Chicago Need to Know

Schedule

Morning

  • Pick up your badge, explore the space, and get to know someone new.

  • 📍 Main Sanctuary
    🔊 Speaker: Beth Moore

  • Practical breakout sessions tailored to equip leaders, students, and everyday believers to make disciples in their context.

    Time: 10:30 AM – 12:00 PM
    What to Expect:

    • Choose from a diverse set of topical focused workshops

    • Topics like evangelism, urban ministry, youth discipleship, and more

    • Interactive, hands-on learning

    Find all breakout session details at the bottom of this page

  • Not just downtime—this break is part of the rhythm. Use this time to reflect, rest, or debrief with your team. Grab lunch from our food trucks on-site, recharge, and get some fresh air. Great ideas often show up in the margin, and this is that space

Afternoon / Evening

  • 📍 Main Sanctuary
    🔊 Speaker: Dr. Charlie Dates

  • Practical breakout sessions tailored to equip leaders, students, and everyday believers to make disciples in their context.

    Time: 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM
    What to Expect:

    • Choose from a diverse set of topical focused workshops

    • Topics like evangelism, urban ministry, youth discipleship, and more

    • Interactive, hands-on learning

    Find all breakout session details at the bottom of this page

  • 📍 Main Sanctuary

    The Holy Post Podcast live with Beth Moore

  • 📍 Parking Lot
    Keep the momentum going with live DJs, late-night eats, and curated spaces to laugh, connect, and celebrate your wins.

5101 S Keeler Ave, Chicago, IL 60632

 

Saturday,
August 16, 2025

Featuring

Breakout Sessions

Morning

Cultivating a Kingdom Culture: Leadership That Heals and Builds

In a time of division and burnout, this workshop invites leaders to rethink how we build ministry cultures that reflect the Kingdom of God. Drawing from Scripture and real-life leadership experience, we’ll unpack how grace, justice, and accountability work together to create spaces where people flourish. Ideal for anyone forming teams, leading volunteers, or building organizations from the ground up.

Location
Room 201

Instructor
Moy Mendez

Soul Care for the
Urban Leader

Soul Care for the Urban Leader is a transformative workshop designed specifically for leaders  navigating the unique challenges and pressures of urban ministry and leadership.


Instructor
Lenmarie Pascall

Location
Spanish Chapel

The Credibility Code

Participants will learn to leverage the 3Vs of communication while developing emotional intelligence competencies in self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management to strategically earn trust and strengthen their influence.

Location
Room 204

Instructor
Eujin Ahn

Spitting Image:
Why Knowing the Father
is the Only Way to
Know Yourself

Modern wisdom encourages us to look inward to define and love ourselves, and while science supports the benefits of self-understanding, it can't explain our true identity or worth. In contrast, Jesus offers a better way—one that grounds our value not in illusion, but in divine truth.


Location
Room 205

Instructor
Jason Helveston

Walking With God:
A Life of Freedom or Rules

In this class we will navigate through the nuances of living the Christian life and figuring out does walking with God mean real freedom or restriction and rules? We will tackle some hard questions in life and search the scriptures to see who God has shown Himself to be. Come prepared for discussions and asking - What does God want for me? What does His track record say about His character and who He is?

YOUTH TRACK

Location
Room 410

Instructor
Aric Diaz

Faith & AI: Navigating Ethical Frontiers


Explore the rapidly growing world of artificial intelligence through a faith lens. This workshop helps Christians understand AI’s potential and ethical pitfalls, equipping them to engage responsibly in their professions and ministries.




Location
Room 412

Instructor
Hunter Guy

Enjoyment: The Lost Spiritual Discipline

Faith isn’t meant to be joyless. Yet too often, Christians live with a sense of heaviness, forgetting that God created us not only for duty, but delight. In this workshop, we'll rediscover enjoyment as a sacred practice that includes joy, play, rest, and celebration. We'll learn how making space for enjoyment can deepen your relationship with God, heal weariness, and reflect the full life Jesus promised. And we'll see why enjoyment done God's way is not indulgence, it's discipleship.

Instructor
Emmanuella Carter

Location
Room 206

What it Means to Live
as Citizens of God's Kingdom

The Kingdom of God is one of the most significant themes, and yet least understood themes, in the Bible. Some of the major issues we are facing with our country's polarization, division, and attitudes towards injustice, are because Christians in the US don't have a robust understanding of the Kingdom of God. Come learn about the Kingdom of God - what it is, what it means, and how we are to live out our faith in light of it.

