Catalyst is a nationally recognized church leadership conference that has been running strong for eight years now. Their upcoming conference is October 8-10 in Atlanta and will include speakers like Andy Stanley, Seth Godin, Jim Collins, Franklin Graham, and Dave Ramsey. Brad Lomenick is the executive director of Catalyst and was kind enough to let me interview him recently. Here is the full, unedited interview.

MicroExplosion: Catalyst positions itself with a three fold focus on learning, worship, and creativity. If you had to choose one of the three to be successful to the detriment of the other two, which would you choose for the attendees?

Brad: That is a tough question, since we have designed the experience of Catalyst to be multi-dimensional and we believe that is why the Catalyst experience is a unique one. Our goal is to create an incredible experience that allows everyone to find a connection. However, if we had to have only one, it would be the learning component- the speakers and great content.

MicroExplosion: Are social justice discussions among churches today hype or help? In other words, has the emergence of social justice among churches become the cool thing to talk about or do you think there’s a real awakening happening?

Brad: Well, regardless of how one views social justice, it is a core component of what we as Believers and the global Church should be focused on. The Scriptures, and specifically the Gospels, are very clear on our role in taking care of the poor, the orphaned, the widows, the hungry, and the sick. It is very interesting how social justice has become the cool thing to talk about in the last couple of years. Reality is, to answer your question, secular culture right now is in many ways leading the charge on social justice issues, when ultimately the Church should be leading in this area. The church in general has definitely awakened to these issues lately, but we still have a long way to go. But people want to always say it is one or the other- either social justice or evangelism/discipleship. I would propose it is both. Both have to exist. I believe the early Church was very clear on being dually focused on evangelism/discipleship along with acts of charity and compassion.

MicroExplosion: I’m a huge Seth Godin but know he’s not a leader within a church or Christian organization. What do you hope attendees will learn from him at Catalyst?

Brad: Since we started Catalyst, we have always welcomed leaders from the business world to come and present to our audience of leaders in the church. It is important as leaders in the church that we learn from all different facets of our culture- business, entertainment, media, the arts, government, and most definitely from within the church. We believe that part of the Catalyst draw is the inclusion of business speakers who bring a different perspective- every year we bring in the best and brightest from business and leadership, and Seth is right at the top. His blog is one of the most well read in the world, and he has been a thought leader in marketing and communications for the last 15 years. He has a ton to offer the Church and leaders in the Church, specifically as it relates to how we position, platform, and ultimately deliver our product, which is the Good News of Jesus. Not only that, he can provide keen insights on what it takes to create and maintain a great brand, and how to stand out in a culture where this is so much competing for our time, energy, and our focus.

MicroExplosion: Have you received any negative reactions to the inclusion of William Paul Young as a speaker since Mark Driscoll has come out so strongly against The Shack? If so, how is Catalyst responding?

Brad: Very few reactions one way or the other, whether positive or negative. We will be interviewing William Paul Young at Catalyst, and should be interesting. Again, our vision for Catalyst has always been that we “challenge the process” from all angles, and although some may have certain criticisms of the book, we still feel like there are things that we as leaders can learn from hearing the story of the explosion of popularity of this book as well as the reason behind it- specifically as it relates to the testimony and personal journey of William Young.

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Brad, thanks for taking the time to answer these questions. For more on the Catalyst conference check out their website and the Catalyst blog.