Sep 23–25, 2024 | Oak Park, IL

As people of faith, hope, and love, how should Christians think about and engage our polarized and contentious political moment?

Congregations and individual Christians have by no means been immune to the forces of division and dread that accompany election season in our fractured society. These tensions present an urgent and crucial challenge for pastors seeking to faithfully lead their congregations. It’s difficult to imagine a more pressing issue for discipleship and Christian witness in our day––which is why the Center for Pastor Theologians has selected politics as our theme for our 2024 conference.

Kingdom Politics, our ninth annual theology conference, is an event to help pastors, Christian leaders, students, and interested laypeople think theologically about politics in 2024 and beyond. This conference will not be an exercise in uncritically commending or condemning various representatives of the kingdoms of this world. Rather, we will consider how Christians can faithfully witness to the Gospel within the political structures that exist, while also pointing toward the ultimate reality of Christ’s kingdom that transcends those structures.

As always, our conference will be held at Calvary Memorial Church in Oak Park, IL––just outside Chicago. This year we have moved the date up from our usual slot in late October to September 23–25. This is to create more space between the conference and Election Day, so that pastors and leaders can process and apply insights from the event for their congregations in the final weeks of the campaign season.

We invite you to join us.

PLENARY SPEAKERS

  • Christina Edmondson

    Author & Speaker

  • Malcolm Foley

    Pastor of Discipleship, Mosaic Waco

  • Collin Hansen

    Vice President for Content & Editor in Chief, The Gospel Coalition

  • Gerald Hiestand

    Senior Pastor, Calvary Memorial Church
    Co-Founder, Center for Pastor Theologians

  • Carmen Joy Imes

    Associate Professor of Old Testament, Biola University
    Author, Being God’s Image

  • Russell Moore

    Editor in Chief, Christianity Today
    Author, Losing Our Religion: An Altar Call for Evangelical America

  • Kaitlyn Schiess

    Author, The Ballot and the Bible
    Co-Host, The Holy Post Podcast

  • Preston Sprinkle

    Host, Theology in the Raw
    Author, Exiles: The Church in the Shadow of Empire

  • Miroslav Volf

    Professor of Theology, Yale Divinity School
    Author, A Public Faith

SCHEDULE

Monday
September 23

9:00am
Registration Opens

10:30am
Plenary Session One

11:30am
Lunch Break

1:00pm
Breakout Session One

2:30pm
Panel Session

4:00pm
Plenary Session Two

5:30pm
Dinner Break

7:30pm
Plenary Session Three

Tuesday
September 24

8:30am
Morning Office (Prayer)

9:00am
Plenary Session Four

10:30am
Plenary Session Five

11:30am
Lunch Break

1:00pm
Breakout Session Two

2:30pm
Panel Session

4:00pm
Breakout Session Three

5:00pm
Dinner Break

7:30pm
Plenary Session Six

Wednesday
September 25

8:30am
Morning Office (Prayer)

9:00am
Plenary Session Seven

10:30am
Plenary Session Eight

11:45am
Benediction

12:00pm
Dismissal

*All scheduling and times are tentative and subject to change

BREAKOUT SPEAKERS & PANELISTS

  • Vincent Bacote

    Professor Theology, Wheaton College
    Author, The Political Disciple

  • Amy Black

    Professor of Political Science, Wheaton College
    Author, Honoring God in Red or Blue

  • Chris Castaldo

    Lead Pastor, New Covenant Church
    Author, The Upside-Down Kingdom

  • Gayle Doornbos

    Associate Professor of Theology, Dordt University

  • Mika Edmondson

    Pastor, Koinonia Church Nashville

  • Chris Ganski

    Senior Pastor, City Reformed Church

  • Danny Houck

    Senior Pastor, Calvary Hill Baptist Church

  • Joel Lawrence

    President, The Center for Pastor Theologians

  • Karen Swallow Prior

    Author, The Evangelical Imagination

  • Ryan Tafilowski

    Lead Pastor, Foothills Fellowship

  • Steve Turnbull

    Senior Pastor, Upper Arlington Lutheran Church

  • Michael Wear

    Founder & President, The Center for Christianity and Public Life
    Author, The Spirit of Our Politics

  • Todd Wilson

    Co-Founder, The Center for Pastor Theologians
    Founder and Senior Coach, Integrated Leaders

REGISTRATION & INFORMATION

$149

Early Rate ends April 15

$139 group (5+)

$109 student

$169

Standard Rate through Aug 1

$189

Final Rate through Sept 23

INFORMATION

Information about travel, lodging, food, refund policies and more can be found on our Frequently Asked Questions page.

VENDORS

We welcome sponsorship inquiries from like-minded organizations, publishers, and schools. More information can be found on our Vendor Information page.

VOLUNTEERS

Interested in serving as a conference volunteer in exchange for free conference registration? Learn more and apply on our Volunteer page.

CONTACT US

If you would like to reach the conference organizers or have a question not addressed on our FAQ page, you can Contact Us here.