You Know You're At Catalyst When ....

We go to a very different kind of church. It's a church that even seems to pride itself on being a very different kind of church. It's not really that different from a lot of churches around the country, but it's worlds apart from the white wooden Congregational churches that seem to dominate the New England area.

You know what I mean. A lot of churches have been changing over the last few decades ... Bands and choruses replacing organs and hymns, jeans replacing the 'ol suit and tie, and comfortable chairs replacing stiff wooden benches. But our church seems to be even a little more different than that.  It even makes David and I laugh at times, like this morning when we walked in to find a new addition to the bulletin table: individually wrapped orange foam earplugs. Only at Catalyst, we smiled to each other. We are so glad we found this place! 

Walking in this morning got me to thinking about this blog idea: You Know You're At Catalyst When ....

1.  You know you're at Catalyst when ... you passed at least 60 black and white church signs on your way into the parking lot.

2. You know you're at Catalyst when ... at least ten people have greeted you from the parking lot to the auditorium with a big smile and a cheerful "Good morning ... glad you came today."

3. You know you're at Catalyst when ... You walk in the doors to find not only water and flavored coffees, but Red Bulls and Capri Suns. 

4.  You know you're at Catalyst when ... there are individually wrapped orange foam earplugs on the bulletin table! That cracks me up! Nancy, that's for you!

5. You know you're at Catalyst when ... you see all the kids and young teens excited about going to their classes (in make-shift rooms with drape walls in a school gymnasium) because the volunteers and teachers are SO AWESOME! 

6. You know you're at Catalyst when ... every other person you talk to has a tattoo or a piercing, including the pastor.

7. You know you're at Catalyst when ... you hear they are planning some sort of wild and crazy way to get people in the door or to help out the community again.  Like eggs dropped from a  helicopter, sitting in a scissor lift to get people to donate bikes to kids for Christmas or raffling off a Harley to get fathers in church on Father's Day.

8. You know you're at Catalyst when ... the music is so loud and so good, you can sing as bad as I do, as loud as you want to, without embarrassment. Catalyst allows you to take "make a joyful noise" seriously.

9. You know you're at Catalyst when ... you know that everyone involved from set-up to tear-down has a heart to reach people for Jesus. They don't care where you've been. They don't want your money.  They aren't there to judge. They just want you to know Jesus.

10. You know you're at Catalyst when ... because the heart of our pastor is what it is, and the truth is preached week in and week out, you walk out different than when you walked in.  

It's a great church and we are thrilled to have been lead there. If you read this in Connecticut, and want a place to go Easter Sunday, it's a great church to try! There are also two Easter egg hunts for the kids with over 5,000 candy-filled eggs and prizes including gift cards, ipod nanos, and a Nintendo DS.