It's always darkest just before it goes pitch black

Camp is less than a week away. Bo is calling in from the camper in his Idaho driveway, unshowered after a few days of replacing floors, and announcing that Jesus might be our only hope. As the guy with the high Christology, I'm going to enjoy reminding him of that. I tried out some of my camp talk material on him: "softcore idolatry," a list of the habits mainline churches use to accommodate the status quo, and some branding options for the gap in the creed between "born of a virgin" and "suffered under Pontius Pilate." Then we got to your questions: voting as prayer, political despair, what's worth keeping, and whether Jesus was an apocalyptic prophet. Along the way we may have invented a new segment: process exegesis of '90s CCM songs.

You can WATCH the conversation on YouTube

What's actually happening at camp this year

No normal talks. Everything is a conversation, structured, with the books read ahead of time. Cornel West and Gary Dorrien — lifelong friends, literal next-door neighbors — on the life and legacy of James Cone, hosted by Adam Clark, who was Cone's student. Bill Leonard and Diana Butler Bass on the history of religious dissent in America. Sarah Heath with Kristin Kobes Du Mez on Live Laugh Love. Bo hosting Stacey Floyd-Thomas and Craig Boyd on the seven deadly sins, virtue ethics, and American culture — the one Tripp wanted so badly he mailed Bo both books and an extensive guide. Ilia Delio. James McGrath. The Bible Divas recording live. TBC 26 FM, the main stage, broadcasting from an apocalyptic wasteland.

Plus: ⁠the faction sorting survey (the Godpodcalypse)⁠, a physical passport with prompts and stamps and prizes — built by introverts, for introverts, so you have permission to walk up to the theologian you came to meet — a slushie machine, the opening-night '80s prom in the Upside Down with Trey Pearson DJing karaoke, and more taps than ever, including a dedicated gluten-free line, non-alcoholic beer, hop water, and nightly mocktails. Vine Street, KC Bier, Casual Animal, Martin City, Cervecería, River Bluff, Stranger Days, Urban Chestnut, Cinder Block, Torn Label, and more.

⁠In-person is sold out. Get the online ticket.⁠

The Bring Your Own Beer edition streams two stages live for every session block, so you can pick your track in real time — including Bo's seven-deadly-sins conversation on the live podcast stage. Everything else gets recorded, and you get all of it on replay. Same conversati