The New Conspirators

I mentioned earlier about the "new conspirators" movement. Here is a FYI for more, particularly for those out on the west coast I imagine And read on for excellent links:

The New Conspirators: What in the world is God doing?
Join us at Bethany Community Church in Seattle, WA,
on February 28, 29 and March 1, 2008 and find out.
For more information visit: thenewconspirators.wordpress.com
REGISTER online at: thenewconspirators.eventbrite.com
Join new friends at a festival of imagination to communicate, create and connect to what God is doing through this quiet conspiracy. Click to read on.


Another Conference...So What's Different?
by Tom Sine, Mustard Seed Associates In the last few weeks, several people have asked me, "What's different about The New Conspirators conference?" It is a fair questions. One might be tempted to think it will be exactly like all the other emerging church conferences that are happening now. Let me try to explain some elements of our conference that we hope are not only new, but valued by those that come to this gathering on February 28, 29 and March 1 at Bethany Community Church here in Seattle.Distinctive 1: Hearing from four streams instead of oneDistinctive 2: Bringing new expressions and established congregations togetherDistinctive 3: Exploring questions important for the entire churchDistinctive 4: Taking the future of God seriouslyDistinctive 5: Taking the future of the world seriouslyDistinctive 6: Taking our imaginations seriouslyDistinctive 7: Taking connections seriouslyClick here to read more about the distinctive characteristics of The New Conspirators.

Practicing Our Values
by Christine Sine, Mustard Seed Associates"One of the greatest challenges we always face as we start to plan a conference is how to convey the kingdom values that are central to who we are at Mustard Seed Associates. I teach a class on urban ministry and cross-cultural adaptation, and one of the questions I like to ask is: 'What will the culture of the kingdom of God look like?' Most of us have no idea. I believe that God's love and compassion, justice for the poor, concern for those at the margins, freedom from oppression and good stewardship of God's creation will be at the center of God's kingdom. Many people will probably get a shock when they enter the kingdom because it will be a real cross-cultural experience for them."It is the vision of this 'shalom kingdom' that is at the center of all we are and do at Mustard Seed Associates, in which God's eternal family from every tribe and nation--rich and poor, young and old--live together in the midst of a restored creation in harmony, mutual care and peace, not just with God but will all who are part of God's international community."Read more about how we hope to practice our values at the conference here.
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Liturgy: The Breviary--Week 1, Tuesday Evening
from Missio Dei, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1wIt1p7M8VE7FKj7LfhyQqF0MG3o-1Xr7m0UDnyyrPjwwfZWk9Y_QZkSEXuhlBt46Mn5zMkHd--cN48VZB68rYDQmVHhiWNDbcuBXXuAdFKXA==Call to PraiseAfter a time of reflective silence, proclaim:"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind." This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: "Love your neighbor as yourself." All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.Psalm 15A psalm of David.LORD, who may dwell in your sanctuary?Who may live on your holy mountain?Those whose walk is blameless,who do what is righteous,who speak the truth from their hearts;who have no slander on their tongues,who do their neighbors no wrong,who cast no slur on others;who despise those whose ways are vilebut honor whoever fears the LORD;who keep their oaths even when it hurts;who lend money to the poor without interestand do not accept bribes against the innocent.Whoever does these thingswill never be shaken.To read the whole Tuesday Evening liturgy, click here.For information on The Breviary from Missio Dei, click here.
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Seed Share: Presenter Profiles
We are assembling a group of speakers and presenters that represent a broad spectrum of young leaders from the four streams doing the work of the kingdom. Below are profiles of three presenters from Seattle with different passions and interests who will be sharing about God's work in and through them at The New Conspirators conference.Lisa Domke, PC(USA)Workshop - "2008: Do God and Politics Mix?"Come explore what faithfulness looks like in the 2008 presidential election and find creative ways to influence public policy.Click here for more information.Romanita Hairston, World VisionWorkshop - "Empowering the Young and the Poor"Romanita will share creative ways churches have become agents of empowerment and community transformation and ways your congregation can join them.Click here for more information.Bruce Bishop, Northwest Yearly Meeting of FriendsWorkshop - "Rediscovering Spirituality For New Expressions and Traditional Communities"Together we'll discuss the importance of creating space in our lives to refocus our attention on the Presence of Christ even amidst the busyness of modern living. Come explore ways to experience "holy loitering!"Click here for more information.


