Most good stories start with a fundamental list of ingredients: the initial situation, conflict, complication, climax, suspense, denouement, and conclusion. Great writers sometimes shake up the recipe and add some spice.
Exposition (Initial Situation)
The story starts in the fictional southern California town of Robledo, where Lauren observes things slowly falling apart. She's dreaming up her Earthseed religion, but at this point she doesn't even have a name for it. She still thinks maybe she'll get old enough to join the night watch eventually.
Rising Action (Conflict, Complication)
The two tasks of spreading Earthseed and leaving Robledo become joined together in Lauren's mind. Lauren sees the town getting attacked more often, so she works toward her goals a little...but not all that much. However, once Robledo is destroyed in Chapter 14, everything jumps into high gear. From that point forward, we find Lauren migrating north as a refugee, and she has to draw in followers for her religion. One by one, people join up.
Climax (Crisis, Turning Point)
All kinds of stuff happens to our heroes on the road, but the real climax comes when those traveling with Lauren all have to say on whether they'll stay on Bankole's land and build Earthseed with her or not. This is when we find out who really believes in Lauren's religion and who doesn't. Perhaps surprisingly, everyone decides to stay. Go Team Lauren.
Falling Action
Now that everyone's decided to stay on Bankole's land, they hold a service for all those they've lost. They also plant some trees. Basically, these rituals are there to give them a sense of starting anew. Everything's nice and wonderful, it seems. Or at least it's something different.
Resolution (Denouement)
Hmm, it does kind of feel like the novel finishes without tying everything up. Like, who is this Grayson Mora dude, and what's the significance of his being a hyperempathy sharer? Ditto for Emery and Tori and Doe: they just kind of showed up in the last few chapters, and we didn't find out all that much about them. Well, guess what? There's a sequel to this book. It's called Parable of the Talents, and you should read it to get the full picture.