TCP Weekly → May 23
Hands Across Chicago • Paco Amador and John Fuger on WGN • A Portrait of Asian American Christianity • Does your church offer pastoral residencies? • TCP Events Survey - Win $150!
Local Events
Hands Across Chicago
This Memorial Day weekend, Together Chicago and Chicagoland United in Prayer will bring together believers from across Chicago to unite in positive action for safer neighborhoods, stronger communities, and lasting peace throughout our city. Learn more about times and locations at chiunitepray.com/hands-across-chicago-2026.
Love Your School Week
Has your church connected with your local school? Love Your School Week is May 22–29. Learn more here.
Safe Families Webinar
Join Safe Families for a Lunch & Learn online training on May 27, 12-1pm, exploring how radical hospitality might mean welcoming an entire family into care. Info here. You can learn more about the work of Safe Families for Children (SFFC) Greater Chicago on their website.
By The Hand Celebrates 25 Years!
By The Hand Club For Kids is celebrating their 25th anniversary of ministry at a special, free worship concert with Big Daddy Weave on Thursday, June 11, 2026 at The Moody Church. RSVP here.
Looking Ahead
Jul 12-16 C.S. Lewis Institute Summer Academy
Aug 22 Legacy Conference Chicago
Sep 13 El Grito 6K with New Life Centers
Oct 14-16 TENx10 Summit 2026
Oct 19-21 Pastor Theologians Conference
Nov 10-12 Exponential Central Conference
Jan 27-29 Charles Simeon Workshop
Resources & Reads
Paco Amador & Doc Fuger on WGN
Pastor Paco Amador and John Fuger was recently featured on WGN to share about Hands Across Chicago, a faith-based initiative encouraging prayer, presence, and peace across the city during the summer months. The segment highlights the meaningful role churches and local leaders can play in showing up for their neighborhoods with compassion, unity, and hope.
Free Report on Asian American Christianity
The Asian American Christian Collaborative (AACC) has released the first report in its new four-part research series, A Portrait of Asian American Christianity. This free report explores key demographic trends shaping Asian American Christianity today, including age, ethnicity, immigration generations, education, income, and geographic distribution. Access the report and learn more here.
Residency Survey
Does your church currently have an in-house pastoral residency program, or are you looking to build one? We’d like to know how to promote and support your efforts. Fill out a quick survey to let us know what stage your church is at and what kinds of support you a looking for.
Local Job Board
Weekly Spotlight
Lead the City Conversations 2026
We gathered this week at Chicago West Bible Church for Are We Leading from Wholeness? with Drew Hyun. Drew challenged us to consider what it means to lead from a place of spiritual, emotional, and relational health, providing a fitting end cap to our 2026 Lead the City series of monthly conversations.
This year, we shifted from our traditional two-day Lead the City conference format to monthly gatherings hosted by local churches. Together, we explored How Do We Lead Through Grief? with John Onwuchekwa and Dr. Deb Gorton, Empire or Kingdom? with Sho Baraka and Malcolm Foley, Who Is Shaping Us? with Caleb Campbell, and Are We Leading from Wholeness? with Drew Hyun. We are grateful to Park Community Church, New Life Covenant Church Humboldt Park, Renewal Church of Chicago, and Chicago West Bible Church for generously hosting these gatherings and helping create spaces for meaningful learning, discussion, and connection.
We are also thankful for the organizations that partnered with us throughout the series, including Wheaton College Graduate School, Crossway, Exponential, The Chicagoland Collective, Northern Seminary, and Christians Against Poverty. Their support helped make these free gatherings possible.
The highlight of these events for us was seeing the conversations happening around the tables! We watched old friends reconnect, new relationships begin, and leaders discover they are not alone in the challenges and opportunities they face. We have been encouraged by the response to this new format and are excited to continue building on it in 2027.
As we begin planning next year’s series, we’d love your input! If you attended any of this year’s Lead the City events, you’re invited to complete our feedback survey for a chance to win a $150 gift card, and let us know what topics, speakers, and formats would best serve you and your ministry team.
Thanks for being a part of the TCP Community!
We’d love to hear from you! Email us your life/ministry updates, job openings, church residencies, community needs, news, and more.