The Inhabit Conference 2025

April 25-26, 2025 | Chicago, IL
Lawndale Community Church

As the annual national gathering for the Parish Collective, Inhabit is more than a conference—it’s the heart of a movement that connects us to collaborate for the love of God in our neighborhoods.

This year marks an exciting new chapter for Inhabit. After years of gathering in Seattle, we’re moving to Chicago—a transition that honors the beauty of the past and the joy of new beginnings. We are excited to collaborate with residents, artists, and community leaders of Lawndale and the greater Chicago area, while weaving in the gifts and relationships that have shaped this movement from the start.

With the theme of Woven Together, we’ll explore how God calls us to be the Church in our neighborhoods through:

  • Practice: Equipping one another for the work of loving our neighbors through stories, prayers, and embodied experiences.

  • Presence: Being together and experiencing a taste of Beloved Community across difference. 

  • Place: Renewing imagination of God’s dreams in our neighborhoods by celebrating our unique contexts.

Neighborhood Stories

Our Common Sessions are filled with stories from everyday people in everyday places. We are committed to learning from a diverse cross section of stories to make the movement visible and celebrate everyday heroes living out God’s dream in their neighborhood.

Creative Liturgy

Original liturgy, poetry, interactive art and music play a vital role in the way we gather at the Inhabit Conference. These collective experiences animate our imagination, give voice to our theological hopes and help shape our faithful actions.

Shared Learning

Through keynote talks from leading parish practitioners, spaces of dialogue, geographically organized meet ups and curated workshops, learn with us to be the church in and across our neighborhoods. Explore topics that are relevant to your work in your neighborhood.

CONVENORS AND CONTRIBUTORS

Join the Parish Collective Fellowship and many more friends! Stay tuned to learn who else will be there.

BASIC CONFERENCE DETAILS

Below you’ll find some basic info for the conference. Please save the date and purchase your ticket now, and we’ll continue to provide more information as the date draws near. Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any questions: info@parishcollective.org.

LOCATION:

Lawndale Christian Community Church
3827 W. Ogden Ave
Chicago, IL, 60623

DATE:

Friday morning, April 25, 2025 through Saturday evening, April 26, 2025

PAST BREAKOUT TOPICS

  • Innovative and Creative Housing for Affordability and Community

    with David Leong

  • Liturgy of Earthkeeping

    with Christine Sine

  • Art, Poetry and Creative Prophesies in the Neighborhood - Learn From Them

    with Drew Jackson

  • Songs of Place: Songs that Gather us Around Shared Theological Hopes

    with Tom Wuest

  • Church-based Reparations in the Neighborhood

    with Jonathan Brooks

  • Grounded Faith: Engaging Young Adults For the Future of the Church in the Neighborhood

    with Montague Williams, Eunice Lin, and Lauren Goldbloom

  • From Idea to Reality: Possibilities for Neighborhood Flourishing

    with Majora Carter

  • Neighboring as Discipleship

    with Shannan Martin

  • Neighborhood Church Planting/Church Revitalization

    with Dr. Eun Strawser

  • How to Be the Local Church

    with Tim Soerens

  • Social Banking: The Art of Relational Currency in the Neighborhood

    with DeAmon Harges

  • Start with Manifest Destiny... Rooting our Theology in the Story of the Land

    with Lenore Three Stars and Lauren Goldbloom

  • Placemaking: The Hope of Strong Towns

    with John Pattison

  • Reconciliation for Neighborhood Trust and Mutuality Across Difference.

    with Michael Mata and Tom Wuest

  • Kids, Youth and Being the Church in the Neighborhood Together

    with Kate Pattison, Amy Wilson Roberts, Amy Chapman, and Yvonne Araujo-Schacht

  • Neighborhood Economics

    with Leroy Barber

  • Theology in Place

    with Dwight Friesen

FAQs

  • O’Hare or Midway

  • Meals are not included in the ticket price. We encourage you to enjoy local neighborhood restaurants.

  • We encourage you to book a hotel or Airbnb and utilize public transport.

    We recommend staying in a neighborhood off the Pink line. The Loop, Downtown, and Midway all have many hotel options as well.

  • We are not offering public pre-conference days this year.

  • Babes in arm are welcome, as are children. Let us know if you would utilize childcare, so we can think about planning for it at a potential extra cost.

FIVE REASONS

WHY INHABIT IS WHAT YOU NEED IN 2025:

  1. Inhabit will remind you of the power of everyday stories.
    You are a part of a bigger story of God and your story is far more powerful than you realize. 

  2. Inhabit will broaden your vision of what our collective impact could be.
    There is a larger place-based movement that is looking to the Parish Collective to represent Christian place-based engagement.

  3. Inhabit will connect you with resources and co-conspirators.
    In a time of denominational decline and anxiety, many are looking for ways to reinvent and innovate for needed change. Find yourself on our new Two Loops graphic and see how vital connection is to establishing the new church culture.

  4. Inhabit will encourage you to continue on the long, intentional and liberative path.
    We believe (and we’re betting you do, too) that the local church being the local church is the absolute best strategy and healing agent that anyone could dream up in times like ours with a history of oppression and increased polarization.

  5. Inhabit will leave you singing a new song for your place.
    We love to highlight artists and creative expression coming from our neighborhoods. In particular, the songs we sing together are uniquely Spirit-inspired and rooted in place.

BECOME A SPONSOR FOR INHABIT 2025

To inquire about sponsorship opportunities, email info@parishcollective.org.

Parish Collective is a Christ-following ecumenical network bringing people together across intersections and distance. Our main point of unity lies in learning to be the church in each of our unique neighborhoods. When we connect across places, we find the power of God’s love to be healing and transformative. This means we may not agree on everything, but we have a mutual commitment to love and respect, especially platforming and protecting those on the margins of our differences.