Just in case you missed Tom Sines challenging and topical address to the Moot Community tonight, check out the Moot podcast here, recorded in two sections.

Toms wisdom is a challenge as we contemplate Moots desire to set up an intentional community and activities around social justice, in our eventual home we hope.

To listen to the podcast – click here
For details on the new book, click the book cover

This podcast is quite different to talks Tom is doing with other Emerging Church groups in the UK. He is speaking more indepth in Manchester with Sanctus 1, so if interested – click here

By Tom Sine
God is doing something new through a new generation that has a distinctly Anabaptist accent in these uncertain times. These young initiators are creating new ways to make a difference in both the world and the church. In The New Conspirators, I explained these activists and innovators as being found in at least four streams: emerging, missional, mosaic and monastic. 

Read more…

jonnybaker: jesus’ empire of the mustard seed – tom sine is back in classic fashion

Tom (Sine) maps the current new things happening with a mapping of four movements whose edges are blurred and overlap – emerging, mosaic, new monastic, and missional and he is enthusiastic about them all (i agreed with shaine clayborne’s hesitation in the foreword that the book runs the risk of making some of us young tykes look too good, better than the reality – but what a refreshing change!) weaving stories he has gleaned into the mix. he does carefully issue a few challenges on the way – for example he loves the creativity in emerging church but wonders why it tends to get focused on worship and church rather than taken outside the walls. he also wonders if those of us who like the postmodern world haven’t got our imaginations too shaped by the consumer dream of cool – these are great challenges and need to be responded to.

he follows the opening section mapping the new conspirators with conversations about culture and what the future challenges might be. woven into this is a view of god’s future that is wonderfully inspiring. in much the same way as i enthused about tom wright’s book a while back, this book also lays out a vision of a future for the earth that is healed when god’s kingdom comes. one of the things i have always found challenging and inspiring about tom and christine is their imagination. in the face of the consumer culture and the busyness and drain on resources so many of us face they suggest communal responses in relation to housing, resources, and neighbourhood. it takes courage to take these on board, but this is precisely the kind of imagining christian communities should engage in. in fact the last section of the book, taking our imaginations seriously, was definitely my favourite – story after story and idea after idea are laid out so that you can’t help feeling that as tom puts it all of life is a design opportunity to be co-creators with god. at the end of it, because the whole approach is inspired by jesus’ story of the mustard seed where something grows from a tiny seed, you think that even i could do something really really small and see what happens…

Read full review…

The New Conspirators | RodneyOlsen.net

From Rodeny Olsen:

Tom Sine joined me on my morning radio programme on 98.5 Sonshine FM along with Jarrod McKenna from Peace Tree Community. While Tom’s book talks about the many ways that people are re-imagining church, Jarrod is part of a community that is living out faith in simple ways in the Perth suburb of Lockridge.

Listen to it here, scroll down to play.

Download MP3.

The New Conspirators : Creating the Future one Mustard Seed at a Time by Tom Sine

“In spite the fact that our world is changing at blinding speed and the church is going through some very tough times, God is still at work in ways that aren’t always immediately apparent. For some reason, God seems to delight in conspiring through the small, insignificant and ordinary to renew the church and transform the world.”

This book was long due. Tom Sine spent 3+ years collecting stories, interviewing people, bugging friends and collecting the data that end up in this fantastic book.

You might have heard authors talk about books taking a life of their own, and that is true of this one. As a friend of Tom I was fortunate enough to be around while the book was taking shape. Originally it was meant to be a reincarnation of a his book The Mustard Seed Conspiracy, published in the mid-80′s. But that would not hold up to the amazing stories of creativity and faith that Tom was listening. Tom later decided that this was meant to be an entire different book about the God’s new conspirators in the here and now.

While many of the current books in the Christian circles cover one topic – Tom have ventured to explore what he calls in the book the 4 streams of renewal for the church and the world: The Emerging Church, The Missional Church, New Monasticism and The Mosaic (Multi-Cultural) Church. Lots had and is written about the Emerging Church and Missional church. New Monasticism is a hot topic these days. So I am glad Tom included what the multi-cultural church is doing as a fresh and challenging expression in contemporary Christianity.

In this book Tom engage us in five conversations:

• Taking the New Conspirators Seriously
• Taking the Culture Seriously
• Taking the Future of God Seriously
• Taking the Turbulent Times Seriously
• Taking our Imaginations Seriously

I think it is very important to point out that this is a book on a global expression of the new conspirators. The stories and examples does not come from the western hemisphere alone. This is not an American book. Though the book you’ll read stories of ordinary people confronting the powers and living out God’s Kingdom values in Africa, UK, Latin America, Australia, USA and all over the world.

The New Conspirators is a primer in the global conversation on how God is creating the future one mustard seed at a time. You can read the introduction of the book at www.thenewconspirators.com.

A must read definitely.