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

youth ministry

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Parent Partnerships

3 Mistakes to Avoid When Building Parent Partnerships

If you ask my leaders what I talk about most during our Leadership Gatherings, they should say: Contact Work and Parent Partnerships. 

Youth ministry is not rocket science. Rather, it compares better to baking a cake from scratch. The cake itself only requires a few ingredients, but the slightest distortion of those ingredients will always result in a pile of mucked up dough and culinary nastiness! Trust me, I know!

Youth ministry requires only a few key ingredients to succeed, and truly, depending on the scale and mixture of those components, either beautiful dessert is made or several hours of clean up!

No one would disagree that Parent Partnerships is one of those key components to the health and faithfulness of a youth ministry. Yet, to what extent ought a youth ministry leader pursue these partnerships? 

Professional Initiatives: 5 Habits to Begin Your First Month on the Job

Professional Initiatives: 5 Habits to Begin Your First Month on the Job

I began work at Hillside Church almost 3 years ago. When I started, I knew very little about how to conduct myself on a professional level or use my time. 

I can remember jumping into my first weeks headfirst, working more than 80+ hours for at least the first 6-8 weeks. I met with folks, studied, set up my administrative tasks. 

And I loved it! 

But I almost burnt myself out from ministry altogether within the first couple of months of my new job. Additionally, I spent the next couple of months trying to catch up on the very things that I neglected due to misplaced priorities and poor direction. 

Upon reflection over the recent years, I want to offer 5 healthy professional habits to begin doing during your first month on the job.

Harnessing the Dynamic Qualities of 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.
- Click to Tweet -

For Family Ministry leaders, Orange represents much more than a color. It is a philosophy, a strategy for implementation, and a community.

,

Student Reflections on Kolkata - Video

,

Recently, two young teenage men who served on our Kolkata Mission Team produced a documentary video chronicling our adventures serving rescued women from the sex traffick industry. It highlights so well the true, real time reality of how difficult and rewarding our work truly was in Kolkata. I hope that you watch it and witness how God not only used our team, but uses Freeset everyday to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ and his message of freedom everyday.

,

Reflecting Kolkata - One Month Later

,

One month after Kolkata, I feel more burdened than ever to simply share our story with as many people as possible.

Before we arrived at Kolkata, I recall telling our team to prepare for the shock of re-entry. Many had never left North America, let alone step foot onto the Asian sub-continent. I felt a hunch deep within me that our return home would be tougher than anyone of us could imagine.

,

4 Ways to Promote Your Ministry Without Selling Your Soul

,

Last Sunday, I think I may have turned off two girls to our student ministry because I tried to pitch a sales call to them rather than promote our ministry in faithful and realistic terms.

I believe that one of the greatest false temptations for our churches, especially our student ministries, is that we need to compete with Katy Perry.

Selling our ministry for more numbers sells out the Kingdom of God and degrades the only purchase with eternal value: our salvation!

-- Click to Tweet --

6 Ways to Keep the IRS from Visiting Your Ministry

You need to set healthy financial guidelines and boundaries for your parents in order to secure the long term fiscal viability of your ministry.

Aside from kids growing in their relationship with Jesus Christ, camping and retreat seasons potentially cause two issues in your student ministry: either these events bust your budget and prevent you from doing any other significant events all year or they fit neatly into the overall scheme of your fiscal year.

You need to set healthy fiscal boundaries with your parents in order to secure the long term viability of your ministry.

-- Click to Tweet --