STORY: The Only Conference You Won’t Get Bored At

Let’s face it: Most Christian conferences, at some point, get boring.

You know what I’m talking about:

• The one guy who’s presenting only because he’s family friends with the senior pastor of the church the conference is being held at.
• The fatigue of the cross-country road trip to get to the conference starts to set in. Sleepy… Getting… so… sleepy…
• The pastor who insists on preaching a three-point, 60-minute sermon when he’s been told to only go 20 minutes.

Boring.

But I found myself at a conference last year that was unlike any I had been to before. STORY. STORY held my attention from beginning to end (maybe it was the city-wide search for free copies of the Divine Conspiracy?) and this year looks to be even better.

Billed as a “conference for the creative class”, STORY proves to bring one of the most unique array of speakers from all over the globe to one stage. The purpose is to fuel the church’s artists, writers and producers in communicating the greatest story ever told. On September 23 & 24, Chicago’s Park Church will host STORY where we’ll hear from some of the best creative practitioners in both ministry and the marketplace, from filmmakers and authors to actors and musicians:

• Dan Allender – best-selling author, professor at Mars Hill Graduate School
• Charlie Todd - creator of Improv Everywhere in New York City
• Princess Zulu – AIDS victim from infancy, advocate for the oppressed
• Jason Fried – founder of 37Signals, creator of Basecamp, author of Rework
• John Sowers – president of Donald Miller’s The Mentoring Project
• Shauna Niequist - former creative director at Mars Hill, author of Bittersweet
• David Hodges – formerly of the band Evanescence, award-winning songwriter
• Leonard Sweet – futurist, author of 40 books, professor at Drew University
• David McFadzean - creator of Home Improvement, producer of Roseanne
• Richard Walter - accomplished screenwriter and professor of film at UCLA
• Sean Gladding - member of Communality, a new monastic community
• Andrew Klavan – author of True Crime (Clint Eastwood) and numerous novels
• Gary Dorsey – founder of Pixel Peach Studio in Austin, TX
• Music by Vicky Beeching, Kari Jobe and Carlos Whittaker

Personally, I cannot wait to hear from Dan Allender, Jason Fried, Princess Zulu and Leonard Sweet. Those four alone will be worth the trip. The rest are just icing on the cake!

Seating is limited to just 500 attendees, and the event is scheduled on a Thursday and Friday so you can enjoy the weekend in the city. I’ve already got my tickets, do you?

Following its inaugural event in 2009, STORY is now a two-day, main-stage event with no breakouts or workshops; just an intimate audience with the top creative minds. You’ll be able to ask questions during the event and continue the conversation after it’s over.

So join me and hundreds of others … While you can. I know it’s hip to wait to the last minute, but I don’t think you’ll have that luxury here! Check out the site. Register. See you in September!