Origin of the word “conspire”

1325–75; Middle English 

(Latin) conspīrāre to act in harmony, conspire, equivalent to con- con- + (Latin) spīrāre to breathe

This year hundreds of practitioners, pastors, social entrepreneurs, church planters, community leaders, environmentalists, denominational executives, publishers, professors, urban planners, and artists from all over the globe will come together in the Northside neighborhood of Cincinnati from October 12-13 to connect, collaborate, and celebrate the good work being done in thousands of neighborhoods and parishes. They share a common vision for seeing the transformation of the church through their participation in their neighborhood. They are grounded in practice, committed to interdisciplinary work, and invested in the flourishing of the Kingdom of God.

There is very little doubt that our imagination for what it means to be the Church is changing…dramatically. If you believe that joining in God’s renewal in your actual neighborhoods is a crucial step in being the church, you should be at the Conspire Gathering this year.

Why? Because in coming together we aren’t just hoping to conspire together about how to be the church—we are collaborating toward how to reimagine our economies from the ground up, we are re-creating how we engage and design our built environment, we are re-thinking how to educate our kids, and we want to lead a faith-rooted movement to recover a deeper sense of equity and collective civic voice.

In essence we believe God is re-creating our world, and we want to join in. We don’t know the future, but we do believe that God is at work, and we believe we need each other.

What will this look like?

Pre-Party. Pre-Gathering symposiums. Happy Hour Gatherings. Targums. Curated Conversations. Small Groups. Forums. Late Night Gatherings. Art Installations. Fishbowls. Poetry Slam. Neighborhood Tour. Interactive Stations. Symposiums. AMAZING friendships!  And, yes, much more.

We will have folks gathering from different denominations and non-denominational faith communities and traditions like the UCC, PCUSA, UMC, Episcopal, Catholic, Brethren, Baptist, Oasis, CAIN, Economics of Compassion, Crossroads, and more…all coming together with different and diverse thoughts and experiences…yet gathering to hear one another’s stories, to ponder where faith communities are heading in our neighborhoods, and where do we see God at work and how can we follow God in the midst of our contexts…and to “conspire” on how we can be encouragers of one another and our neighborhoods.  

Won’t you join us?  Go to www.conspiregathering.com for more info and to register!  We’d love to take a team of folks from your faith community as well!  If interested, contact me at rich@flemingroaducc.org!