WI+H Movement

Meet the Visionary: Chris DeLaurentis

We are honored to welcome Chris DeLaurentis as a featured speaker for the upcoming WI+H Studio in Minnesota (May 29-30)!

Chris is a true pioneer of "Business as Justice." For over 33 years, he and his wife, Monica, have led the Life Center in downtown Minneapolis, creating a community engine that has seen roughly 30,000 families come to Christ. Chris doesn't just talk about restoration, he lives it, advocating for a long-term discipleship process that walks alongside people for years to transform patterns of thinking and behavior.

Chris’s expertise extends beyond the walls of the church. As the owner of Aspiring Investments since 2004, he manages a portfolio of Historic Brownstone Rentals and duplexes in downtown Minneapolis. He understands firsthand how to leverage professional business excellence to foster community stability.

Why we’re excited to hear from Chris:

* Decades of Impact: Learn from his experience reaching the unreached through trauma-informed ministry.
* Civic Leadership: Hear how he engages with city government to address the drug epidemic and housing crisis.
* Marketplace Strategy: Gain insights into how property investment and mission-driven ventures like Potter’s House Coffee can fund neighborhood renewal.

Don’t miss this opportunity to learn from a leader who is building a legacy of restoration in Minneapolis!

Register today at the link in our comments!

Ready to move from vision to ex*****on?

To truly transform your community, you need the right tools. At the upcoming WI+H Studio in Minnesota, we’re giving you more than just inspiration. Participants will leave equipped with:

Regional Insights: In-depth demographic data tailored to your specific city or town.

Actionable Plans: A clear roadmap for launching a "business as justice" in your neighborhood.

Kingdom Connections: A unique networking opportunity with regional leaders who share your passion for restoration.

Don't just treat the symptoms—let’s transform the systems. See you May 29th & 30th at the ICCM Life Center!

Register today: [Link]

What if our faith was never meant to be contained within four walls or limited to a single day of the week? We believe God is calling His people to dream beyond Sunday and recognize that the Church is uniquely positioned to answer the cries of our cities.

When we view the Church as a launchpad for restoration we begin to see that business is more than just a means for profit, but a powerful tool to advance justice, dignity, and human flourishing.

We are calling this movement Business as Justice, and it is our collective invitation to:

✅ Build enterprises that serve people: Shifting from extraction to restoration by prioritizing the needs of our neighbors.
✅ Create long-term economic stability: Moving away from short-term gain toward sustainability that supports families and circulates wealth within the community.
✅ Transform neighborhood systems: Rather than just treating symptoms, we aim to redesign the very ecosystems of our neighborhoods so that everyone can thrive.

Join the Think Tank, what we have coined as our WI+H Studio.

Are you ready to turn your vision for your city into a tangible reality? Join us for the WI+H Studio in Minnesota on May 29th and 30th, 2026.

This isn't just another workshop, it is a space to unlock regional insights through tailored demographic data and walk away with a clear, actionable plan to launch a business that uplifts your neighborhood.

Let’s stop just treating the symptoms of inequality and start building the systems of justice. It’s time to take the church out of the building and into the heart of our community.

Event Details:
📍 When: May 29th & 30th, 2026
🔗 www.with.city/mnstudio

We’re heading to Minnesota on May 29-30 for a two-day think tank on community renewal!

WI+H is excited to partner with , a pillar of community transformation in the inner city of MN with decades of hands-on community impact. ICCM equips individuals and neighborhoods for lasting change, including through business as justice driven ventures like Potter’s House Coffee.

Hear from expert practitioners like and to learn how churches and faith leaders are becoming catalysts for justice by launching businesses like grocery stores and laundromats & wellness centers that enhance local infrastructure + address systemic inequality.

This is your opportunity to actively participate in ideating, strategizing + launching businesses that directly meet your neighborhood’s needs.

Come connect with a network of leaders and turn your vision for neighborhood flourishing into a tangible reality.

Register at the 🔗 in our bio!

We’re heading to Minnesota on May 29-30 for a two-day think tank on community renewal!

