Through the life and writings of Will D. Campbell, there is a reoccurring theme of community and the need for conversation, especially across groups with different beliefs and perspectives. In many of his books, there is a focus on conversations between the author and the reader or between characters.

The biblical passage that “where two or three are gathered” comes up repeatedly in his writing and is often posed as an opening to inquire whether a community can grow too large to have meaningful conversations and make meaningful impact in the world. It's also at the heart of the unofficial trilogy he wrote, "The Glad River," "Cecilia's Sin," and "The Convention." These three books have a conversation with one another about community, why it matters, how it works best and where and how a group of people can have the greatest impact.

Brett Harris is the speaker for "Where Two or Three are Gathered: Reconsidering Community and Conversation with Will D. Campbell."

Harris is an ordained Baptist pastor and creator of the podcast "God Knows Where" whose trajectory shares much in common with Campbell. Both were born in Mississippi, educated at Wake Forest University, had roughly similar tenures on university campuses in Mississippi and as pastors of local congregations. During his time at The University of Southern Mississippi (2015-2018), Harris was the director of the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute.

While there, he introduced his students to Campbell through his work and the collection of his papers held at McCain Library. Harris also works in communication and development with the Alliance of Baptists, a fellowship of progressive congregations and people of faith formed by a tradition of dissent and historic Baptist freedoms, which Campbell wrote about extensively.

This event is sponsored by University Libraries with funding from the Mississippi Humanities Council.