The Albany Gazette - Reggie Watts and Shane Mauss Headline Spirituality & Beyond, Church of Ambrosia's Sixth Annual Easter Gathering in Oakland

OAKLAND, CA / ACCESS Newswire / March 27, 2026 / On the 58th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination, the Church of Ambrosia will open its sixth annual Easter gathering with a tribute to his legacy, then close three days later with comedian and musician Reggie Watts headlining Easter Sunday alongside members of the world's largest psychedelic church.

Spirituality & Beyond returns April 3-5 at Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland. This is not a conference. It is a landmark psychedelic event: three days of talks, ceremony, music, comedy, and conversation at the intersection of psychedelic culture, spirituality, harm reduction, and social justice.

Reggie Watts headlines Easter Sunday in conversation with Monica Cadena. Shane Mauss joins Pastor Dave Hodges on Saturday for a headliner dialogue on high-dose exploration and the Hero's Journey, then performs his psychedelic comedy show TRIPS: Third Dose that evening.

New additions to the 2026 lineup include Oakland rapper Mistah F.A.B. and Mama Ayanna Mashama of Black August, who open Saturday's main stage with "Honoring Legacies," a tribute to Dr. King on the anniversary of his transcendence. Bia Labate, founder of the Chacruna Institute, joins the Saturday Indigenous-led panel alongside George Txana Wukong Cheng, Winter Jendayi, Lizette Ohxochitl, and Rodolfo Sadhaña. Jessa Hurst of the Zendo Project brings lessons from large-scale harm reduction work at Burning Man. Reggie Harris, mycologist and founder of Oakland Hyphae, serves as Main Stage Master of Ceremonies.

"Every year Easter falls on something we wouldn't have predicted," said Pastor Dave Hodges. "Last year it was 4/20. This year, we open on the anniversary of Dr. King's passing. We have Mistah F.A.B. opening the main stage, Bia Labate on the Indigenous panel, Mitchell Gomez and I on Easter Sunday with a talk on his new organization, the Temple of Harm Reduction. Six years in, this community keeps showing me what it wants to build."

Pastor Dave delivers his annual Easter Sermon on Sunday, April 5.

The opening ceremony on Friday, April 3, is presented in collaboration with Solestial Church. The weekend also features an Indigenous-centered market and creative makerspace curated by Xochitl Bernadette Moreno throughout both main gathering days.

Pastor Dave founded the Church of Ambrosia and Zide Door in Oakland. With more than 137,000 members, it is the world's largest psychedelic church and a pioneering advocate for religious freedom and the legal right to entheogenic sacramental practice. He has been featured in Forbes, the San Francisco Chronicle, and Newsweek.

The church has also taken a national lead in exposing unsafe practices in the industry, including the proliferation of synthetic chemicals sold as psychedelic candy bars at gas stations, smoke shops, and online: products linked to 180+ poisonings, 73 hospitalizations, and three deaths. Full coverage: ambrosia.church/gas-station-mushrooms

Weekend Snapshot

Friday, April 3: Opening Ceremony
The anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s transcendence. Opening ceremony in collaboration with Solestial Church, a Bay Area community of healers, artists, and activists.

Saturday, April 4: The Gathering, Day One
Doors open at 10am.

• Opening the Main Stage: Mistah F.A.B. and Mama Ayanna Mashama of Black August: "Honoring Legacies," a tribute to Dr. King and the revolutionary lineage that still shapes this community

• Lab Potency: a discussion on dosage culture, potency testing, and what we get wrong about gauging transformation

• Indigenous-led panel: plant allies, ancestral wisdom, and the intersection of ceremony and intention

• "God Sitters": a candid panel on holding space for people in the deepest territory of psychedelic experience

• "Lessons from the Playa": Jessica Hurst of the Zendo Project on harm reduction at scale, and what Burning Man has taught us about community care

• The Headliner Conversation: Pastor Dave Hodges and Shane Mauss, "The Hero's Journey & Beyond"

Throughout the event, the Backyard Community Stage hosts open programming, music, and workshops. The Indigenous-centered market and creative makerspace, curated by Xochitl Bernadette Moreno, runs all weekend.

