
3:35 Musical Performance
3:40 Session: Mormon Utopias
- 3:40pm Elle Griffin
- 3:50pm Kristine Haglund
- 4:00pm Conversation and Q&A
4:30pm Poetry Reading
4:35pm Closing Address: Zachary Davis on a Latter-day Renaissance
4:50pm Prayer
4:55pm Musical Performance

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TESTIMONIALS

“The Wayfare Festival was an incredibly inspirational experience. I loved being able to meet some of my favorite writers in such an intimate setting. I had so many good conversations!” —Jenna N.

“I love Wayfare and Faith Matters and it was a blessing to gather together with others who love them too.” —Chris L.