Todd Engstrom serves as the Executive Pastor of Campuses and Missional Communities at The Austin Stone Community Church. He leads out in strategic direction for engaging the city of Austin through small missional communities and develops leaders who are willing to follow Jesus and proclaim His gospel to their neighbors in the city. Todd grew up in the Northwest, was educated in the Midwest, and now resides in the sovereign nation of Texas where his family is putting down some roots. He and his wife Olivia have three children: Micah, Hudson and Emmaline, and they love exploring the great city of Austin together.

Alan is the founding Director of Forge Mission Training Network. He is also part of the leadership team of Christian Associates, a missional church-planting agency with focus on Western Europe. Known for his innovative approach to mission, Alan is a teacher and key mission strategist for churches across the western world. His popular book with Michael Frost, The Shaping of Things to Come, is widely considered to be a seminal text on mission. Alan’s book The Forgotten Ways, has quickly become a key reference for missional thinking, particularly as it relates to movements. His recent books include ReJesus, Right Here Right Now, On The Verge and his newest book called The Permanent Revolution. His experience in leadership includes leading a local church movement among the marginalized as well as heading up the Mission and Revitalization work of his denomination. Alan is and adjunct professor at Fuller Seminary and lectures frequently throughout Australia, Europe, and the U.S.

Dhati is the Lead Pastor at Blueprint Church in Atlanta, GA. Dhati, born and raised in California, moved to Texas for his undergraduate studies at the University of North Texas and his graduate studies at Dallas Theological Seminary (Master of Arts in Cross Cultural Ministries). While in Texas, Dhati served on staff at Denton Bible Church for 7 years. He started Plumbline, a very successful college ministry on UNT and TWU campuses. He served as the college pastor there and eventually planted a church, which he pastored for 3 years. During that time, he also served as chaplain to UNT’s football team and coached high school football (sports have always been a big passion for Dhati and a large part of how he came to the Lord). Dhati furthered his training in Little Rock, AR at Fellowship Associates in 2008-2009, completing a year long course designed to train pastors in the area of church planting. After completion of that course, Dhati and his family moved from Arkansas to Atlanta, GA with dreams to start a church that was both culturally relevant and biblically accurate. Dhati, along with 25 other individuals moving from Texas to GA, launched Blueprint Church in 2009. Dhati’s passions are for church planting and discipleship. Dhati is married to Angie Lewis and they have six beautiful children: Trinity(8), Jade(7), Briaiah(5), Dhati Jr(4), Brayden(3) and Christian(2)

Jo Saxton is a director of 3DM, a movement/organization helping churches develop a discipling and missional way of being the church. Originally from the UK, Jo was college pastor at St. Thomas Church, Sheffield, England, planting missional congregations amongst college students and young adults. Since moving to the US six years ago, Jo has served on church teams discipling young leaders and planting missional communities in areas ranging from the suburbs to the inner city. Jo is also the author of Real God, Real Life, exploring authentic spirituality in today’s world (released in 2010) Influential (2011) exploring the subject of women in leadership. Jo loves running, good music, reading books, blogs and magazines and laughing loudly with family and friends over a great meal. Jo is married to Chris, a pastor and they have two amazing daughters, Tia and Zoë.

Jeff Vanderstelt is a pastor at Soma Tacoma in Tacoma, WA. He is leader of leaders and a coach and trainer for church planters. His background includes music, business management, working with youth, training youth workers in North America and Europe and starting new churches. Jeff moved to Tacoma from Chicago with his wife Jayne to begin planting Soma. Jeff leads a Missional Community and the Downtown Expression, and he serves all of Soma in the areas of vision and teaching. Jeff is also on the Board of Acts 29, a church planting network. Jeff and Jayne have been married over 15 years and have 3 kids: Haylee, Caleb and Maggie.

VERGE Regional:Chicago is not just a conference, it is an experience and a conversation, globally connected and locally focused — for anyone pursuing the mission of God, in community, whatever the context, for the sake of the Gospel. Verge Chicago will resource the Church in Chicago and the greater Midwest to make disciples who make disciples in every sphere and domain of society, advocate for the poor and oppressed, mobilize urban and global mission leaders, and champion movements of gospel-centered missional communities.

Join us for 1.5 days of challenging main sessions, music, local-led conversations, networking opportunities and more, Verge Chicago 2013 is here to encourage, build up and renew all kinds of leaders engaged in the mission of God.

What does it mean to be a church on mission? To live with gospel intentionality in the places where we dwell, work & play? To grow disciples by example — both men & women? Recently there has been more and more of a resurgence in the interest and passion for making and multiplying disciples — for being a church on mission.

We long to see a Church that embraces the “forgotten ways” of God’s mission and will focus on four paradigm shifts necessary for, our maturity, Chicago’s good and Jesus’ fame.  That is why our theme at Verge Chicago 2013 is:

CREATING A MISSIONAL CULTURE

Park Community Church
1001 N Crosby St.
Chicago, IL 60610

Early Rate = $79

Now Thru August 1

Regular Rate = $99  | Regular Group Rate = $79

August 1 Thru September 30

Late Rate = $129

September 30 Thru November 1

ALERT312

From church basements, to club stages, to European music festivals, Boogalu has been proclaiming God’s truth for more than a decade. The Chicago native is the lead MC of Humble Beast’s live hip-hop band, Alert, and the creative visionary behind Streetlights—the world’s first hip-hop audio Bible and multimedia curriculum. His passion for the spoken word has given Boogalu a sharp, relevant, and urban approach to the communication of God’s Word. Moral One has a passion to create something new from something old—a fascination that drew him to the music scene. A DJ since 2001, Moral One loves to blend music from years past to produce an original sound, and has taken his turntables from church parking lots in Chicago to club stages in Japan. Currently signed to the Portland label Humble Beast with the band Alert, Moral One desires to use music to change lives for the glory of Jesus Christ—the originator of creating something new from something old. Moral One is also Assistant Project Manager of Streetlights Urban Audio Bible.

AARON CAUBLE

Hailing from Arlington, TX, Aaron and his wife Ashley arrived in Chicago following a 5-year stint in Austin, TX.  They both feel so blessed to get to be a part of what God is doing in the city of Chicago, and are humbled to serve at Mosaic Church.  As Pastor of Arts, Aaron hopes to see transformation in people’s lives, through the Spirit, by engaging the arts domain of the city and edifying the church through the use of art.