Engaging Church

This week I caught up with pastor, author, innovator, and Church catalyst, Geoff Surratt. He’s the new Director of the Exponential Conference and along with Todd Wilson and Dave Ferguson is a part of the senior leadership team. The Exponential Conference is the largest gathering of church planters on the planet with an expected attendance of 5,000 this April. Will you be there?

Andrew: Describe your new role at Exponential in two sentences. What are you really going to be doing?

Geoff: In addition to overseeing the Exponential Conference my role includes aggregating, moderating and distributing content for church leaders as well as connecting church planters, church planting networks and church planting partners. Our goal is to catalyze reproducing church movements.

Andrew: When you attend the conference this April, what will you be focused on? Will you be learning how things run and watching the “behind the scenes” organization? In short what will be going through your head, given your new role?

Geoff: My main role at the conference this year is to make sure all of the speakers have all the Diet Coke they can drink. While this may seem trivial, it is really the engine the Exponential runs on. When I’m not pouring liquid manna I will be connecting with leaders and church planters and learning how we can better serve them in the coming year. Connecting with like-minded leaders is the best part of Exponential.

Andrew: The theme of the conference this year is around the idea of God’s leaders being “sifted.” Do you have a story of being sifted?