The Associated Church Press will hold its 2025 convention April 30 – May 2 in Chicago with the theme Connect | Collaborate | Celebrate. We will return to the facilities of Fourth Presbyterian Church and our preferred hotel, the Millennium Knickerbocker, with a program focused on journalism and publishing skill development and knowledge sharing.

Religious news organizations and journalists will come to Chicago to connect with and learn from one another. Space is available for news organization meetings on Wednesday afternoon.

Over 15 sessions, spanning topics such as grant funding, using AI, audience demographics, workflows and more will be covered on Thursday and Friday, culminating in our Awards Celebration Friday night.

Click here for the full conference program.
Conference location: Fourth Presbyterian Church
Hotel: Millennium Knickerbocker. Room block link Expires April 7; Room rate is $129 / night (Friday night is $139). booking link here.

Interested in sponsoring the convention? Please visit our sponsorship page for details and payment options.

See this years speakers here.

Ticket Pricing

• Individual Registration                                                      $395.00
• Group Registration (3+ from same party)                      $350.00
• ACP Awards Banquet Only                                               $ 95.00

Convention Schedule

Unless otherwise indicated, all convention activities take place at Fourth Presbyterian Church, 126 E Chestnut St, Chicago, IL 60611. Note: the schedule is subject to change as we finalize speakers.

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30

Registration 2:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Fourth Presbyterian

Space for News Organization Meetings 2:00 pm – 3:30 pm
Bringing remote staff to the ACP conference? Reserve a breakout room for a newsroom meeting. Spaces are limited.

Mixing Bowl 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Real life discussions on various subjects in self-selected small groups. Use our “Ask Me About” tags to identify subjects where you can be a resource or use our table prompts as a jumping off point for discussion.

Opening Worship 5:00 pm – 5:45 pm
Worship in Buchanan Chapel.

Opening Reception 6:00 pm – 9:00 pm
Opening Pizza Party at Giordano’s, 740 N. Rush Street, Chicago sponsored by Shanley & Associates. Join in fellowship for salad, pizza, dessert & sodas (alcohol on your own)

THURSDAY, MAY 1

Registration and Networking all day
Fourth Presbyterian

Opening Prayer 8:30 am – 9:00 am
Location TBD

Training & Discussion tracks—Session 1
9:15 am —10:30 am Workshops and roundtable discussions led by industry experts, on a variety of topics. The schedule will be posted as it becomes available.

Content
Covering Natural Disasters
How can journalists cover natural disasters without exploiting the tragedy? Are there practical tips for going to disaster-affected sites and producing qualitypieces?

People
What does your audience want? How can you use surveys, analytics and other data tools to better understand what your audience wants?
Heidi Thompson, Shanley & Associates. See more about Heidi Thompson.
(LOCATION TBD)

Management
Rightsizing your organization
How can organizations discern the right mix of roles, staff and scope to achieve their missions?

Take a BREAK
10:30 am —10:45 am Connect with others.

General Session: Changing social media: Platforms, ethics & algorithms
10:45 am —noon Understand what is changing in social media. With the potential shuttering of TikTok, the advent of BlueSky and changes to Meta’s fact-checking policies, how can journalists reach audiences ethically and easily?

Lunch with Keynote Speaker
Noon – 1:30 pm Lunch with Keynote Speaker Adelle Banks, who will discuss her new book “Becoming a Future-Ready Church: 8 Shifts to Encourage and Empower the Next Generation of Leaders” See more about Adelle Banks

Take a BREAK
1:30 pm —1:45 pm Connect with others.

Training & Discussion tracks—Session 2
1:45 pm —3:00 pm Workshops and roundtable discussions led by industry experts, on a variety of topics. The schedule will be posted as it becomes available.

Content
What to do when you are the story? Handling controversy
The National Cathedral became the focus of presidential anger early this year as Rev. Budde spoke out against some of the actions of the Trump presidency.

Revenue Generation
New Revenue Streams
Our panel discusses the new revenue streams that are showing promise – and facilitates discussion on what is working for those in the audience.

Rebecca Snyder, ACP – Facilitator (LOCATION TBD)

Workflow
Using AI ethically
How can organizations take advantage of AI – ethically?

Take a BREAK
3:00 pm —3:30 pm Connect with others.

ACP Business Meeting
3:30 pm —4:00 pm Annual meeting of ACP with a review of our work in 2024 and a look towards the future.

Explore and Dinner
4:00 pm – 7:00 pm Free time to explore the city. Dinner is freestyle.

Fellowship: Second City Mainstage Outing
8:00 pm SHOWTIME. Gather at hotel for communal Ubers at 7:15 pm or meet the group at the Mainstage (1616 Wells Street). Join ACP at Chicago’s famed Second City Improv review. Tickets are general seating ($40 each). Tickets are limited, so please reserve yours asap!

FRIDAY, MAY 2

Opening Prayer 8:30 am – 9:00 am
Location TBD

Training & Discussion tracks—Session 1
9:15 am —10:30 am Workshops and roundtable discussions led by industry experts, on a variety of topics. The schedule will be posted as it becomes available.

Design/Multimedia
Doing it all…what makes you successful?
Which programs and workflows help maximize your resources?

People/Audience
Shifting demographics in American religion
Deep dive into research about how people perceive religion.

Revenue Generation
Fundraising / Grant Writing
How can organizations level up with their fundraising strategies?

Take a BREAK
10:30 am —10:45 am Connect with others.

Training & Discussion tracks—Session 2
10:45 am —noon Workshops and roundtable discussions led by industry experts, on a variety of topics. The schedule will be posted as it becomes available.

Editorial / Design
Language and Bias in Media
How does our unconscious bias color coverage?

Innovation
Reaching new audiences through non-traditional forums
Learn from members who are using Substack, podcast and other non-traditional forums to reach new audiences.

Revenue Generation
Strategies for major gift fundraising
Annual giving campaigns, special campaigns, ongoing giving – learn the different tools available to make your online giving program more cohesive and consistent.

Lunch with Keynote Speaker
Noon – 1:30 pm Lunch with Keynote Speaker

Explore the city
1:30 pm —5:30 pm FREE TIME.

Reception
5:30 pm – 6:30 pm Pre-dinner Reception

Awards Dinner & Program
6:30 pm – 9:30 pm Winners of the 2024 contest will be honored.

EVENT HOSTED BY 

The Associated Church Press
500 Hawthorn Road
Baltimore, MD 21210
Rebecca Snyder
office@theacp.org