Our history
Now in our second decade, somehow.
How it started
The founding idea went something like this: the last thing Greensboro needs is another Bible study. So what if we just had a conversation — people from a bunch of different backgrounds, comparing notes on how we've each tried to figure out who we are, why we're here, and what difference we hope to make in the world? That was the whole plan. In September 2015, Trey and Elijah invited a few people to a table at what was then HQ Greensboro, and A Decent Conversation met for the first time.
Finding our form
Trey brought starter questions to the first few meetings but abandoned them within a month; what emerged from the particular people at the table was better every week. And it was six weeks before anyone mentioned what they did for a living. That wasn't a rule — the group didn't have rules. The reveal, when it came, was worth the wait: Elijah, it turned out, is a priest. An excellent preacher, by all accounts — who in six weeks had never once gone into Preacher Mode at the table. The conversation that followed, about what changes in us when a perceived authority figure is in the room ("How many f-bombs have I dropped in front of the pastor?"), was one of the best the early group had.
An undercover priest and an amateur rabbi walk into a coworking space…
The next chapter arrived on its own two feet. In Andy's words: "I came into work and four people were sitting at a table, and I asked what they were doing. Trey said, 'We're having a decent conversation.' Eleven years later, here we are." He joined on the spot, saying as he took his seat, "so, is this us?" And then he did what Andy does — he started inviting people. Most of the folks around the table today can trace their seat back to Andy or to someone Andy brought.
The first decade did what decades do
The building changed names twice — HQ became transformGSO became Thrive — the group moved once, and a pandemic pushed the conversation onto Zoom (no good), then downtown on foot, and finally to the outdoor seating behind South End Brewery for a season. Four or five people became a full table, representing different ages, career paths and stages, histories and backgrounds, politics, faiths. The result is something like an island of misfit toys — people who wouldn't likely end up together, but somehow we did.
In their words
We asked the people who've been part of this what they'd say to someone thinking about coming for the first time.
"Trust me, knowing someone first is not at all necessary with this group. Just come and be yourself, be open." — Bob
"Come and listen. See what you learn." — Jeri
"A gathering of curious humans who seek to understand, share and connect on what divides and brings us together on this spinning rock of chaos." — (another) Bob
"You will be warmly welcomed here." — Jagmeet
What's next (question mark)
From the beginning, the working rule was to never let this turn into a "thing" — no organization, no officers, no budget, no brand. Just a conversation worth showing up for. A website, we admit, flirts with thing-ness. But lately we've been wondering what it would mean for this to outlast any one of us. The hope is simple enough. Ten years from now, one of us is on a work trip in a city where we don't know a soul — and it turns out there's A Decent Conversation meeting a few blocks from the hotel. We drop in. We don't recognize the people, and the conversation's about something we never saw coming. But we know exactly where we are inside of five minutes. That's the question now: can the conversation multiply and spread without turning into a thing?