Saturday Evening: Shane Mauss performs TRIPS: Third Dose at 8pm. Separate tickets required.

Easter Sunday, April 5
Doors open at 11am.

• Pastor Dave Hodges and Mitchell Gomez on high-dose realities and the Temple of Harm Reduction

• The Easter Sermon: Pastor Dave's annual sermon to the community

• "Sisters in Psychedelics": Xochitl Bernadette Moreno, Dayana Monica, and Mutuma on women's voices, leadership, and community in the psychedelic movement

• "Community Organizing": building conscious community, social justice, and what psychedelic culture has to offer the broader movement for liberation

• The Headliner: Reggie Watts in conversation with Monica Cadena on creativity, culture, and consciousness

The event closes at 5:30pm.

Featured Voices

Reggie Watts: Internationally renowned musician, comedian, and improvisational creative force, best known as the bandleader on The Late Late Show with James Corden. The New York Times called him "the most influential absurdist in comedy today." His Netflix special Spatial received critical acclaim. His memoir Great Falls, MT was published by Penguin.

Shane Mauss: Award-winning comedian and science communicator. Host of the Here We Are podcast, featuring more than 400 conversations with scientists. His MAPS-sponsored solo tour A Good Trip brought cutting-edge psychedelic research into mainstream comedy venues. His new special TRIPS: First Dose, filmed at Meow Wolf in Denver with 360-degree visuals from 20 psychedelic artists, premiered spring 2026.

Pastor Dave Hodges: Founder of the Church of Ambrosia and Zide Door in Oakland. Featured in Forbes, the SF Chronicle, and Newsweek.

Monica Cadena: Known as @sacred.alchemist, Monica is an Afro-Indigenous psychedelic writer, plant medicine advocate, and digital alchemist based in Oakland. Co-founder of Wear Your Voice Magazine. Contributor to Lucid News and DoubleBlind Magazine.

Mistah F.A.B. + Mama Ayanna Mashama: Oakland rap icon Mistah F.A.B. and Mama Ayanna Mashama are leaders in Oakland's hip-hop and Black August communities, with deep roots in social justice organizing and cultural memory.

The Setting

Humanist Hall, 390 27th St., Oakland, CA.
BART: 19th Street station, 0.5 miles.

Tickets:

• Friday: $20

• Saturday: $40

• Sunday: $40

• Saturday + Sunday combo: $70

• Three-day (Friday-Sunday): $80

Tickets: luma.com/wemhukuo

TRIPS: Third Dose (Shane Mauss, Saturday 8pm): $39.19
Tickets: eventbrite.com/e/shane-mauss-trips-third-dose-tickets-1983596081276

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About the Church of Ambrosia
The Church of Ambrosia, founded by Pastor Dave Hodges, is the world's largest psychedelic church with more than 137,000 members. Based in Oakland, California, the church advocates for religious liberty and the right of its members to use entheogenic sacraments as part of their spiritual practice. The church's physical home, Zide Door, is a community gathering space where members can acquire sacrament. ambrosia.church

About Spirituality & Beyond
Spirituality & Beyond is an annual three-day gathering held each Easter weekend in Oakland, California, hosted by the Church of Ambrosia. Now in its sixth year, it brings together practitioners, thinkers, artists, and community members at the intersection of psychedelic culture, spirituality, harm reduction, and social justice. Past programming is archived on YouTube. ambrosia.church/spirituality-beyond

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563833445406
Instagram: @ChurchOfAmbrosia
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ChurchofAmbrosia

CONTACT:
Loretta Kalb
PRxDigital.com
Email [email protected]
Text: 916 835-4043

SOURCE: Church of Ambrosia

View the original press release on ACCESS Newswire

(T.Brown--TAG)