Voices Shaping the Conversation

We are honored to feature Dr. Willie James Jennings and Dr. Alexia Salvatierra as guiding voices for Inhabit 26. While we continue to celebrate everyday stories, their wisdom is a central focus this year, shaping our common sessions and helping us engage faith, justice, and community in meaningful ways.

Dr. Willie James Jennings

Theologian, Author & Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies, Yale Divinity School

Dr. Willie James Jennings is a theologian, teacher, and ordained Baptist minister whose work explores the intersections of race, culture, place, and Christian formation. Through his scholarship and writing, he invites the Church to reimagine what it means to belong to one another and to the communities we inhabit. His work challenges Christians to examine how history, identity, and theology shape the life of the Church today.

At a time when many are seeking deeper connection and renewed imagination for the Church’s role in the world, Dr. Jennings offers wisdom that calls us toward communities marked by justice, reconciliation, and faithful presence.

  • Ordained Baptist minister with pastoral experience in North Carolina

  • Author of The Christian Imagination, widely recognized as a seminal work in theology

  • Scholar of Christian thought, race theory, and decolonial studies

Dr. Alexia Salvatierra

Lutheran Pastor, Author & Professor of Mission and Theology, Fuller Seminary

Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is a pastor, professor, and nationally recognized advocate for faith-rooted justice. Her work has long focused on equipping churches and communities to respond faithfully to issues such as immigration, poverty, and systemic injustice. Through decades of ministry, organizing, and teaching, she has helped shape movements that bring together faith and public action for the flourishing of vulnerable communities.

Her voice brings both prophetic clarity and practical wisdom, helping churches imagine what it looks like to live out the Gospel through courageous love, solidarity, and collective action. In this moment, her leadership offers important guidance for communities seeking to embody a faith that is deeply rooted in justice and compassion.

  • Academic Dean for Centro Latino at Fuller Seminary

  • Co-author of Faith-Rooted Organizing and other influential works

  • Founder and leader in national faith-based justice initiatives, including the New Sanctuary Movement

Parish Pilgrimages

Friday, May 1 | Lawndale Community Church, Chicago, IL

“A pilgrimage is an intentional and open journey to a place of sacred significance to engage in lifegiving discernment that shapes our return home and enhances our growth in meaning-making.”

— Dr. Montague Williams

This year at Inhabit 26, we are thrilled to convene Parish Pilgrimages, guided neighborhood walks led by local Hosts who share the stories, wisdom, and witness of their parishes. As we explore the theme “Sacred Ground,” we’ll look for tangible signs of God at work in each neighborhood and reflect on how these stories can inspire and transform our own communities.

Purpose & Experience

✦ Eyes to See – Gain new lenses for noticing the Spirit at work in neighborhoods.

✦ Embodied Learning – Engage your senses: walk, eat, listen, and practice presence.

✦ Stories to Celebrate – Honor everyday peacemakers, faithful practices, and places of renewal.

✦ Abundant Community – Connect with others on the journey, forming relationships that strengthen the body of Christ.

Who Leads

✦ Hosts – Local leaders rooted in the neighborhood, bearing witness to God’s unfolding dream.

✦ Lead Guests – Facilitators from outside the neighborhood, guiding reflection, prayer, and conversation.

✦ Participants – Guests from other neighborhoods who bring sacred curiosity and a willingness to learn.

Themes & Practices

✦ Threads to Explore – Arts, housing, peacemaking, neighborhood organizing, civic engagement, economics, church collaboration

✦ Postures for the Walk – Sacred curiosity, humility, mutual learning, gratitude, compassion, awe

✦ Practices Along the Way – Walking, eating at local spots, prayer, guided conversations, noticing stories and places, reflections, and taking home a meaningful artifact

Logistics

✦ Timeframe: 11:30 AM – 3:30 PM (depart/return from Lawndale Community Church)

✦ Route: Neighborhood-specific, designed with Hosts and Guides

✦ Stops: Key locations chosen for conversation, observation, and reflection

✦ Next Steps: Contact Nate Tubbs (nate@parishcollective.org) to discuss walk details

Parish Collective Values

✦ Led by Practitioners – Future discovered by those living out Jesus’ way in their neighborhoods

✦ Informed by Stories – We learn by listening to the stories on the ground

✦ Linked Across Difference – Connecting across traditions and parishes for belonging, wisdom, and innovation

✦ Committed to Equity – Centering and amplifying perspectives of color

✦ Dependent on the Spirit – Relying on God as the agent of transformation