Catalyst West Coast premiered last week here in Orange County. I had the honor of attending this Church leadership conference, here are some of my takeaways from Day 1:
(go here for thoughts on Catalyst West Coast - Day 2 )
Host: Mariner's Church, Irvine, Ca
Have you ever visited this Church? Incredible campus! The Church has its own lake, skate park, modern wood framed chapel, state of the art auditorium and a Student Center that looks like Vans Skate park at the Block of Orange. I have never seen a Church quite like this one. A few of us at Calvary are thinking about taking over this church campus "pirate style" and making it the new Calvary Church....Stay tuned.
Atmosphere of Catalyst: Encouraging, Fun
From the moment I arrived, I could tell this conference was going to be fun. As you walked into the main building, there were a group of "fans" and "papparazi" greeting you on a long red carpet...kind of cheesy, but seriously it was encouraging! And the end of each day, Catalyst volunteers were staged at the parking lot exits washing car windows, holding banners and just genuinly being excited that everyone came. In between arriving and leaving the conference had all kinds of fun suprises from free Chick-Fil-A (Andrew Cathy is my hero) to free thunder sticks at every seat and comedians to kick off various sessions like this guy:
Worship Vibe: Loud, Passionate, Hillsong!!!!!!!
Hillsong United kicked off worship at Catalyst with such humility, passion and musical chops...To be honest, I am growing tired of the Nashville produced, Goo-Goo Doll Hair Weaving, V-Necked T-Shirt wearing, Prom Songs to Jesus Styled Worship Leaders that seem to be filling Christian bookstores with CD after CD. Catalyst had a few of these types as well, but Hillsong brought it with such excellence and the ability to simply get out of the way and let people worship Jesus.
Speakers: Wow.
Here is a run-down of the speakers from Catalyst...God really used these men and women to grab my attention and remind me that I need to be dependent on Jesus Christ each day...
Andy Stanley - I have always respected Andy and I try to listen to his sermon podcasts from time to time, but his talk in session 1 of Catalyst made my respect for this man skyrocket. He talked about uncertainity and leadership. Here are a few quotables:
"The World is uncertain, God is not uncertain."
"I will always be uncertain in leadership, I am uncertain of it."
"When uncertainty goes away, leadership is not needed."
"Uncertainty is job security for leadership."
"Be honest with your leadership teams in times of uncertainty."
2 Things Andy retreats to in Times of Uncertainty:
1) Clarity - Goes back to the original vision God called him to. He tells his team what God has called them to and encourages them to trust God for what is uncertain.
2) Flexibility - Plans change in times of uncertainty, vision remains the same!
Great reminder from Andy's talk: The epic center of God's plan of redemption, the Cross looked so uncertain, out of control, yet God was completely certain and in control.
Guy Kawasaki - Guy is a former Apple employee, business tech entrepreneur and committed Christian. Check out his blog at http://www.guykawasaki.com/
Quotables:
"Don't be afraid to take a stand, you can't please everyone."
"Make a mantra, not a long mission statement." (2-3 words that define your Church)
"Don't be afraid to fail initially."
"10-20-30 rule of presentation: 10 powerpoint slides, 20 minutes for presentation, 30 font minimum." (Guy suggests the general rule of thumb is create a presentation font that is at least half the age of your audience, ex. speaking to 80 year olds...create a 40 point font).
Catherine Rohr - Catherine is a graduate of Cal-Berkley, a veteran of wall street and a prison teacher? Goes to show you that when a person meets Jesus, he wrecks them in all kinds of amazing and great ways...Catherine leads a ministry called Prison Entrpreneurship Program which has changed the lives of hundreds of prisoners in the State of Texas. The program is about to launch nationwide and as part of Catalyst they gave away 2 free trips to prison. And guess what? My friend Renate, who serves on staff with us at Calvary, won! So she and a guest get a free trip to prison to check out Prison Entrpreneurship!
Craig Groeschel - A pastor in Oklahoma, Craig has some great words for Church leaders..Here are the highlights:
"I am learning that Church needs to be dangerous, God is not safe."
"I used to think it was all about building my Church, now I realize it is about building the Kingdom."
"Build your Church not on what you don't do, but on what you do."
"We are s small Church with a mega vision."
Craig also described what type of Christian he is trying to develop at his Church. Level 1 Christians say, "I believe in the Gospel enough to benefit from it." Level 2 Christians say, "I believe in the Gospel enough to contribute to it." Level 3 Christians (the ones he wants at his church) say, "I believe in the Gospel enough to give my life to it."
Ravi Zacharias - The intellectual genesis of Christianity, Ravi said so many things that were deep and powerful, it is hard for me to sum them up in a few words, but here I will try:
"What is society asking us to celebrate these days?"
"We pass down to the next generation what we celebrate today."
"When you stand at the grace of a loved one you long for the reality of eternity."
Brian Houston - The Pastor of Hillsong Church in Austraila and the father of Joel Houston, the lead signer of Hillsong United, Brian pastors a Church of over 21,000 people, yet seems so humble. Pretty cool talk on the Church, where he said:
"I'd rather be an artist than an art critic. I'd rather be a Chef than a food critic. I'd rather make films than be a film critic. I'd rather build into the Church than be a Church critic."
"I love being part of the Church."
Nick Vujicic - The final speaker from Day 1 of Catalyst. Nick is from Austraila as well. He was born without legs or arms, yet lives his life with such a joy as he trusts in Jesus. He ver passionate about Jesus. Here is a You Tube scene of him speaking recently in Orange County:
I will review Day 2 Catalyst Speakers, Erwin McManus, Rick Warren, Francis Chan, Jud Wilhite and Perry Noble in an upcoming post!
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