Meet Our Team
Elliott & Sarah Schweickert
Elliott and Sarah Schweickert are the founders and two of the senior leaders of The Living Room Virginia.
They started The Living Room out of a hunger to worship and gather in the context of family and community.
By coming together in the pursuit of authenticity and heart connection, they have discovered attributes of the kingdom of God that could only be found around tables and in living rooms.
The mission of their family is “to live in such a way that the whole world feels they are invited.” It has been a thread that they have pursued throughout their lives both privately and publicly.
Elliott and Sarah’s mission is to live from a place of wholeheartedness and be fully connected to the Holy Spirit and each other.
They long to empower a generation to live with bold faith and a resounding yes to the pursuit of God’s presence.
Elliott is a former alumni of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry in Redding, CA. He was adopted from Ukraine and still has strong ties with family and friends there. He has a heart for South Africa and has spent much time serving with Iris Ministries there. He was also an associate pastor for 5 years at The River Church in Toano, VA.
Sarah has a passion for the arts and creativity. She is currently the managing director of Central Virginia Dance Academy. She wants to inspire others to chase curiosities in their lives and to connect to the Lord through play, joy and creativity. She is a recording artist as well as a dancer and avid painter.
Both Sarah and Elliott are very active in the management of King of Clubs Brewing Co, a coffee roastery that was recently acquired by The Living Room. They are excited to continue in management and grow a business that can not only fund the kingdom of God but also be an open atmosphere for others to connect with each other and the Lord.
They currently live in Richmond, VA with their cat, Todd.
Emily Wade
Emily is part of the Senior Leadership Team at The Living Room where she oversees the prophetic culture.
A graduate of Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry, Emily is passionate about living in authentic vulnerability within community and equipping believers to encounter the Lord.
She has a mandate on her life to raise up a prophetic community and empower a generation of people who will display the raw power of God in their sphere of influence.
Her heart is to equip, empower and release revivalists who will pay any price to live in tangible intimacy with Holy Spirit and ensure Jesus receives the full reward for His suffering: a healthy, whole, empowered Bride.
Ben Hakim
Ben is part of the Senior Leadership at The Living Room where he oversees evangelism and discipleship culture.
His passion is to see people come fully alive in walking out the fullness of their identity in Christ in everyday life through demonstration of the supernatural power of God. Ben is passionate to equip, empower and activate the Body of Christ in their gifts, passions and callings.
Our Heavenly Father is good and Ben believes that at our core everyone truly desires to know the Father through Christ Jesus! They just need to be awoken by an encounter with His goodness!
We as His Heavenly Kids have the joy of revealing His goodness to others that they too would come alive!
We indeed owe the world an encounter with His love, having become in Christ a living love letter seen and read by all!
Ben attended Bethel School of Supernatural Ministry and interned for Evangelist Christ Overstreet. After his time at Bethel Church, Ben spent 4 years overseas in China with a group of other passionate revivalists sharing the gospel and planting churches.
Ben’s chief pursuit is to preach, teach and equip the Body of Christ to demonstrate the simple gospel message effectively in their everyday lives through miracles, signs and wonders.
Tania Blanco
Tania serves as a senior leader of The Living Room (TLR) and is a founding member of its board of directors. She earnestly desires to witness the Church functioning effectively as God’s primary agent of transformational restoration in the world.
With almost ten years of experience in the business sector, Tania contributes a grounded balance and wisdom to the TLR team. She synchronizes her efforts with senior leader Elliott Schweikert to advance the vision for TLR. She also supervises financial management for the ministry and for Kingship Coffee, its locally associated roastery.
Tania's passions include business, kingdom finances, and community building. She clearly senses the Lord’s universal call to stewardship and yearns to witness and support every Christian's journey toward financial freedom. Tania is meticulous, managerially gifted, adept at formulating clear-cut decisions, and maximizes team effectiveness by leveraging the talent of every individual involved. Her competence in establishing vibrant, Christ-centered community forums is expressed by fostering healthy spaces designed to allow those involved to encounter the love of God, discover their true identity in Jesus, and become family. This vision is at the core of the TLR motto: “Belong, Believe, Become.”
Tania was born and raised in Veracruz, Mexico and graduated from Liberty University in 2009 with two Bachelor's degrees in Marketing and International Business. She became a naturalized United States citizen in 2018 and currently lives in Williamsburg, Virginia. Her experiences both abroad and at home developed within her an abiding gratitude for the freedom and values that the United States is founded upon.
Everything Tania does is with excellence and high responsibility. Tania is “an engine” to the TLR team.
Tania enjoys physical fitness, fine dining, and her adorable dog TJ. She is an avid traveler and loves to explore the world. Fun fact: Tania has traveled to and through more than 36 countries.