Eating, Talking, and Plotting Goodness Together: An Interview with Dee Dee Risher

October 24, 2011 By John Pattison 1 Comment

Conspire! magazine is a project of The Simple Way and a growing number of “co-conspiring communities” around the country. Each themed issue includes great writing and visual art, all with an eye toward building relationships and exploring “the questions of faith that arise from living for justice and as part of the body.” The current issue is about “Food, Feast, and Table,” and it includes, among other features, an essay by Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, an interview with Wendell Berry, an article by Mike Morrell, and stunning food-themed outsider art by a variety of artists.

In the month of November, Conspire! is inviting folks around the country to host Gather ‘Round celebrations that will bring communities together to eat, talk, and plot goodness together. When I saw this issue’s theme, and when I saw this video about Gather ‘Round, I knew I wanted to interview someone at Conspire! to get more details. I talked to Dee Dee Risher, the magazine’s editor, earlier this month. By pure coincidence, I’m publishing the interview on National Food Day. [Read more...]

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CCDA Recap. (Or, May our means fit our ends).

October 17, 2011 By Christopher Smith 2 Comments

CCDAI spent the bulk of last week at the Christian Community Development Association’s annual conference, which was held here in Indianapolis this year.  The CCDA conference is always a great opportunity to see old friends from around the country who are engaged in good, reconciling work in their places, and I was excited to be a part of the host team for this year’s gathering.

For the vast majority of the week, I was hunkered down in the CCDA bookstore, which The Englewood Review of Books ran again this year, but thanks to my brothers and sisters of Englewood Christian Church who helped in running the bookstore, I did get out to a few seasons over the course of the week.  Here are a couple of Slow-Church-related observations from the week:

1)      There is a deep interest in conversations related to Slow Church, about place, stability, culture, agriculture and food. There was a good deal of curiosity about the Slow Church fliers and bookmarks we were handing out in the bookstore. Even more telling, however, was that our best-selling books (not including those of keynote speakers or Bob Lupton’s brand new Toxic Charity, which was timed for release at CCDA) were Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove’s The Wisdom of Stability and a variety of Wendell Berry’s books.  We hosted an off-site workshop on Saturday afternoon at Englewood Christian Church, and had some good conversations about a number of the facets that John and I are describing here as Slow Church, including stability, and the possibility of an economy that rejects assumptions of scarcity and is instead founded upon the super-abundant grace of God (a topic that I hope to write more about later this week.)

2)     At the same time, there is still, in the CCDA audience, a deeply engrained activism that believes that our first course of action should be to change public policy. This was exemplified for me in the debate between Jim Wallis, of Sojourners, and Arthur Brooks,of the American Enterprise Institute. (Click here to listen to a clip that reflects the overall tenor of the debate). [Read more...]

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Gather ‘Round

October 13, 2011 By John Pattison Leave a Comment

Here is an event you should know about. The folks over at CONSPIRE Magazine are celebrating the release of their “Food, Feast, and Table” issue by inviting people to participate in “Gather ‘Round” events throughout the month of November. These are nights of “food and celebration and drawing together.”

CONSPIRE is at its best when we come face to face. Breathing together in real and tangible ways is at the core of who we are. This special night embraces the sacredness and joy of the dinner table, and invites others into our homes and places of gathering to plot goodness. It’s a gathering to remind each other that we are not crazy… or at least that we are not alone.

Next Monday I will be posting an interview with CONSPIRE editor Dee Dee Risher. In the meantime, you can learn about Gather ‘Round at the magazine’s website and at the event’s Facebook page. You can also sign up to host an event in your community. (My wife and I are hosting an event in Silverton, so let me know if you are going to be in the neighborhood.) And watch that gorgeous video a few more times for inspiration.

P.S. Thank you, Lori Ventola, for sending that video my way.

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