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.
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:
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.
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.
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.
My journey with Orange began 2 years ago.
I started my employment and pastoral leadership over the Hillside Church student ministry during August 2011. Ironically, I began this journey on the same exact day that my Lead Pastor started his employment, as well. To some, this may seem so bizarre. It was for sure, but for us in our context, it was the best possible scenario, for it opened doors for me to explore Orange without any hesitation.
A part of me wants to say stop reading, click away from my site, and sign-up for the Orange Conference right now. But I really want you to keep reading...
Register on Oct 10 and save $80 on the price for 1 day only. Pay only $239 per person: http://theorangeconference.com #thinkorange
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One of the many benefits of Orange - and some I listed in my post from yesterday - includes an annual conference hosted by the crew at Orange and led by Reggie Joiner, founder and guy-in-charge at Orange.
What does it mean to harness the qualities of a color?
Orange connects parents and leaders with the same strategy and same end goal.
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For Family Ministry leaders, Orange represents much more than a color. It is a philosophy, a strategy for implementation, and a community.
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?
"This generation thinks that Church is about getting something."
Exclaimed Jamey Dickens during his session at this year's Orange Conference in Atlanta, GA. To which he responded, "But church must be about becoming someone."
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.
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.
