Lots of good stuff yesterday. McLaren, McManus, and Stanley were great. One of the more interesting moments came when Pine and Gilmore spoke about their book, The Experience Economy. They got up and gave the summary of their book and then essentially said, “This is a book about business not church. Stop trying to make church into a business. The church should stop trying to pedal experiences and should start proclaiming the truth of the gospel. To the degree that churches are involved in commerce of any kind the less authentic they will appear to be.”
You could have heard a pin drop as they were saying all of this. Catalyst is the ultimate commercial experience. Church leaders are here to learn how to create better experiences. You can’t throw a rock in any direction without hitting someone trying to sell you something that will change the way you do ministry. Then Pine and Gilmore came in and gave a message that if taken seriously would cut the legs right out from under this event. I have to wonder if the organizers knew they were going to say this or if they brought these guys in here to tell us how to help our churches tap into the experiential market. While I’m not sure I agree with or even understand everything they said yesterday, I absolutely love the fact that they came in here and spoke their hearts and minds to this crowd.
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons