AGAPE 2026 Will Equip Churches for Gospel-Centered Unity

AGAPE 2026 will bring Christians from across the country to Pleasant Valley Church of Christ in Little Rock, Arkansas, November 6–8, for a focused gathering on gospel-centered unity, Christlike love, worship, listening, and reconciliation. The conference’s central conviction is that unity does not happen by accident. It grows as believers receive the reconciling work of Jesus, learn to hear one another truthfully, and practice love across differences that often divide churches and communities. Featured presenter Derwin Gray, founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church, is known for teaching on multiethnic ministry, biblical reconciliation, and the church’s public witness. The intended audience includes ministers, elders, teachers, worship leaders, singers, students, church teams, and committed followers of Christ who want congregations to become stronger and communities to become more reconciled. A premium track begins Friday during the day with leadership development and new music, while the main conference begins Friday evening and continues through Saturday afternoon with keynote sessions, breakout learning, worship, and light meals. The official schedule extends the gathering through Sunday, giving visiting participants an opportunity to experience the host congregation and continue the conference’s emphasis in worship. Pleasant Valley Church of Christ is located at 10900 Rodney Parham Road in Little Rock. Registration options account for different ages and roles, including students and ministry leaders, which makes the event suitable for congregations that want to send a multigenerational team rather than a single representative. Its nationwide relevance comes from a problem shared by churches everywhere: theological conviction must be joined to patient, visible practices of love if Christian unity is to become credible.

Participants can prepare to receive the greatest value by treating AGAPE as more than an inspirational weekend. A church team might arrive with one real challenge in view: racial distrust, generational separation, political hostility, worship conflict, leadership fatigue, or a weak relationship with its neighborhood. During plenary teaching and breakouts, team members can listen for biblical principles, habits, and language that address that challenge without minimizing truth. They should also make space to hear believers whose experiences differ from their own, because reconciliation requires humility as well as clarity. After returning home, the team could share a concise report with elders or ministry leaders, select one practice to test for 90 days, and identify a trusted person responsible for follow-through. Possible next steps include shared prayer gatherings, a Scripture-based listening process, pulpit and classroom teaching on the unity of the body, collaborative service with another congregation, or clearer pathways for younger leaders to contribute. The goal is not public relations or shallow agreement. Christian unity is rooted in Christ, ordered by truth, and expressed through costly love. Gray’s book and ministry provide a useful theological bridge between the conference message and local action, especially for leaders navigating racial division. Because the event combines worship, teaching, leadership formation, and relationships, it can serve both experienced ministers and emerging leaders. Churches that send a team should budget time after the conference for honest debriefing and measurable commitments. AGAPE 2026 offers a practical reason to travel: participants can return with shared vocabulary, renewed relationships, and tested ministry ideas for building congregations in which reconciliation is not merely announced but practiced.