Willow Creek redux - Mark Batterson - Snakes & Doves

Okay, it's obvious that with input coming at near lightspeed I'm not going to be able to blog about each session as it happens. So, this is out of order...

Mark Batterson. Wow--amazing Session. Mark leads National Community Church in D.C. that has 4 venues, a huge internet presence, and no "building." He thought they would "rent until they built" as is the standard, but they realized that their large venue, in a theater inside Union Station, has (1) great video screens (2) comfortable chairs [1 & 2 not requiring setup!), (3) 40 restaurants in a food court, and (4) a KILLER subway system leading right to their church. Who could ask for anything more!

They also created Ebenezer's, which is now the largest coffee shop on Capitol Hill, wholly owned and operated by the church; it also hosts a service on Saturday evening. Some incredible stats on the church:

66% of attenders are single twenty-somethings
44% have attended less than one year
76% invited someone to church last year
55% involved in small groups

Mark quotes:

"There are ways to do church that no one has even thought of yet."
"We must redeem the techology for good."
"1% of what do will make 99% of the difference."

Mark, hats off to you and your team for such creativity.