Love on the Mountain: Highlights from Harbor 2026

I know not everyone can come to Harbor every year. But I wish they would.

Something was different this year. You could feel it before the first session began — in the hum of conversation filling the lobby, in the way old friends found each other across crowded rooms, in the simple fact that there were more of us. Harbor 2026 drew one of the strongest attendance numbers in recent memory, a sign that the hunger for deep, substantive Christian community within the Churches of Christ is not fading. It is growing.

The theme — A More Excellent Way: The Transformative Power of Love — came from Paul’s soaring declaration in 1 Corinthians 13, and it proved to be more than a conference motto. It became a lens through which well over a thousand people examined their own lives, their churches, and their relationships with God and neighbor. By the end of the week, it felt less like a theme we had chosen and more like one that had chosen us.

A Spirit That Filled the Room

If attendance told the story quantitatively, the spirit of the gathering told it qualitatively. Worship was electric. Firestone Fieldhouse, which hosted this conference for decades felt renewed. There was a generosity among participants — an eagerness to linger in conversation, to sit with hard questions, to extend grace across disagreement. The spirit of agape that Paul describes — patient, kind, not self-seeking — was not just preached. It was practiced, imperfectly and beautifully, all week long.

A Farewell and a Forward Leap

Harbor 2026 also carried the weight of a meaningful transition. For generations of attendees, Firestone Fieldhouse has been more than a venue — it has been a sanctuary of sorts, a place where sermons were preached and friendships were forged and the sounds of a cappella praise rose into the rafters year after year. Saying goodbye to it as our primary gathering space was no small thing. But there is something fitting about a conference rooted in the biblical theme of love choosing to honor the past while stepping boldly into the future. That future has a home: the Mountain at Mullin Park. This extraordinary new village and arena will give Harbor 2027 a setting that matches the scope of what this gathering has always aspired to be. As we picture that space filled with the people of God, it is hard not to feel that the best chapters of this historic gathering may still be ahead. Next year’s theme and keynote lineup were released on Thursday night. I have embedded a video we showed on the closing night of Harbor in Firestone Fieldhouse that drives the point home. You should definitely give it a look.

Preaching That Moved the Needle

The preaching at Harbor 2026 was simply outstanding. Session after session, the pulpit was occupied by men and women who had done the hard work — in the text, in prayer, in life — and it showed. Sermons were anchored in Scripture and reached into the present moment with precision and pastoral warmth. There were moments of laughter, moments of silence, moments where you could sense an entire room exhaling something it had been holding for a long time.

A Baptism on Friday

The single most unforgettable moment of Harbor 2026 happened on Friday. When she came up out of the water, the response was immediate and overwhelming. Applause, tears, embraces from strangers who suddenly felt like family. It was one of those moments that reminds you why we gather — not merely for ideas or inspiration, but because the gospel is still doing what it has always done: calling people home. Those who opened their apartment to her, pointed her to Christ, prayed with her and physically baptized her—were strangers at the beginning of Harbor. Now they are family. Love was on full display.

Looking Ahead

Harbor exists because we believe the church is worth investing in — its preaching, its unity, its formation of disciples who know how to love. This year’s conference was a powerful reminder that this investment yields fruit. The conversations that began this week will continue in living rooms and church offices and coffee shops across the country. The questions raised from the pulpit will be wrestled with for months.

We are grateful for every person who made the journey to Malibu. We are grateful for the speakers, the volunteers, the worship leaders, and the prayer warriors who poured themselves out so others could be filled. And we are grateful for a God whose love, Paul assures us, never fails.

Here are some highlights from Harbor 2026—including the aformentioned video. We’ll see you at Harbor 2027. May 4-7. Be there!