I just returned from the Catalyst Conference in Atlanta. For those of you who are not familiar with Catalyst, it is a time when “next generation” leaders gather to hear, see, and interact with their peers and mentors and above all God’s calling on their life. It is a time to be refreshed and refocused.
Now those of you who know me, your first question should be why was I at a “next generation leaders” conference. I will acknowledge that I am way beyond the age of a next generation leader. I also have to admit that I was feeling very old in a gathering of 12,000 with the average age younger than my kids. But at the same time the energy and excitement in the room made me feel young. The power of Christ in these young adults gave me the confidence that they will have a major impact on the world for Christ. As we continue to hear the stories of young adults pulling away from the church, this conference gave me the encouragement and vision that God is grooming His new leaders to reach the world in a different way.
Those of us older folk must be careful that our traditions and “the way we always did it before” do not become a stumbling block to the next generation. We need to make the main points of our faith, the non negotiable issues, and allow the next generation to form their worship and service in a new fresh way.
To those of you in the “next generation”, be bold, try new things, but stay true to the Gospel. Never water down the non negotiables of His Word. I have heard many say that my generation “talks the talk but does not walk the walk”. Learn from that and put God’s love into action.
Because of the growth of Catalyst they have decided to go to the West coast in April, 2009. For more information on the West coast conference or the Atlanta 2009 conference, check out www.catalystconference.com .
God is raising up a new and bold group of leaders to share the love of Christ with the world. We need to support them in the essentials of the faith and let them serve as they have been called.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Craig for the good words of wisdom to the young and not so young. I agree – it was an awesome and enriching experience. I always come away feeling that those who did NOT attend the pre-labs and labs the day before Catalyst, really missed a great opportunity. To those planning on attending next year, come a day early and get the best part of Catalyst – the labs.
What were the top 2-3 things you learned from the labs?
Thanks for the excellent insight Craig. I too felt the incredible energy of this gathering of leaders and the powerful worship experience. I was at Catalyst to work, but it ended up being a great time of spiritual renewal for me. The vision that this next group of leaders seems to share is an encouraging one of hope and a re-emphasis on evangelism. I agree with Mark that the pre-labs were among the highlights of the conference for me.