Voices Rooting the Conversation
Experience grounding voices who will guide our common sessions and help shape our shared practices, imagination, and presence throughout the gathering. Through their wisdom and lived experience, they will help root our conversations in faith, justice, and the everyday work of loving and serving our neighborhoods.
Dr. Willie James Jennings
Baptist Pastor, Author & Professor of Systematic Theology and Africana Studies at Yale Divinity School
Dr. Willie James Jennings is a theologian, author, and ordained Baptist minister whose work explores the intersections of race, culture, place, and Christian formation. His scholarship, including the widely acclaimed The Christian Imagination, invites the Church to rethink belonging, community, and the impact of history and identity on Christian life. With pastoral experience in North Carolina, he challenges Christians to pursue communities marked by justice, reconciliation, and faithful presence.
Shannan Martin
Author & Speaker
Shannan Martin is a bestselling author and storyteller whose work celebrates the beauty and challenge of living faithful, neighbor‑hearted lives. Based in Goshen, Indiana, she writes and speaks about community, grace, and the Gospel found in the ordinary, encouraging readers to love deeply where they are planted. Her books, The Ministry of Ordinary Places, Start with Hello, Counterweights, and Falling Free, combine heartfelt narrative with practical insight, urging Christians toward authentic presence, justice, and belonging. In her community, she serves on staff at a local community kitchen and continues to explore what it means to be a grateful neighbor.
Dr. Alexia Salvatierra
Lutheran Pastor, Author & Professor of Mission and Theology at Fuller Seminary
Dr. Alexia Salvatierra is a pastor, professor, and nationally recognized advocate for faith-rooted justice. She equips churches and communities to respond to immigration, poverty, and systemic injustice through ministry, organizing, and teaching. As academic dean for Centro Latino at Fuller Seminary and co-author of Faith-Rooted Organizing, she brings prophetic clarity and practical wisdom, guiding communities to live out the Gospel through love, solidarity, and collective action.
Majora Carter
Urban Revitalization Strategist, Entrepreneur & Lecturer
Majora Carter is an urban revitalization strategist, entrepreneur, and MacArthur Fellow focused on environmental justice and community empowerment. She founded Sustainable South Bronx, co‑founded Green For All, and leads the Majora Carter Group, advising cities and communities on sustainable development. A lecturer at Princeton’s Keller Center and author of Reclaiming Your Community, she champions strategies for building thriving, equitable neighborhoods where people already live.
voices and music
Music forms us. It carries our stories, shapes our gatherings, and invites us into moments of reflection, connection, and worship. Alongside our own voices, these gifted musicians will help craft the soundscape of Inhabit, leading us through songs for wandering seasons, rooted communities, and journeys yet to come. Their music doesn’t just fill the room; it helps us encounter God, one another, and the neighborhoods we inhabit
Los Angeles-based songwriter, musical director, and touring artist whose work bridges stage and sanctuary. With years of experience performing alongside major recording artists like Andy Grammer and Queen Latifah, Zach brings both musical excellence and a relational approach to the spaces he leads.
Songwriter and liturgical musician, his work explores themes of justice, belonging, and faithful presence. Through projects like Walk Humbly and his broader catalog of prophetic songs, Tom helps communities imagine worship as something lived beyond the walls of a sanctuary.
San Diego-based songwriter and spiritual leader whose music has served churches and renewal movements seeking thoughtful, theologically grounded worship. His songs create reflective spaces where communities can encounter God with honesty and tenderness.
Lawndale's own powerful vocalist invites us into courageous presence as she embodies justice, worship, and the lived stories of neighborhoods. She encourages us to see how worship invites encounters with God.
A leader within the Common Hymnal collective, he is part of a growing movement of artists creating new sacred music rooted in solidarity, peacemaking, and community transformation. His work moves us from passive listening into embodied participation and shared voice.
Together, we'll sing songs for wandering seasons, songs for rooted communities, and songs that carry us forward. Will you join us?
Parish Pilgrimages
Experience a Parish Pilgrimage, 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.
“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
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✦ 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.
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✦ Hosts – Local leaders rooted in the neighborhood, bearing witness to God’s unfolding dream.
✦ Guide – Facilitators from outside the neighborhood, guiding reflection, prayer, and conversation.
✦ Participants – Guests from other neighborhoods who bring sacred curiosity and a willingness to learn.
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✦ 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
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✦ 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