Catalyst Conference Atlanta 2012

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. – 1 Corinthians 10:31

I attended my first Catalyst Conference last week in Atlanta and was blown away by the caliber of speakers and excitement of the young leaders attending.

Catalyst was conceived in 1999 by Andy Stanley, Reggie Joiner, John Maxwell, Lanny Donoho and many other young leaders.  Catalyst was created to focus on leaders under the age of 40, and it creates a dynamic attendee experience through high-profile speakers, praise and worship and a call to become the “change agent” in their local organizations, churches and communities. 

“We are made to make.”

Instead of merely consuming, we are called to “make” the world a better place and step up as leaders. The Catalyst conference in Atlanta provided a dynamic group of speakers to drive home that theme and energize up-and-coming church leaders. 

One of my personal favorites was hearing from Francis Chan, author of Multiply, Crazy Love, and Forgotten God.  Francis closed out day two with a passionate message reminding us that in order to successfully multiply, we must act more like Jesus. In 1 Corinthians 11:1, Paul states: “Follow my example as I follow the example of Christ.”As God makes us the leaders that we are, we can’t be prepared to lead others if we do not serve as a proper example.

WestBow Press at Catalyst

WestBow Press was excited to represented 60 titles from our publishing list at the event.  We also were able to a free iPad to random attendee, so as you can imagine, there was a lot of interest around our booth.  I’m happy to announce that we drew the name of Dave McAuley of Johnson City, Tenn. on Tuesday, Oct. 9. He received his iPad this past week. “You have blessed me beyond any way I can adequately thank you,” says McAuley.  

Have you ever attended a Catalyst Conference? If so, how was that experience for you?