A family of churches fulfilling the Great Commission of King Jesus together

Before we fill you in on the unfolding story of the growing family of churches that is Catalyst Connect, it is only right that we make some opening statements up front.  Our story is only one of countless that finds itself part of a far greater story – the unstoppable meta story of the kingdom of God, with King Jesus at the helm.  This is crucial to state because His kingdom story is at centre stage; it is this that locates us, inspires us, and provides us with the mission and vision we are obsessed with. So, we have not stumbled into something new. No, we are merely a family of churches part of the family of God throughout the ages, across the world.  And, we honour and respect all the courageous, kingdom initiatives throughout the earth seeking to glorify Jesus and disciple all peoples.  

We have not stumbled into some fresh revelation of apostolic Christianity; we are simply rediscovering afresh for ourselves what Jesus exemplified, the Holy Spirit ignited and the early church embraced.  All we want to be is obedient to the Spirit, the Great Commission and what God is doing in these times, in our context, as the Spirit opens doors of effective ministry for the glory of King Jesus, the health of the church and the good of humankind.

Lastly, our aim is not to be a new movement.  We acknowledge the movement that the chief Apostle, Jesus Christ, initiated by the power of the Spirit at Pentecost.  We are part of His movement, uniquely expressed as Catalyst Connect, and we embrace all the Jesus-given graces described in Ephesians 4 to see His church powerfully participate with Jesus’ kingdom initiative.  However, we are Catalyst Connect, an emerging family of churches that we believe God has endorsed to stand alongside every other network and family of churches throughout the earth for the Great Commission’s sake.  

We materialised initially in the Durban and surrounding region out of a desire to meaningfully partner together as local church leaders who were, then, independent and not formally connected to a specific church affiliation.  The initial iteration was known as Metro; however, as connections and partnerships began reaching beyond Durban and surrounds to the rest of South Africa and other parts of the world, we acknowledged that a name change was required to truly represent what God was doing beyond one region and to prophetically reposition the collective for its next phase.

What arose was Catalyst Connect, and after consultation and deliberation under God with key people, examining the Scriptures, the ways of God throughout church history and the spectrum of how church arranges itself translocally, we knew we were being called to be a family of churches.  We sensed the Holy Spirit’s affirmation and we received collective endorsement from the many involved. And, now, we are tentatively, albeit courageously, forging ahead as a family of churches.

We acknowledge that these are early days.  And, although we are building with a low and slow posture, we are full of faith to be a family of churches working purposefully together to fulfil Jesus’ Great Commission.  We have courage in our bones to equip believers, develop healthy leaders and grow new and existing churches through the apostolic partnerships God gives us.  Most of all, may God be glorified, and may His kingdom come and His will be done throughout the earth as it is in heaven.