ATLANTA — Just over a hundred Virginia Baptists were among the more than 12,000 people converging on The Arena in suburban Atlanta's Gwinnett Center for the ninth annual Catalyst Conference, hosted by Andy Stanley, pastor of North Point Community Church in the north Atlanta suburbs.
Although originally conceived as a leadership conference for church leaders under the age of 40, the appeal of past conferences has caused older leaders to also take notice. According to Virginia Baptists who have attended past conferences, part of the success is the commitment of Catalyst to invite nationally-known leaders to share their insights. Occasionally unbelievers in the leadership field have also been tapped to address the gatherings.
Thousands fill The Arena in suburban Atlanta.
Catalyst conferences have intentionally provided practical leadership techniques while at the same time inspiring those who attend with sermons and biblical teaching from high-profile church leaders.
As in past years, business leadership gurus spoke to the crowd. In each case they sought to apply general principles of leadership while acknowledging that churches and businesses, while being very similar in some respects, are very different in others.
Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, a business best-seller, told the gathering, “It is a wrong idea to say that a church or any social enterprise should become like a business.” Still, churches, like businesses, need to concentrate on selecting the right leaders, he affirmed. He says churches not only need to get great leaders on the bus but make sure they are in the right seats on the bus.
Marketing expert Seth Godin, author of nine books, including Purple Cow and Meatball Sundae, told church leaders to “become heretics. Heretics don't let religion stand in the way of their faith.” Likening churches to tribes, he said they want and need leaders who are not willing to settle for safety. “Real leaders spend their time doing things for the tribe, not to the tribe,” he said. He provided every conferee with a copy of his latest book, Tribes — We Need You to Lead Us.
Other national leaders included Tim Sanders, a former Yahoo executive who has been called an irrepressible advocate for good values in the business world, and Dave Ramsey, personal money management expert and a popular national radio and TV personality.
Most speakers, however, were from the religious realm. In addition to Stanley, two of the more popular preachers were 28-year-old Steven Furtick, pastor of Elevation Church of Charlotte, N.C., identified as one of the 10 fastest growing churches in America, and Brenda Salter McNeil, an African-American evangelist and founder of a company that seeks to develop inter-culturally competent leaders.
Inspiration came in other forms, too. Austin Gutwein is 12 years old. Three years ago, concerned about an African pen pal whose parents had AIDS, he began Hoops of Hope — a means of raising money through pledging for basketball freethrows made. In partnership with World Vision, his organization has raised more than $450,000 and has built a school in Africa.
From Africa, a children's choir sang and quoted Scripture in what proved to be one of the most touching, heart-rending and worshipful moments of the conference (see editorial).
The Virginia Baptist Mission Board assisted with transportation arrangements, and VBMB field strategist Eddie Heath coordinated the event by purchasing tickets and making housing arrangements. Lunches were provided by the Ray and Ann Spence Network (RASNET) and the emerging leaders and empowering leaders teams.