to sell the Gospel, to be entertaining.
Craig Groeschel and Andy Stanley (Babtist) often conduct Catalyst conferences together. This is a fairly recent one.
Groeschel was born in 1967 in Texas, grew up in Oklahoma, attended a Methodist university (Oklahoma City U.) and pursued a degree in marketing. He attended Philips Seminary, which is affiliated with the ultra-liberal Disciples of Christ, the denomination of Jim Jones and Donald McGavran.
He married Amy in 1991. They have six children.
He was a United Methodist minister in 1995 when the Oklahoma City bomb blew up the federal building and severely damaged the nearby church where he worked.
In 1996 he began a church in a two-car garage, apparently because his denomination did not want him to start a mission church. Like Hybels of Willow Creek, he began with a marketing survey. The church grew rapidly and became Life Church - with the URL of LifeChurch.tv.
The New York Times reported:
He set up a website for people to post "secret confessions," an idea copied by Pastor Ski at The CORE.
The Catholic Church noted this new trend started by Groeschel.
USA Today says:
"Of the USA's 100 largest churches, 67% now have two or more sites and 60% of the 100 fastest-growing churches also have multiple sites, according to the annual listings of the USA's largest churches in Outreach magazine's October issue."
The most innovative churches in America are:
· LifeChurch.tv (Edmond, OK) :: Craig Groeschel
· Mars Hill Church (Seattle, WA) :: Mark Driscoll
· Granger Community Church (Granger, IN) :: Mark Beeson
· Flamingo Road Church (Cooper City, FL) :: Troy Gramling
· Seacoast Church (Mt. Pleasant, SC) :: Greg Surratt
· Saddleback Church (Lake Forest, CA) :: Rick Warren
· Mosaic Church (Los Angeles, CA) :: Erwin McManus
· Fellowship Church (Grapevine, TX) :: Ed Young Jr.
· North Point Community Church (Alpharetta, GA) :: Andy Stanley
· Willow Creek Community Church (South Barrington, IL) :: Bill Hybels
Groeschel motto: "In order to reach those that no one else is reaching, we will have to do things that no one else is doing," he said.