Seed Share: Seattle Stop, Drop and Roll
by Jonathan Neufeld, Seattle Mennonite ChurchGod is present in our communities and at work in our world. We cannot be effective as followers of Christ unless we take time to observe where God is working and learn from what God is doing. There is no better way to understand God's presence in our communities than by getting out into the streets. Therefore, you will have the opportunity to go on an urban field trip to a unique Seattle neighborhood. The urban field trip represents the very heart of The New Conspirators conference. It is the best way to observer where God's shalom kingdom is breaking into our world.Read Jonathan Neufeld's notes on this year's urban field trip.
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Seed Share: Mustard Seed vs. Mega-Church
by Eileen Hansen, Trinity Lutheran Church
"In a religious landscape that celebrates the 'mega,' Trinity Lutheran Church conceived a simple vision of smallness through its Mustard Seed ministry. We found we have a number of Christian creatives who are not a part of the core leadership want to create imaginative new missional expressions. We started this ministry because we wanted to help them unleash their imaginations to create new ways to make a difference. We also want to help other traditional churches enable their creative member to create new forms of innovative mission like some of the younger church are doing. In fact, that will be the focus of my workshop at The New Conspirators gathering."Read the whole article here.

Seed Share: The House--A New Hybrid In Seattle
by Eric Likkel, Northwest Hot House
"Churches come in all shapes and sizes. In the emerging stream of church planting, groups intentionally shape themselves for the place and people of their call."In some ways, it is like choosing the best vehicle for the journey. To reach some destinations, you fly in a large airplane. Other places are best reached on a bicycle. Most of us value the variety of vehicles available to us, and we do not imagine constructing future travel by always choosing a bicycle over an airplane, or vice versa. In fact, not only will we embrace different kinds of vehicles at different times, we are excited by the advancement of hybrids! Likewise, in reaching out to people, neighborhoods, and cities, we welcome a varity of vehicles and approaches in ministry, including hybrids. We recognize how 'necessity is the mother [and God is the Father] of invention.' You might say this is one of the driving impulses of the fresh expressions of church today."Click here to read more about The House, a hybrid congregation engaged in the Wedgewood and Ravenna neighborhoods of Seattle.