WI+H is excited to partner with ICCM Life Center, a pillar of community transformation in the inner city of MN with decades of hands-on community impact. ICCM equips individuals and neighborhoods for lasting change, including through business as justice driven ventures like Potter’s House Coffee.

Learn from expert practitioners how churches and faith leaders are becoming catalysts for justice by launching businesses like grocery stores and laundromats that enhance local infrastructure + address systemic inequality.

This is your opportunity to actively participate in ideating, strategizing + launching businesses that directly meet your neighborhood’s needs.

Come connect with a network of leaders and turn your vision for neighborhood flourishing into a tangible reality.

[Link] to register is in the comments!

Justice Through Financial Access

Maggie Lena Walker saw a painful reality: Black families worked hard but were locked out of banking systems, loans, and financial security.

So she built one.

She became the first Black woman in America to charter and lead a bank, creating pathways for homeownership, business funding, savings, and financial education in her community.

Her faith shaped her belief that stewardship wasn’t just personal — it was institutional.

Communities thrive when capital flows righteously and access is equitable. Justice doesn’t only fight what’s wrong, it builds what’s missing.

Where are people still blocked from access — and what might God be calling us to create?

Justice Through Financial Protection and Ownership

John Merrick understood that economic vulnerability was not just a financial issue, it was a spiritual one.

When Black families were denied access to insurance, capital, and economic security, Merrick helped build what the system refused to provide. Through the founding of North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, he created an institution that offered dignity in life and death, stable jobs, and circulating wealth within the Black community.

Rooted in his Christian faith, Merrick believed stewardship meant protecting families, creating opportunity, and building institutions that could outlast hardship. His work reminds us that the Gospel doesn’t only comfort, butt covers, provides, and sustains.

Justice doesn’t always begin with protest.

Sometimes, it begins with building what the people need.

What might the Gospel be calling us to build in order to protect dignity and create stability in our communities today?

Rev. Leon Sullivan pastored a thriving church in Philadelphia — but he refused to separate spiritual revival from economic renewal.

When his community lacked access to jobs, capital, and dignified commerce, he helped build Progress Plaza, the first Black-owned shopping center in the nation. It wasn’t symbolic. It created real jobs, business ownership, and circulating dollars within the neighborhood.

Sullivan believed that preaching without pathways to stability was incomplete discipleship. Faith had to touch paychecks, training pipelines, and community ownership.

His leadership reminds us that justice requires infrastructure — places where dignity can live and multiply.

Justice is not only something we protest for, it’s something we build.

Throughout history, African-American Christian leaders didn’t wait for systems to change. They created new systems rooted in dignity, access, ownership, and opportunity.

This month, we’re highlighting four leaders who treated business as a form of justice, using enterprise to heal community wounds, restore agency, and model Kingdom economics.

Madam C.J. Walker wasn’t just the first self-made female millionaire in America — she was a justice architect.

At a time when Black women had limited access to employment, education, or financial security, Walker built a national beauty manufacturing company that trained and employed thousands of Black women as sales agents and entrepreneurs. She didn’t just sell products, she built pathways to ownership, confidence, and generational stability.

Her business became a platform for reinvestment into churches, schools, civil rights organizations, and community care. Walker understood something deeply biblical: when people gain economic agency, dignity follows.

Justice doesn’t always look like protest. Sometimes it looks like payroll, training, mentorship, and ownership.

Book Recommendation!!!
We now live in a season when political narratives are louder than biblical convictions, Don’t Let Nobody Turn You Around by Justin Giboney is a timely and courageous resource for pastors of every background—Black, White, Hispanic, and beyond.
This book challenges the Church to resist being shaped by party politics and instead remain firmly rooted in Christ first, Scripture first, and Kingdom witness. It equips leaders to navigate cultural pressure without compromising truth or love.
We believe the Church must model unity in a divided culture. This resource helps pastors lead their congregations with Compassion + Conviction, clarity without capitulation, and courage without contempt.
I am reading it now and see it as a must-read for pastors who want to shepherd faithfully, preach boldly, and disciple believers beyond political labels.

Don't Let Nobody Turn You Around Choose Witness Over War It's possible to be faithful in the public square without joining the culture war. In fact, there's a model. The Black church's social action tradition has long rejected the