The 2025 Square Halo Conference—CREATIVITY, COLLABORATION, AND COMMUNITY
March 7-8, 2025 | Lancaster, PA at The Trust Performing Arts Center
Our keynote speaker will be Diana Pavlac Glyer, editor of Square Halo’s A Compass for Deep Heaven, and author of our forthcoming Clay in the Potter’s Hands. Our concert Saturday night will feature Thomas Austin and Skye Peterson.
Matthew Dickerson writes: “The Square Halo conferences have offered times not only of fascinating and inspiring ideas in a high caliber of wide and varied presentations, but also of rich, meaningful interactions, dialogue, and (in a deep sense of this word) fellowship. Creativity, collaboration, and community was not merely a slogan in 2024, but an apt description of what took place.”
TICKETS
There are several options this year for tickets (see below). To order, click on the bold OPTION title. This will take you to one of our pages in The Neighborhood (a new online space for groups like Square Halo) where you will register. Everything is safe and confidential, and by registering you will get information you need from us as we move toward the conference.
There is a $30 restocking fee for ticket cancellations with refunds but no charge if tickets are transferred to another guest. If you have any questions about this, please email CONF@SQUAREHALOBOOKS.COM.
. . .
OPTION 0: Conference + Friday Bonus Session + Lunch Gift Ticket $255
You’re one of those wonderful people who want to buy a ticket for someone else. We do not have exact numbers yet as to how many crowns in Heaven you get for doing this, but it has to be at least several. This pass secures a spot for someone else to participate in Square Halo Conference 2025, admits them to the digital conference space where all guest choices (sessions and lunch) will be made, where all conference information and announcements will be housed, and where they are invited to participate in pre-conference conversation and community. This pass also secures their spot in our Friday Bonus Sessions from 10AM-11AM. We have some exciting offerings to be announced in the digital community very soon. They will still have time to peruse the bookstore, enjoy the gallery, and participate in our conference art-making before and after your session! Additionally, this pass secures their Saturday lunch. Gluten free, vegetarian, and regular options will be available. Meal selection will be live soon in the Square Halo Digital Conference Space.
OPTION 1: Conference + Friday Bonus Session + Lunch $255
This pass secures your participation in Square Halo Conference 2025, admits you to the digital conference space where all guest choices (sessions and lunch) will be made, where all conference information and announcements will be housed, and where you are invited to participate in pre-conference conversation and community. This pass also secures your spot in our Friday Bonus Sessions from 10AM-11AM. We have some exciting offerings to be announced in the digital community very soon. You will still have time to peruse the bookstore, enjoy the gallery, and participate in our conference art-making before and after your session! Additionally, this pass secures your Saturday lunch. Gluten free, vegetarian, and regular options will be available. Meal selection will be live soon in the Square Halo Digital Conference Space.
OPTION 2: Conference + Friday Bonus Session $240
This pass secures your participation in Square Halo Conference 2025, admits you to the digital conference space where all guest choices (sessions and lunch) will be made, where all conference information and announcements will be housed, and where you are invited to participate in pre-conference conversation and community. This pass also secures your spot in our Friday Bonus Sessions from 10AM-11AM. We have some exciting offerings to be announced in the digital community very soon. You will still have time to peruse the bookstore, enjoy the gallery, and participate in our conference art-making before and after your session! Saturday lunch is NOT included.
OPTION 3: Conference + Lunch $235
This pass secures your participation in Square Halo Conference 2025, admits you to the digital conference space where all guest choices (sessions and lunch) will be made, where all conference information and announcements will be housed, and where you are invited to participate in pre-conference conversation and community. Additionally, this pass secures your Saturday lunch. Gluten free, vegetarian, and regular options will be available. Meal selection will be live soon in the Square Halo Digital Conference Space. Friday Bonus Session is NOT included.
OPTION 4: Conference ONLY $220
This pass secures your participation in Square Halo Conference 2025, admits you to the digital conference space where all guest choices (sessions and lunch) will be made, where all conference information and announcements will be housed, and where you are invited to participate in pre-conference conversation and community. Friday Bonus Session and Saturday lunch are NOT included.
