What I Felt at Catalyst Atlanta 2016

It’s been a week since I got home from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta, and all of the thoughts, the lessons and the information are still whirling around in my brain.  But when I get still and reflect on those amazing two days, it’s not the new information that captures my heart.  It’s the emotions I felt while I was there.

And that’s a good thing. Because information doesn’t motivate us to action or change.  Emotion does.  Emotion driven by the Holy Spirit and fueled by wise teaching propels us to do something different. Something uncommon.

The theme for the conference was Uncommon Fellowship and it focused on breaking down racial, social and generational barriers inside the church, between the church and our communities, and in our work and ministry. Andy Stanley set the stage with an opening message about the role unity plays among believers and others followed up with messages on leading in a time of sharp, hurtful division.  Some of my long-held beliefs and unrecognized paradigms were held up in the light of how Jesus lived and worked and how He expects us to treat each other today.

I’m unsure of what to make of it all. I’m still processing. But I know I’ll be forever changed because of the emotions that Catalyst evoked in me.  I did discover that “unpack” is so yesterday, and the new Christian buzzword is “lean in”, so lean in as I share not what I learned, but what I felt at Catalyst.

Uplifted

I attended Catalyst with the Proverbs 31 Ministries Online Bible Studies team and other P31 staff.  I could sit in a deep cave in the middle of the woods with these girls and still feel uplifted.  We don’t often get to spend face-to-face time together and there is nothing like sitting up in your jammies until the wee hours of the morning, dreaming, planning and sharing hearts with your ministry partners and best friends. I love them and I’m so thankful to serve with a ministry that pours into its staff and leaders.

I also had the unexpected pleasure of meeting Chad Allen in person for the first time.   Chad has been one of my biggest encouragers and virtual mentors and it was an honor to be able to thank him in person.  He is a lot taller than I expected!

I also took my first Uber rides!  Cedric and Dante got me safely where I needed to go, so now I feel all hip and trendy 😉  Uplifting. 

Challenged

During his opening message, Andy Stanley helped us see fellowship through the eyes of Jesus.  People who were nothing like Jesus liked Him, and He liked them.

We have all kinds of people in our churches.  Do we like them all?  It’s easy to like people who like me and are like me.  But do I like people who are different from me? Do I pour out extravegent love on everyone, regardless of what they can or can’t do for me or how closely their beliefs or lifestyle line up with mine?

Imagine a world where people are skeptical of what we believe, but envious of the way we treat each other.  ~Andy Stanley

I want to look at my fellow church members differently. I want to love them no matter what. If we disagree, I want to put that aside and show love and concern. Challenging.

Convicted

Craig Groeschel, senior pastor of Life.Church, echoed a similar message.

We have a common enemy and it is not the church down the street. ~ Craig Groeschel

Craig reminded us how desperately we need each other and that we should lead the way with irrational generosity. Not just tolerating each other, but actively helping each other succeed.

I was also reminded of something Lysa TerKeurst says.  “God is not interested in making my piece of the pie bigger.  He is interested in making the whole pie bigger.”  Am I comparing myself to others in similar areas of service and trying to hang on to my piece of the pie?  Or am I reaching out, helping others and together making the whole pie bigger?  Convicting.

Hopeful

Not surprisingly in this gathering for and by the next generation of church leaders, there was a lot of emphasis on reaching millennials.  Brian Houston, senior pastor and founder of Hillsong Church, reminded us of our responsibility to set them up for success.

Live so that your floor becomes the ceiling for the next generation. ~ Brian Houston

And Simon Sinek, author of the popular TED talk and book Start With Why,  taught us how to lead them well. With an interesting parallel to game theory, he made the point that for the current generation, the goal is not to win (finite) but to stay in the game (infinite). As leaders, we can serve them well by helping them gain the tools they need to stay in the game.

Leadership is not about being in charge.  It is about taking care of the people in your charge. ~ Simon Sinek

Contrary to what we hear in a lot of popular media, the millennial generation is not a lost cause, totally consumed by technology, entitled to instant gratification and underemployed.  They are more likely to be 100% committed to their mission and need leaders who care about them as human beings, not just their results.  Hopeful.

Inspired

Without a doubt, the most surprising speaker of the weekend was Father Edwin Leahy, headmaster at St. Benedict’s Preparatory School in Newark, NJ.  If you are not familiar with Fr. Leahy and St. Benedict’s (like most of us at Catalyst!) you can learn more from this feature on 60 Minutes.  In short, St. Benedict’s Prep is devoted to preparing boys in and around Newark to fulfill their potential as emotionally mature, morally responsible and well-educated young men. It is a school in the inner-city that succeeds at an incredibly high rate while the rest of the nation struggles with urban education. (credit: St. Benedict’s Prep website)

Straight up, to-the-point and without a lot of theatrics, Fr. Leahy laid it on the line for leaders who may be tempted to lead for what’s in it for themselves. He talked about a life that is a rhythm of prayer, service and work. He admonished us to “take the cotton out of our ears and put it in our mouth” and people will teach us how to be in service to them.

Give up what you want for what we need.  In a position of leadership, the temptation is to impose what you want.  And what you want may not necessarily be what the “we” you serve needs. ~ Fr. Edwin Leahy

He closed by leading the crowd in the daily affirmation and credo recited by the boys of St. Benedict’s to start each day.  With lumps in our throats and tears in our eyes, over 7,000 people looked at their neighbor and said:

I love you.
You are worth it.
You can be any good thing you want to be in life
if you believe in the God inside of you.
This is all I know about you.
You can’t change my mind.
I know I’m talking to a winner.
Now since it’s clear you are a winner,
don’t miss the moment.
I don’t know what you are going to do with the rest of your day,
but I’m going to enjoy my day.
Because this is the day that the Lord has made.
I’m going to rejoice and be glad in it.
So today,

YOU.GO.AND.CONQUER!!!

After a day of listening to famous, trendy speakers in uber-cool torn jeans, it was a slight monk in traditional robes who earned the first standing ovation of Catalyst.  Inspiring.

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Download a copy of St. Benedict’s Daily Affirmation and Credo and say it in your mirror or to a family member every morning!

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And there is so much more.  As Melissa Taylor, Director of P31 Online Bible Studies, told us, what we learned at Catalyst can’t stay in the little black notebook that came in our bag. We have to put it into practice to make it worth it.  And it is the emotions I felt that will drive me to do just that.

Did you attend Catalyst or another leadership conference this fall?  What was your key takeaway and how do you plan to put it into action?

Thanks to my friends Beth Anderson and Kendra Schwarz for letting me use their Catalyst pictures

Linking up with Crystal Storms at #HeartEncouragement, Dawn Klinge at #GraceandTruth and Susan Mead at #DanceWithJesus