Location
Room 210

Instructor
Raymond Chang

You and the Power of
an Ambitious Mercy

Eric Redmond opens up Jonah to explore the unique place the Lord has for POC in exalting his name around the world. In contrast to accusations that Christianity is a religion of/for whites only, men only, the middle-class only, or Americans only, Jonah shows that the Lord intends POC to see their purpose as part of what the Lord is doing around the world. Participants will walk away with practical, concrete steps for daily joining in what the Lord is doing in his plan of redemption for the world.




Instructor
Dr. Eric Redmond

Location
Room 202

Redefining Greatness

In Matthew 23:11, Jesus says, “The greatest among you will be your servant.” In a world that celebrates status and spotlight, God calls us to something deeper—humble service rooted in love. This workshop invites you to discover the purpose and power of serving in your local church. Through teaching and exploration of the scriptures we’ll dive into how serving others not only builds God’s house but shapes our character, deepens our faith, and connects us to something bigger than ourselves.




Instructor
Christian Baker

Location
Room 305

Redeem or Reject:
A Biblical Call to Discernment, Restoration, and Purpose

Afternoon

We are constantly encountering situations, habits, relationships, or even thoughts where we must ask: Is this something I’m called to redeem for God’s use, or something to reject to walk in freedom?


Location
Room 202

Instructor
Sergio Ortiz

Rooted Together: Discipleship Through the Lens of Community

What does it truly mean to follow Jesus together? This breakout session explores the deep connection between discipleship and intentional community living. We'll unpack how spiritual growth thrives not in isolation, but in shared rhythms of life, accountability, and mutual support. Whether you're leading a small group, part of a house church, or simply hungry for deeper connection, come discover practical ways to cultivate a Christ-centered community that shapes hearts and transforms lives.

Location
Room 412

Instructor
Thomas Anderson Jr.

Civic Life & Kingdom
Calling: Following Jesus
in a Divided World

We live in a divided culture where issues like immigration, money, race, and sexuality are often framed in extreme ways. This session explores how these narratives shape our thinking and how the church has sometimes mirrored the world instead of following Christ. We'll examine how we've replaced love for our neighbors with political and media agendas, and consider what it means to re-center on the Kingdom. Together, we'll explore how the church can respond with truth, love, courage, and unity in a fractured world.

Instructor
Angel Maldonado

Location
Room 305

Your Faith Has
Healed You: Building a Culture of Healing

Healing happens through presence, not distance—just as Jesus in the Gospels healed through touch, compassion, and connection. This workshop invites the Church to embody that same healing presence today by nurturing communities rooted in kinship, vulnerability, and grace


Location
Room 205

Instructor
Benjamin Crook

Anchored in God’s Love, Live a Life of Integrity

We work because we are loved, not to be loved.” In a world that requires us to perform and present various versions of ourselves, whether it is within our church communities, workplaces, and relationships, this workshops is designed to unmask and unburden the believer from the cares of the world. Revival begins with a surrender soul.


Location
Room 210

Instructor
Meron Asnake

When the Dust Settles

In this heartfelt workshop, I’ll share my journey of navigating deep loss while still called to lead, love, and serve as a young adult in ministry. With honesty and hope, I’ll reflect on grieving while guiding others, the lessons God taught me, and how His grace met me in the darkest moments to encourage anyone leading while hurting.


Location
Room 206

Instructor
Joshua Ponce

Marked by God:
Your Story for
His Purpose

In this workshop, we’ll explore how our personal stories—full of ups and downs—can powerfully reflect the Gospel and reveal God's redemptive work. Together, we’ll discover what God has done, what He is doing, and how sharing our stories can help others see Him too

Youth Track

Location
Room 410

Instructor
Rayni Arsenault

A Biblical view of community in the age of individualism-- This workshop explores the growing disconnect between Christian values and contemporary American culture, particularly how our pursuit of individual success often undermines genuine love for our neighbors. We'll examine how the American Dream—while not inherently wrong—can become idolatrous when divorced from biblical principles of community care and mutual responsibility.

When My Prosperity Becomes
My Neighbor’s Poverty

Instructor
Dominique Dallas

Location
Room 201

The Gospel They Tried to Throw Off a Cliff

In Luke 4:16–31a, Jesus announces good news for the poor, freedom for the oppressed, sight for the blind, and liberation for the captive—and nearly gets killed for it. His Gospel was not a safe, privatized message limited to personal salvation; it confronted the spiritual, physical, social, and economic effects of sin head-on. In a time when some urge us to “just preach the Gospel” and avoid being “too woke,” we must remember that the Gospel Jesus preached shook power structures and restored broken lives. This workshop will challenge us to follow His example, even when it provokes resistance.

Location
Spanish Chapel

Instructor
Brian Dye