Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan Among Speakers at 2011 Catalyst Conference in Atlanta
The annual Catalyst conference, a spiritual event gathering thousands of young Christian leaders, starts Wednesday morning in Atlanta, Ga., and will run through Oct. 7. The list of guest speakers includes names ranging from celebrity pastors to famous entrepreneurs with a bent on philanthropy.
The conference is famous for not only featuring renowned leaders and presenting cutting-edge material, but also for its unique take on running such an event . It is pumped up with live music. Rather than the traditional speaker after speaker lineup, Catalyst also brings in spouts of humor and entertaining stunts.
The three days will be packed with lectures and labs lasting from 7:30am to 7:30pm.
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Some 13,000 Christians from across the United States and around the world will participate in this week’s events. The organizers are promising a revolution of ideas “where you'll challenge the process and think unconventionally.”
“Even more than a cutting-edge event, Catalyst is an experience that leaves you enlightened, rejuvenated, and ready to embrace the life to which you’ve been entrusted and the journey to which you’ve been called,” a statement on the official website promises.
Among many popular guest speakers there will be Blake Mycoskie, founder of TOMS Shoes, Andy Stanley, pastor at the North Point Community Church, Jim Collins, an author, Mark Driscoll, the founding pastor of Mars Hill Church, Francis Chan, and many others.
The Catalyst labs will feature innovative thought leaders like David Platt, Michael Hyatt, Reggie Joiner, Mark Batterson, Tim Elmore and Dave Gibbons, among others.
“We live as if there is something that is out there somewhere that is going to absolutely, fully and finally fulfill that appetite,” Rev. Stanley expressed during last year’s conference. “So we spend our lives in some cases making really poor leadership decisions trying to find that golden ring where we can say, ‘My church is big enough. My ministry is big enough. I wrote enough books. I have a cool enough car. My children are perfect enough.’”