BOOK TABLE
All the Square Halo titles and more will be on site throughout the conference to pursue and purchase.
LODGING
There are rooms reserved for Square Halo at Holiday Inn Lancaster (use THIS LINK or call 717-909-2017 and mention the group block name: Square Halo Books Room Block and the group block code: SHB —the last day to reserve rooms is February 3rd. And they include complimentary parking!) and there are several other fine hotels in walking distance for the conference including the Lancaster Arts Hotel, and the Lancaster Marriott at Penn Square. There are other quality hotels in driving distance, as well as local AirB&Bs.
MORE INFO
More information about the conference will be posted to this page in the weeks to come, but for ALL the details you will want to visit “The Neighborhood.” The Neighborhood is providing our conference hospitality in their digital Pavilion so that we can provide our conference guests with a safe and private place to receive conference information, make session selections, and participate in pre-conference conversation. We know you are going to love our digital conference space in The Neighborhood!
What is The Neighborhood? It is a digital neighborhood made up of distinct buildings where creative communities gather privately. Together, Neighborhood communities value Christ, Community, and Creativity. A construction crew is currently building a home for Square Halo in The Neighborhood—so stay tuned for our Open House!
Schedule
NOTE: This schedule is subject to change, and probably will. For example, last year we had huge changes due to speakers getting sick, but we filled those sessions with some fantastic replacements.
FRIDAY
9:00—EARLY REGISTRATION
Bookstore Opens
10:00—EARLY BREAKOUT SESSIONS
Why Am I Here? Orienting To the Places We Find Ourselves | Allison Byxbe
Come experience guided journaling alongside other conference participants. Allison Byxbe will introduce you to her three favorite journal questions as a practice to navigate any place you find yourself.
The Shapes that Form Us: Artist Talk & Discussion | Quay San
—The featured artist on display in the Square Halo Gallery, and a contributor to the new book Clay in the Potter’s Hands, will be talking about his recent body of work. Join Quay in the gallery to talk studio process, unspoken influences, and the connections of faith, Beauty, and the daily life of a maker.
Lighting the Creative Beacon | Hope Kemp
—For many women, the everyday obligations of family life often overwhelm and disconnect them from their central core passion. Must women put creative endeavoring on the shelf while also raising children and keeping a home? Join Hope Newman Kemp and friends as they discuss the trials and successes that are particular and unique to women for merging artistic identity to practical life.
11:00—EARLY PREMIER PERFORMANCE
Prince of Preachers
A new one-man play about fame, criticism, and depression, seen through the lens of the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon. The play is being written and produced by Jeremiah Miller, a Lancaster actor with experience performing at the Fulton Theatre, on Broadway, and on NBC's Law & Order.
12:00—REGISTRATION OPENS
1:00—OPENING SESSION
How Then Should We Play? | Katy Bowser Hutson
—Theologians, artists, ethicists, teachers and children all have ideas about what attributes make play what it is. What is play? Does God play? How then should we play? Katy Bowser Hutson believes that God is “The Most Playful One,” and will explore how understanding play—and playing—just might help us come closer to the loving heart of God.
2:30—BREAKOUT SESSION I
Wisdom from Middle-earth: Hope and Lament in the Life, Death, and Vocation of Gandalf | Matthew Dickerson
—Careful readers of Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings will recognize a close association between Gandalf and hope—with hope being not only one of Gandalf’s chief virtues but also a gift he imparts wherever he goes. But Tolkien’s portrayal of Gandalf also reveals something somewhat more subtle: the importance of lament. And in doing so, Tolkien conveys the wisdom (which goes against much modern thought) that hope and lament are not antithetical but often stand side by side, and indeed that lament is rooted in hope.
Prince of Preachers
A new one-man play about fame, criticism, and depression, seen through the lens of the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
Songwriting Together: Modeling the Product of a Collaborative Musical Experience | Matthew Clark, Matt Wheeler, and Dan Burkholder
Two heads (or three) are better than one. A cord of three strands is not easily broken. But how do these statements apply to making music with other people? In this first of a two-part exploration of creating music in collaboration, Clark, Wheeler, and Burkholder focus on the product of collaboration by sharing an original song that they wrote together for the occasion of Square Halo Conference 2025. Through unpacking the process of how it came together and elaborating on what each member brought to the table, they will demonstrate the nuts and bolts of how musical collaboration works. Ideal for all levels of songwriters—vocational, bivocational, or amateur—or appreciators of music.
