Consumerism conference

Thank you to Brother Rob for drawing my attention to this: There is a conference, scheduled for April of next year, that will deal with a Christian understanding of and response to consumerism. Check out the website: http://www.consumer-culture.org/. The conference will be in Minneapolis, so it's another golden opportunity for those of us who occasionally exchange insights to meet face-to-face and trade wisdom over cups of Starbucks or glasses of Summit (a local brewer of some note).

I know the work of Rodney Clapp and Ron Sider, who are two of the main presenters. They are terrific writers (I can't speak for their speaking), and they'll present interesting stuff, I bet.

I've already put it on my calendar (at $85, I'm registering early), even though it comes but a month before the annual conference of the Center for Catholic and Evangelical Theology (about which you may expect to hear/see more when the brochure is finalized).

I hope this excerpt from the abstract of the conference sparks your interest:

Consumerism is the driving force in our society—a spirit of our age. It is
enmeshed within the fabric of our society. There are many critics to
consumerism—those who are rightly concerned about the destructiveness of
consumerism when it comes to economic justice or environmental issues. However,
consumerism also reaches deep into the heart of American spirituality.
Consumerism shapes the way we relate to each other, to our society, and to our
God. Christians need to intentionally and carefully navigate our consumer
culture, responding to its dangerous complexities with a deepening awareness of
its promises and perils. The Conference on Christianity and the Consumer Culture
will be both informative, fostering a deeper understanding of consumerism and
its role within our society, as well as formative, providing strategies for
faithful living in light of the promises and perils inherent to our consumer
culture.