THE WAY OF JESUS TODAY
IN THE HEART OF THE CITY
Chicago is a city of wonderfully diverse, interconnected neighborhoods, and we believe our neighbors are looking for a rich, vibrant community. Yet today, our world feels increasingly fragmented as life becomes more digital and we lose a sense of rootedness in ‘place.’ Further, the pandemic has ruptured a sense of deep connections for many of us.
Following Jesus is more than a set of beliefs; it is a lifestyle. Within our neighborhoods, we covenant in mission and community with others who live within walking distance to create a new sense of being at ‘home’ together.
Because we follow Jesus, we open our doors, welcome each other to tables alive with robust conversation and foster neighborhoods practicing authentic discipleship.
WE INVITE YOU LIVE OUT THE WAY OF JESUS TODAY – TOGETHER.
The Way of Jesus Today is a ministry of Holy Trinity Church Downtown Chicago
“One thing have I asked of the LORD, that will I seek after: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to inquire in his temple.” Psalm 27:4
VISION
Recreating the life of a village: BUILDING A CITY WITHIN A CITY
Picture an ancient rural village. The village is a simple community designed to meet the basic needs of life. From your farm, you could walk to buy eggs, borrow flour from a neighbor or gather in a marketplace to exchange news. More importantly, at the center of an ancient rural village was a spiritual community – a church building. In fact technically speaking the difference between a hamlet and a village is that a village is a hamlet with a church. No church, no village. In a massive city like Chicago, with dense and diverse neighborhoods, we seek to replicate the spiritual and social vitality of the ancient rural village in the modern urban environment through what we call a Intentional Christian Communities (ICCs). Located throughout the Chicago’s neighborhoods, yet connected to HTC Downtown, an ICC is a “neighborhood village,” a residential community of followers of Jesus who live within ten-minute walk of one another for the sake of gospel and mission.
Our vision is to spread gospel communities throughout four regions of the city; central, south, west and north.
Our Theory of change
God changes cities through prayer and the preaching of the gospel, which produces disciple-making communities, leading to Spirit-empowered movements of the gospel sustained through networks of supportive relationships. Because culture actively shapes us with its own liturgies, we commit to our own rhythms for personal, communal and city formation.
WHAT IS AN INTENTIONAL CHRISTIAN COMMUNITY?
Dietrich Bonhoeffer, the German theologian who was executed by the Nazis in 1945 once wrote, “[L]et him who until now has had the privilege of living a common Christian life with other Christians praise God’s grace from the bottom of his heart. Let him thank God on his knees and declare: It is grace, nothing but grace that we are allowed to live in community with other Christians brothers and sisters.” (Life Together)
Intentional Christian Communities (ICCs) are how we have chosen to live out life together. How does it work? A few Christians covenant in commitment to their neighborhood and each other. Then this group catalyzes others to mission and community in their neighborhood and beyond. We practice The Way of Jesus Today in these communities.
We have committed to our neighborhoods and common Christian living with one another for the betterment of our streets, schools, and neighbors. Our Intentional Christian Communities are not established churches or church plants, but they serve as a point of nourishment for those who are captivated by the story of Jesus and want to faithfully live it out in the few square blocks within which they live.
The Way of Jesus Today has three core rhythms:
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Habitus refers to personal habits we use as ways of integrating the Way of Jesus into our everyday life. While none of these rhythms are magic, we ask God to use these to bring us into his presence as we go about our days.
Practices: solitude, meditation, radical ordinary discipleship, sabbath, prayer, worship, apostolic teaching
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One of the key principles of ICCs and The Way of Jesus Today is geographic proximity within community. Most of us have relocated to be in community and on mission together. We have a simple principle: every 12 months, when your lease expires, move within a ten minute walking distance of others from the church. And, when you can, buy a home and put down roots.
Through shared prayer, life, meals, worship, and mission we make a covenant to live out The Way of Jesus together in our neighborhood, together.
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We have a vision for God to change our city in the power of the gospel. This isn’t something we can do in our own power, but rather something only he can do.
We partner with Together Chicago to be a lasting catalyst for change in our city.
Where we Meet
We currently have Intentional Christian Communities (ICCs) in Lawndale, Wicker Park, and Pilsen and are building ICCs in the following Chicago neighborhoods. We are asking God to establish ICCs throughout each of the neighborhoods of Chicago. If your area isn’t listed here and you feel God nudging you toward this step, you likely aren’t alone. Please reach out so that we can get you connected.
Who can join?
Anyone who lives in the neighborhood! The grocery clerk or the fellow parent you always bump into at the park. Being a member of HTC Downtown is not a prerequisite of this expression of community.
JOIN
Meet the Team
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Jon Dennis
LEAD FOR CITY VISION
Jon is co-founder and the Senior Pastor of Holy Trinity Church in Chicago, a multi-ethnic church with congregations Downtown and on the North Side. He is the Lead for Vision and Strategy for Neopolis which focuses on training leaders in preaching, pastoring and planting to influence the world for Christ.Jon helped launch The Charles Simeon Trust, the Chicago Partnership for Church Planting and Together Chicago. Jon sits on several boards in the city including: Together Chicago, Neopolis, The Chicago Partnership, Crossway Books, and the Charles Simeon Trust. He has been published in a few books, but most notably, authored Christ + City: Why the Greatest Need of the City is the Greatest Need of All.
