Eliacin Rosario-Cruz

The New Conspirators…What in the World is God Doing?

What in the world is God doing? God is conspiring through a new generation to re-imagine and create new expressions of discipleship, community, church and mission to make a little difference in our rapidly changing world. While God is indeed conspiring through a new generation this gathering is an invitation for those from all generations to become much more a part of God’s conspiracy of compassion and creativity.

We are racing into an increasingly uncertain global future in which we in the middle class, our poorest neighbors and our planet will face daunting new challenges. In this festival of imagination we will invite you to create innovative ways to engage these challenges that reflect something of God’s new order….with the new conspirators.

Join us for this festival of imagination and spend time with those on the innovative edge creating new forms of life, church, mission and celebration. We will bring together leaders from the emerging, missional, multicultural and monastic streams to explore new models, discuss tough questions and create new ways we can be a difference and make difference in our own congregations, communities and God’s world. Preview what God is doing through these four streams at: www.mustardseedjourney.wordpress.com

As far as we know this is the first time that such a broad range of new conspirators including those from these four streams have come together to communicate, connect and create with one another and with the friends who join us.

We have three very clear goals for this festival of imagination to communicate, connect and create:

1. to communicate creative new models of what is happening through the new conspirators to address the new challenges;

2. to connect leaders from all four streams with one another and all the rest of us to share our lives, stories and concerns;

3. to create new ways to advance God’s new order in our world in our lives, churches and in response to the growing challenges facing the poor and the planet.

The intent of this festival of imagination is to learn from what God is doing and join a new generation by imaging ways God can more fully use our mustard seeds to make a difference in changing times.

This event is sponsored by Mustard Seed Associates. Our partners include: The Emergent Village, Mars Hill Graduate School, Hot House and Trinity Lutheran Church. Course credit is available through George Fox Seminary and Northwest University.

What in the world is God doing? Join us at Bethany Community Church in Seattle February 28, 29 and March 1, 2008 and find out. REGISTER online at www.thenewconspirators.eventbrite.com

Join us in imagining new ways to give expression to God’s kingdom in a changing world… Come:

· Experience the creativity of Shane Claiborne and his companions at the Simple Way as they help their Philly community rebuild after a destructive fire…author of The Irresistible Revolution & Jesus for President

· Join Karen Ward and her friends as they celebrate their faith in the Fremont Abbey here in Seattle

· Learn how Efrem Smith’s multicultural congregation, Sanctuary Covenant, is making a difference in Minneapolis… co-author of The Hip Hop Church

· Join Mark Scandrette in re-imagining what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in San Francisco… author of Soul Grafitti

· Discover with Julie Clawson how God is raising up emerging women to re-invent the church

· Celebrate with Tomas Yaccino what God is doing through a new generation of missional leaders in Latin America

· Learn how to create more missional churches with Tim Morey from Life Covenant in Torrance California

· Imagine with Mark Pierson from New Zealand how to create ancient/future forms of celebrations and worship for both traditional churches and new expressions… co-author of The Prodigal Project

· Imagine new forms of social entrepreneurship like Pura Vida Coffee with Devin Erhardt

· Meet with Dwight Friesen, from Mars Hill Graduate School, those who are fashioning emerging expressions of the church

· Travel with Romanita Harriston, from World Vision, to visit urban churches that are finding a way to make a difference in tough places

· Join Mark Van Steenwyck in creating a monastic community of Jesus Radicals in Minneapolis

· Learn with pastor Eugene Cho about the flourishing of Quest here in Seattle

· Discover with Andrew McLoud how to create economic coops in uncertain times

· Explore with Lisa Domke how to make choices as we race into the 2008 US presidential election

· Learn with Eileen Hansen how to grow new mustard expressions in a traditional Church

· Learn how to find resources to fund creative new ventures with Tom Balke

· Imagine how to be friars in the 21^st century with Mike Morris from Britain

· Create spiritual practices for those in emerging and traditional churches with Bruce Bishop

· Imagine with Melanie and Jonathan Neufeld innovative ways churches can provide leadership in urban transformation

· Join Ricci and Eliacin Rosario in discovering the revolution begins at home

· Discover with Christine Sine how to create a liturgy of life… author of GodSpace and Living On Purpose

· Imagine with Tom Sine how to create missional whole life faith and whole life communities for uncertain times…The New Conspirators: Creating the Future One Mustard Seed at a Time

Join new friends at this festival imagination to communicate, connect and create to what God is doing through this quiet conspiracy. REGISTER TODAY!!! LIMITED SPACE

What Would Jesus Buy

What Would Jesus Buy? follows Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping Gospel Choir as they go on a cross-country mission to save Christmas from the Shopocalypse: the end of mankind from consumerism, over-consumption and the fires of eternal debt!

From producer Morgan Spurlock (SUPER SIZE ME) and director Rob VanAlkemade comes a serious docu-comedy about the commercialization of Christmas.  Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy) was a lost idealist who hitchhiked to New York City only to find that Times Square was becoming a mall. Spurred on by the loss of his neighborhood and inspired by the sidewalk preachers around him, Bill bought a collar to match his white caterer’s jacket, bleached his hair and became the Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Since 1999, Reverend Billy has gone from being a lone preacher with a portable pulpit preaching on subways, to the leader of a congregation and a movement whose numbers are well into the thousands.

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CWC Texts : The Really Really Free Market

Once a month two hundred or more people from all walks of life gather at the commons in the center of our town. They bring everything from jewelry to firewood to give away, and take whatever they want. There are booths offering bicycle repair, hairstyling, even tarot readings. People leave with full-size bed frames and old computers; if they don’t have a vehicle to transport them, volunteer drivers are available. No money changes hands, no one haggles over the comparative worth of items or services, nobody is ashamed about being in need. Contrary to government ordinances, no fee is paid for the use of this public space, nor is anyone “in charge.” Sometimes a marching band appears; sometimes a puppetry troupe performs, or people line up to take a swing at a piñata. Games and conversations take place around the periphery, and everyone has a plate of warm food and a bag of free groceries. Banners hang from branches and rafters proclaiming “FOR THE COMMONS, NOT LANDLORDS OR BUREAUCRACY” and “NI JEFES, NI FRONTERAS” and a king-size blanket is spread with radical reading material, but these aren’t essential to the event—this is a social institution, not a demonstration.

Read more…

Buy Nothing Day – Adbusters

A 24 hour moratorium on consumer spending – participate by not participating

This November 23rd, environmentalists, social activists and concerned citizens in as many as 65 countries will hit the streets for a 24-hour consumer fast in celebration of the 15th annual Buy Nothing Day, a global cultural phenomenon that originated in Vancouver, Canada. Read more.

NPR : Redefining What It Means to Be Black in America