Our basic beliefs Christian Confession can be summarized by the traditional
Apostle’s Creed:
The Apostles Creed (Traditional)
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
the Creator of heaven and earth,
and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord:
Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.
He descended into hell.
The third day He arose again from the dead.
He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,
the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.
Amen.
*This is a reference to the universal body of believers worldwide…literally
meaning “the universal church”. This statement should not be confused
or associated with the Roman Catholic Church.
Expanded Statement of Faith and Practice
Many of our contacts are affiliated with the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). We feel
the Baptist Faith
and Message (BFM 2000) is an accurate summary of our understanding of the
Bible and the life of the Believer.
While our grounding is in SBC doctrine, we are willing to partner and cooperate
with other like-minded evangelical churches, missions’ agencies, and individuals
that would share a similar evangelical doctrine. Further, we believe it will
take multiple quality mission agencies from many conservative denominational
backgrounds to reach the multiple peoples still without the Gospel.
CATALYST is an organization incorporated in the state of Tennessee, and recognized
by the United States Government as a 501 (c3) non-profit entity. It is a ministry
desiring to build disciples for God’s glory. Often the word “ministry”
may connate sloppy business practice, or unawareness of the need for policy,
procedure and accountability. CATALYST will exist for ministry but will be managed
like a business. We intend to have the highest regard for integrity outcome
based initiatives. Our membership in professional organization and accountability
groups will speak to this imperative. We are (or soon will be) members of:
The seed for this ministry was planted more than 13 years ago when CATALYST
founder/director took his first short-term mission trip to Mexico. The UT Martin
team of 10-15 college students did various projects in partnership with the
Centro Estudantil Bautista (CEB). It was during this trip that Andrew Brown
began to notice the long-term impact a short-term trip could make.
Since that time, Andrew and his wife Amy have led or been on the leadership
team of more than 20 short-term mission projects in the United States and abroad.
Most of these teams have been led under the flag of a local church. The director
has a seminary degree in Christian education, missions training from the International
Missions board, and extensive “hands on” experience in multiple
parts of the world.
The director and his mentors began to have an international vision to help others
experience the joy and Christian growth of helping others by serving in a mission
trip more than five years ago. It was envisioned that a U.S. based ministry
could serve as “middle man” helping match Christians desiring to
serve with US and international missionaries needing help. After several years
of strategy and prayer, CATALYST was officially born in January of 2007.
