Last month, The Gospel Coalition hosted one of its largest national conferences, gathering thousands of attendees who came to Indianapolis from all 50 states and from 41 countries.
United around the theme Hope in the Wilderness, TGC23 attendees heard keynote messages from the Book of Exodus and enjoyed a variety of topical microevents sponsored by more than 20 partnering organizations. CityAlight, the worship ministry of St. Paul’s Castle Hill in Sydney, Australia, led singing throughout the conference.
Now, we’re excited to announce the release of all the audio and video sessions from TGC23, available for you to stream at your convenience and share with others. To access the eight keynote talks and more than 30 microevents, simply head to TGC.org/tgc23/on-demand/ and dive into the enriching content.
TGC23 Notes and Highlights
In addition to hours of solid teaching, stimulating panel discussions, and practical workshops, TGC23 was full of encouraging moments and takeaways.
New and Younger Faces in the Crowd
Many longtime TGC conference attendees remarked that TGC23 felt especially full of next-generation leaders. Indeed, more than half of the registrants were attending their first TGC conference, and 2,936 attendees were younger than 40.
One older attendee posted on social media, “I’m struck by the thousands of people here who weren’t even born when I was in seminary. I’m optimistic about the future.” At a time when the prevailing narrative suggests young people are disengaging from church and theologically conservative ministry, TGC23 showed otherwise.
Delighting in the Global Body of Christ
From Australia’s CityAlight to keynote speakers from the U.K., Kenya, and the Dominican Republic—not to mention attendees who traveled from dozens of different nations—the diverse beauty of the global gospel movement was on display. As one attendee observed,
Going to conferences like @TGC remind me how valuable it is to connect with friends in the global church! There were brothers and sisters in Christ from all over the US, Canada and world. It reminds us how big God is and how much hope there is for the church today!
Palpable Joy
Numerous attendees remarked after the conference that TGC23 was refreshing in how joyful it was. In a social media post, Trevin Wax said, “In reflecting with others on #TGC23 one thing keeps coming up: the palpable presence of joy in the place. I’ve been to every national conference since 2009. This one was happiest. Everywhere, everyone exuding joy.” Others concurred, noting how “God’s presence felt strangely visible.”
Launch of New Theological Resource Center
During the conference, TGC announced the launch of The Carson Center for Theological Renewal, including a new collection of free theological resources designed to equip the whole church—for anyone called to teach, and anyone who wants to study the Bible.
Outpouring of Generosity
Thanks to more than 1,000 donors who contributed to our TGC23 “Share Your Shelf” conference project, we met our $60,000 targets to translate TGC commentaries into Spanish and Arabic—for a total of more than $120,000 raised over the three days of the conference. These and other translation projects will be part of the ongoing work of The Carson Center to equip church leaders globally with biblically faithful resources to enrich their ministries.
Books and More Books
The vast conference bookstore buzzed day and night. Many returned home with suitcases full of deeply discounted books (more than 36,000 books were sold in the conference bookstore over three days). Social media was rife with posts about TGC23 book hauls—demonstrating the ongoing importance of books and reading in the gospel-centered renewal movement.
TGC Council Expands
While in Indianapolis for TGC23, the TGC Council convened for their annual private meeting, where they officially welcomed 10 new Council members, including J. D. Greear and the nine previously announced new members.
Join Us in 2024 and 2025
As you can see by watching the free sessions from TGC23, or by browsing our Facebook photo album, or by watching our recap video, TGC23 was a blast—a time of inspiring teaching, joyful worship, enriching training, and encouraging community.
If you missed the conference, be sure to join us at our upcoming events. Our next women’s conference is June 20 to 22, 2024. Registration just opened. If you’re a woman thinking of attending, be sure to register for TGCW24 by December 2 to secure the lowest rate, and join us for Behold and Believe: Encountering Jesus as the Great I AM.
Be sure to also save the date for our 2025 conference, returning to springtime in Indianapolis, April 22 to 24, 2025. Theme and other details to be announced in 2024.
