That’s the vision that drives a lot of what we do as a church.
Jesus’ final command was to make disciples of all nations. We believe that every follower of Christ is called to be a kingdom worker—someone who takes part in the life-changing work of sharing the gospel. How do we live this out? Following the example of the Acts 2 church (Acts 2:42-27).
From reading the Bible together in the mornings to sharing meals around the table, we believe a close-knit church family is the ideal context for raising up kingdom workers.
In 2018, a group of recent college graduates from California moved to Illinois with a bold vision: to reach students at UChicago and Northwestern with the love of Christ. A voyage had begun.
Our Journey So Far
Since then, the ministry has grown. In 2021, we began reaching students at Illinois Tech and launched an international student ministry. In 2024, we began Sunday Services in Downtown Chicago as we welcomed college students from University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) and many schools in The Loop as well: Roosevelt University, Columbia College, DePaul University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) and many others. In 2025, we launched Acts2 Next to support young adults navigating post-college life.
We want to be a spiritual home for young people throughout Chicagoland. Wherever you are on your spiritual journey, we invite you to hop on and join the voyage.
James and his wife, Claire, met at UC Berkeley. Claire was a no-nonsense, straight-arrow goody-goody from Greater Los Angeles. James was a brooding kid with anger management issues from grunge capital Seattle. During college, they both met Jesus, and that changed the direction of their lives. Now, they're ministering to college students, and they've been at it for almost three decades. Outside of ministry, Claire enjoys reading at a cozy café with a good latte or getting competitive on the basketball court. James enjoys ice skating and makes a pretty mean dark chocolate chip cookie. If you see him, you might want to ask for one.
