Breathing Together: the Co-Conspiracy

As we prepare to renew the co-conspiracy on June 5, 2022, we’ll take several weeks to examine the practices of the co-conspiracy through the lens of Luke’s middle stories about Jesus.

With only 6 Sundays available before Pentecost, we’ll rely on our Epiphany series “Deep Water” for the contemplation of our baptisms.

Sharing material resources to further the church’s goals. The generosity of several women funded Jesus’s ministry then. Consider that they had little power otherwise – but money is power, and in their release of it for his use, they effected more of what they wanted to see in the world. Similarly for us – most of us have little power otherwise, but the designation of our resources for the church’s missional priorities is a way to express and manifest our intentions to get God more of what God wants.

Featuring guest preacher Savannah Williams-Brooks!

Cultivation of spiritual gifts for the life of our church and community. Jesus invests his apostles with so much power – look at all they can do in his name, on his behalf! But upon their return, they are once again dubious that they have anything to offer. They can’t even make lunch for a larger-than-expected crowd. But one of Jesus’s specialties is making a lot out of a little, including our own little gifts, multiplied and magnified by his power.

Participation in the church’s discernment for our next steps together. At Jesus’s transfiguration, his closest friends are invited to think about what comes next. They take a swing and a miss (thanks, Peter), and God reminds them to shut up and listen for a while. This listening task is passed along to us – what do we hear from the Spirit when we hush, and how will it help us know what’s next?

Extension of the church’s welcome to friends, neighbors, strangers, and enemies. The way Jesus tells it, this reign-of-God enterprise has always been invitational. You don’t stay in one place and hope that people find you; you go where the people are, and see what happens. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t – but when you’ve got news this good, you can’t keep it inside. With communion thoughts from Dr. Lance Pape.

Gracious receipt of care from the church family. The lawyer who asked Jesus, “Who is my neighbor?” wanted to imagine himself in the care-giving role. But when Jesus casts his play, the VRP’s character is unconscious and bleeding by the side of the road. What would such a reversal require of us – seeing ourselves as (sometimes) care receivers, rather than (always) caregivers?

Presence, the best you can, at gatherings of the church. Martha of Bethany wants what a lot of us want: to be useful, busy, appreciated. But Jesus favors, at least in this instance, Mary’s quiet presence. It’s a difficult shift for many in our church, who are used to church making people busier – and it’s hard, too, because we are a DIY church with lots of needs for people’s time and energy. How do we curate gatherings where more people can simply be?

Happy birthday, church! Pentecost is a movable feast, and so is Galileo Church’s birthday. This year we’re 9 years old, and thinking about what we’ve accomplished with God’s help, and what comes next with God’s help.

Longtime Co-Conspirator and MLT member Missy Holtman is moving away from Fort Worth, and she shared some thoughts during communion on how she came to Galileo and what Galileo means to her.