He earned his Doctor of Ministry from Westminster Theological Seminary in 2019. His dissertation was “To Change the City: Koinonia and the Global Urban Age”. He also has a masters from the University of Chicago and Trinity Evangelical Divinity School and a bachelors from Bethel College.
Jon Dennis loves Christ with his whole heart. He lives with his wife, Amy, in Chicago in the neighborhood of Hyde Park. They have five adult children, two children-in-law, two grandchildren (with one on the way) and a loving dog, Sawyer.
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Christian Park
DIRECTOR
Christian, married to Hee and father to Noah and Daniel, lives in the McKinley Park neighborhood of Chicago. Christian has a degree from University of California Davis, an MDiv from Moody Theological Seminary, and is passionate about helping Chicagoans find community throughout the neighborhoods of Chicago. Christian loves helping others grasp and apply the beauty and power of the gospel for their life and community. -
Jonathan Salinas
CATALYST
Jonathan was born in Chicago and grew up near Memphis. He is married to Jessie and enjoys connecting, hanging with and serving University of Illinois at Chicago students. Jonathan and Jessie have the darndest cute dog and are new homeowners in University Village near UIC where Jonathan serves college students. -
Jessie Salinas
DIRECTOR FOR PERSONAL FORMATION
AND CONNECTIONSJessie grew up in Tennessee and found Christ while in college. She found Jesus completely changing her life and loves helping other people discover more about him. Jessie helps new people get connected to Intentional Christian Communities across the city of Chicago and prepares them for a life of following Jesus.
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Ben Nussbaum
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITAS
Ben was married to Emma in the summer of 2022 and recently bought a new home – built in 1889! -- in the Logan Square neighborhood. Ben works full time for Re-work, and an organization helping connect Chicagoans to self-improving work. Ben’s focus with TWOJT is on helping to build a deep sense of missional community in the neighborhoods of Chicago. Ben helps new ICCs take the step of moving to a covenanted core to launch and sustain Intentional Christian Communities. -
Andria Vandermwere
LEAD FOR COMMUNITY INVESTMENT
Andria was born and raised in South Africa and has lived in Chicago for more than a decade. Andria loves the cultural life of Chicago and serves on a number of boards. Her true passion is seeing the love of Jesus extended to the under-resourced and disadvantaged in Chicago. Andria helps ICCs get connected to practical service opportunities in their neighborhoods, often in partnership with Together Chicago.
FAQs
What is an ICC?
An Intentional Christian Community is a group of believers residing in proximity to one another who are committed to live out the Gospel of Jesus Christ together in their neighborhood. An ICC is committed to live out the Way of Jesus Today. It is a lifestyle.
What distinguishes an ICC from a Community Group?
An ICC is a committed core that gathers 20-50 people together to “hang out” and do life together. A CG is a group that gathers regularly to study the word and to pray for one another.
Do I have to attend church or need to be a Christian to be a part of an ICC?
No. We want everyone who is able to be a part of a community. The pandemic has fractured our communities around the world, so we want ICCs to recreate communities that live life together.
What if an ICC is not near me?
We encourage you to start one in your area, or visit an ICC in a neighborhood in which you want to live.
How do I start an ICC in my area?
Start with prayer and gather others to join in prayer.
Reach out to the ICC Director.
How can I join an ICC?
Please fill out the ICC Form.
testimonies
After graduating college, I moved to Chicago in 2017 and spent 5 out of the 6 following years in the neighborhood of Pilsen. My first roommates at the time were attending HTC, and invited me to the summer women’s Bible study at the Buehler home. Despite being a part of a different church in the city, I looked forward to the HTC Bible study every year because I could feel the difference in my life through the foundational teaching. Amidst the grounding of my faith, I was encouraged by how welcoming the community was, and how vulnerable they were with one another throughout trying life circumstances. I made the leap in 2021 to transition churches, and have been with the Pilsen congregation throughout the closing of the church and merging with the Downtown branch. Being literal neighbors with my church family has made sharing life infinitely easier. All of the mundane parts of life - dropping off meals, babysitting, dog-walking, celebrating birthdays, car-pooling- are made richer because we have one another. I’ve felt sturdy and supported throughout these past few years despite being far away from my nuclear family! I couldn’t be more thankful and appreciative to grow in faith with my community. - Suzie S.
Being a part of the North Lawndale ICC has been so encouraging to me and my faith. We are all brothers and sisters in Christ, but "doing life" with one another solidifies that reality in a profound way. Living in close proximity, extending hospitality, and bearing one another's burdens are small but tangible ways we can imitate the early church who had "everything in common." And like the early church, the ultimate goal of the ICC is that the Lord would "add to our number day by day those who are being saved." Whether it's caring for the least of these through foster care, Safe Families, or adoption, participating in homeless outreach, loving the sojourner through migrant support, or preaching the gospel in our neighborhood, I am so humbled to see how our little outpost of the Kingdom has been used by the Lord for his glory and our sanctification. - Will A.