3:30—BREAKOUT SESSION II
Tom Becker
More details coming.
Osprey, Trout, and Printmaking | Matthew L. Clark
—Take a deep dive with the artist Matthew L. Clark into the art and artmaking that helped to create the new book, Birds in the Sky, Fish in the Sea.
Songwriting Together: Modeling the Process of a Collaborative Musical Experience | Matthew Clark, Matt Wheeler, and Dan Burkholder
In this second of two sessions exploring how to create music collaboratively, Clark, Wheeler, and Burkholder will focus on the process of writing a song with other people. Using the original song that they wrote together for Square Halo Conference 2025 as a pattern, each will facilitate a group of attendees as they apply the principles of collaboration in real time in a workshop environment. Each group will help shape a song in progress that one of the attendees has brought for collaborative help. Ideal for attendees who have some experience in writing songs and who are looking to improve their craft.
4:30—DINNER (on your own at local restaurants)
7:00—THE ROW HOUSE
Lost and Found | Diana Pavlac Glyer
—The author of Clay in the Potter’s Hands will offer observations about clay, grog, wheels, wedging, and the way God works miracles in our ordinary, everyday lives.
9:00—PUB NIGHT
SATURDAY
8:00—BREAKFAST
—Continental Breakfast (Square Halo Gallery)
—Goodness Tea Party | Elizabeth Wickland (Nooks)
9:00—OPENING LECTURE
Pulled and Shaped | Diana Pavlac Glyer
—The author of Clay in the Potter’s Hands will offer insights into slip, slurry, plasticity, pugging, and what it takes for us to remain strong and centered as God shapes our character.
10:30—BREAKOUT SESSION III
One of Us | A.D. Bauer
—The author of the new book, One of Us will offer insights into the radical implications of the Incarnation on our everyday lives.
Trusting God in an Age of Anxiety: What Mothers in the Bible Teach Us About Faith | Danielle Ayers Jones
—Despite the distance in time and culture, the challenges faced by ancient women in the Bible are remarkably similar to those we experience today. Walk in their sandals and discover how their encounters with God offer timeless insights on living a life of faith.
Prince of Preachers
A new one-man play about fame, criticism, and depression, seen through the lens of the life and ministry of Charles Haddon Spurgeon.
11:30—LUNCH (boxed lunches or on your own at local restaurants)
1:00—AFTERNOON LECTURE
Walk Together Children: The Risk and Reward of Collaborative Creation in African American Spirituals | Ruth Naomi Floyd
—The African American Spirituals are profound songs born out of the experiences of endurance, despair, resistance, liberation, and defiant joy. These songs provide a deep and moving insight into forging community—revealing both the immense risks and the transformative rewards of coming together to create and survive.
2:15—BREAKOUT SESSION IV
Birds, Fish, and Wonder | Matthew Dickerson and Matthew L. Clark
—In celebration of the release of their book at the conference, the two Matthews will speak about Creation, critters, collaboration, and what we learn about God through stopping and considering it all.
Shawn Smucker and Maile Silva | So, We Bought a Book Shop
—Sit in on a live recording of the new Nooks Gallery and Bookstore podcast.
Square Halo Podcast | Carey Bustard
—Sit in on a live recording of the Square Halo podcast. Carey will interview Danielle Ayers Jones about the ideas in and around the new book, With Child.
3:30—AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES (optional)
Printmaking, Discussion Groups, and fun stuff
4:30—DINNER (on your own at local restaurants)
6:30—CLOSING LECTURE
Tested and Tried | Diana Pavlac Glyer
—The author of Clay in the Potter’s Hands will share thoughts on bisqueware, glazes, kilns, cones, kintsugi, and the true truth that no matter what we face, God is never daunted.
7:30—CONCERT
Skye Peterson & Thomas Austin
CONTRIBUTORS
SPONSORS