Recordings From "The Church Has Left the Building"
At our last conference, we recorded some of the speakers at workshop sessions. They are available for purchase at lulu.com if you want to refresh your memory or learn what you would be getting into by attending The New Conspirators: What in the World Is God Doing?Available recordings:
"What's In Your Wallet? Economic Policy and Poverty in America," by Romanita and Tali Hairston
"Irresistible Revolution," by Shane Claiborne
"How did an instrument of torture wind up in Madonna's cleavage?" by Mark Pierson
"REMix: Igniting Missional Discipleship Pods in British Columbia," by Mark Anderson
"Godspace: Restoring the Rhythm of Life," by Christine Sine
"Beyond the Red and Blue Pill: New Forms of Spirituality For a Postmodern World," by Gary Heard
"Reading the Bible With the Damned," by Bob Eckblad
"Taking Creation Care Seriously," by Peter Illyn
Resources: The Books, Blogs and Websites of Our Speakers
Conference InformationFor info: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1yH_hOqR87ov7oTijJQMR2XoISWOvk-5GfT4wRhNrQstKd_EuR313qD8NqsxPkd6mde1irvUs3p-L8fC11nTqu-RtvLSLrPa6V0iIVpzGdjiyz6rHviuHgiTo register: http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1wCXsuU0_EuRIMgum1N5kKUPzMqv3_x5aLAWiamekY2VidT8LDhVwQYDoM_m9CDrWvjwcgSyzr3aDHxMxBu-GA288LZVhRCpP76awTL3zO4gucA7KaXyOl8ho6OsTOvQW8=Books
Shane Claiborne, The Irresistable Revolution: Living As an Ordinary Radical (Zondervan, 2006).
Shane Claiborne, Chris Haw and friends, Jesus For President: Politics For Ordinary Radicals (Zondervan, 2008).
Efrem Smith and Phil Jackson, The Hip Hop Church (Intervarsity, 2006).
Mike Riddell, Mark Pierson and Cathy Kirkpatrick, The Prodigal Project: Journey Into the Emerging Church (SPCK, 2001).
Mark Scandrette, Soul Graffiti: Making a Life in the Way of Jesus (Jossey-Bass. 2007).
Mark Van Steenwyk ed., The Missio Dei Breviary (Missio Dei, 2007).
Lon Fendell, Jan Wood and Bruce Bishop, Practicing Discernment Together: Finding God's Way Forward in Decision Making (Barclay Press, 2007).
Tom Sine, The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time (Intervarsity, 2008).
Christine Sine, Godspace: Time For Peace in the Rhythms of Life (Barclay Press, 2006).
Christine and Tom Sine, Living On Purpose: Finding God's Best For Your Life (Baker Books, 2002).
David T. Olson, The American Church in Crisis (Zondervan, 2008).Blogs
Submergence, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1z_pymTsuMkShV-IA6QfFBjThzO2qcGHZASD9dyMwfXUs1vwjQq4xHsJgUKphjlAhOFh7yQMANkjYfVqgSu58zJ3T6TUesHubVhCJ25WnKODg==
Mustard Seed House, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1zHZKh0x0oNLRwPRyg1vmRm6bvYPiL3hCC06AOCMVw0G55ZRVSzJD14Dqe-Xyu63ZnesSyFeRUxeSEReZFDXkQArQ4QpphrKE_reBC-qslP-72dHk2Fo_Tu
Kingdom Praxis, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1yzEwxtW0sDcTAyPvDyznVRWAWtinpquVatvtpxlhLiNy_jpZ1h-OUBaqfp5I1S1Yn-ga5-miHBJU9_hxPR2RGSNWpdwIpsFmtzEeQIMxdAgw==
Emerging Women, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1zNe2O8voNRGZAigeIJd6UEj6HiHqJDFQFEH3VXKw1lR2sA-cju24pKZU1LddQcnuhXo_0hy_uVah4RS_qnbxmVukcU2JW3qsVYcdVRfcv6Zh8ZudvLLF6F
One Hand Clapping, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1wVpyJDw8k9O8MeX3fl_FnEp3ZUQ6usqtgQaiJG6z4e16CyXkEjnYjOTVkksBUoY-pfc2l1HElmGyQv8RIpTuyYtIJpyiVjziw=
Beauty and Depravity, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1wft6s6dZlVHyltHcLLPgfIEvHRpXlgSDTP_L-7jCGznI2HkXXxO7y_izJRu4RIySxQ-91Sc2dKvshjTdNq6BGmC78mzCeOrtHrGULw4Pvanw==
Godspace, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1wWnSIVt_djRbWo3-yiF-PCaBZOuGFCgudLxP81JFCAu7VesUwIET6UB6ljnwTEDO0RFWLwlcNT9QQX5bvBqlSx-2D4ujzSwIAkfI8kR7PJeQ==
Mustard Seed Journey, http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001FkcyP8Oqd1xmd02w_0LBWBYmWPLBoJDHwhgIF_2XLueZIrMFAZ0kSzIi35CmfHT4iox3m1nhqUWXMJ1wptfZT_E9s9sgge7aM2NEgXgadXYTNPru08VKgSwQdwJwTJR0Websites
The Simple Way, thesimpleway.org
Sanctuary Covenant Church, sanctuarycovenant.org
Church of the Apostles, apostleschurch.org
Fremont Abbey, fremontabbey.org
Life Covenant Church, life-covenant.org
La Red del Camino para la Mision Integral en America Latina, lareddelcamino.net
World Vision, worldvision.org
Emergent Village, emergentvillage.com
Mars Hill Graduate School, mhgs.edu
Trinity Lutheran Church, Lynnwood, WA, trinitylutheranchurch.com
Reimagine, reimagine.org
Missio Dei, missio-dei.com
Jesus Manifesto, jesusmanifesto.com
Northwest Cooperative Development Center, nwcdc.coop
Quest Church, Seattle, WA, seattlequest.org
Q Cafe, qcafe.org
Northwest Yearly Meeting of Friends, nwfriends.org
Regent College, regent-college.edu
Mustard Seed Associates, msainfo.org
Seattle Mennonite Church, seattle.wa.us.mennonite.netArticles
Erik Lacitis, "Homelessness up in yearly count," Seattle Times (Jan. 26, 2008), accessed January 30, 2008, here.
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