Orange
Ryan Reed
You Gotta Make It to OC17

One of the most important events on my annual professional calendar is the Orange Conference.

Why Orange? In sum, when it comes to a student ministry curriculum, I have not found one as powerful, versatile, comprehensive, and intentional as Orange. It cares for the middle school student just as much as the elderly aunt who takes care of him. Orange seeks to equip the entire family, not just the teenage kid, for both individual and familial faith. That simple.

As a user since 2011, I've continually been sold by how well it prepares me to share the Gospel with teenagers and build parent partnerships for faithful ministry in the home. 

You Gotta Make It to OC17
Leadership
Ryan Reed
The Important Role of Self Awareness in ...

This post originally appeared on the Orange Leaders Blog on June 22, 2016. 

What is the toughest question you’ve ever had to answer, and who asked it?

Given that somehow you made your way to this exceptional community called Orange Leaders, I automatically know a few things about you:

The Important Role of Self Awareness in Leadership
Leadership
Ryan Reed
Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe

Not long ago my wife introduced me to the best show on television... Chopped. I love it. Hands down noting beats it. A simple show in concept: four chefs compete against one another using a basket of mystery ingredients - yet so captivating!

Why? Because the ingredients equalize the playing field. Whether the chef be a novice out of culinary a school or a multi-restaurant owner veteran, each chef receives the ingredients at the same time and must respond to them. 

The ingredients are the star of the show. They call out the character of the chef. Not the other way around. It's the ingredients that define the path.

Key Ingredients for a Thriving Ministry Recipe
Church
Ryan Reed
May the Real Me Meet the Real You

Said C.S. Lewis, "The prayer that precedes all prayers is may the real me meet the real you." 

A great friend of mine from college once shared this quote with me. He and I served in Young Life together, leading high school students toward a growing relationship with Jesus. I can recall that he ended nearly every one of his ministry talks with this quote just prior to closing in prayer:

"May the real me meet the real you."

I probably listened to him share this quote with me dozens of times. I think I also used it. But quite honestly, I don't think I understood the meaning behind it until much later in life. Intellectually I understood it. It's simple in structure, but truly profound in its meaning. 

Perhaps I missed it time after time because inherent within this quote lays an assumption that you know the real you. 

May the Real Me Meet the Real You
Orange
Ryan Reed
Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

CAREY NIEUWHOF INTERVIEW WITH JON ACUFF

Know your message enough to find the direction, but leave it open enough to let the Holy Spirit inspire new content. 

For humor, build the island, but then make sure that you make a sturdy bridge to and from the island. Satire is about an idea, but mockery is about an individual. We are not called to mockery.

Put handles on ideas so that we can carry them forward. We have enough ideas. Put a handle on them.  

Rethink Leadership Conference Day 2 #OC16 #RL16

#oc13

5 Keys to Communicating a Successful Vision

Great leaders lead with great vision!

In my experience with Student Pastors, we do not need much assistance with creating vision for ministry. Many student pastors excel in their chosen field because they are idealists, dreamers, and creative.

But a great vision is worth nothing without the complimentary skill set to communicate it. Vision without strategic and well-intentioned communication remains just an imaginary nugget. Vision requires communication.

Great vision is worth nothing without the complimentary skill set to communicate it.

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Take a Break from Your Day #OC13

Need a break? Laugh your way through the next 2 minutes and 12 seconds. .

One of the major themes highlighted during the Orange Conference last week was the importance and essence of FUN in our church ministry environment - ALL ministries - from the nursery to the big room. Fun over time breeds connection. It allows for strangers to drop down the walls enough for others to peek into their lives. FUN normalizes and stabilizes strange, new environments. And it connects us to one of the visible fruits of the an active and engaged Holy Spirit in our life: Joy.

Perhaps most important, FUN draws all of us us into the wonder and imagination of God. Look for a post in the next couple of weeks on the theology of FUN!

QUESTION: How has creating a culture of FUN sparked community for your church or organization?

Protect Your Investment #OC13

I don't like my time wasted. You might as well steal my money because my time means that much to me. You and I work hard to cultivate student ministry programs that serve the teenagers, families, and church community in which we lead. And like you, I want to ensure that I am investing my time in the most appropriate, impactful, and significant ways possible.

For Those Who Could Not Attend #OC13...

I am here on your behalf and writing for you. 

Over the next several days, I will be documenting the sessions that I attend, speakers I meet, and conversations had in a series of blog posts titled: #OC13. 

I don't want you to miss a thing! In fact, through my posts, I want to offer you the opportunity to dig into the very same conversations and process through the very same experiences in which I am immersed here at #OC13.