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

4 Truths When Meeting With a Parent

4 Truths When Meeting With a Parent

As my good friend remarked the other day, there is an art to meeting with a parent.

I agree, and it is a crucial, learned skill. I know several youth pastors and youth workers who recognize the wonderful benefit of parent partnerships but feel either intimidated or under qualified to actually do it. Allow me to dispel this: God has entrusted you with the privileged task of gathering, equipping, and sending students, which requires your intentional, faithful involvement with parents.

You need to meet with parents. It must become a regular rhythm of your ministry. Not doing so wipes away half of the people to whom God has called to you to minister. 

Are You Jealous of My (Filtered) Life?

Are You Jealous of My (Filtered) Life?

This past week, a good friend of mine and ministry leader wrote an outstanding post on the implications of social media for teenage girls. It hit close to home, for her post is a response to an observation that occurred at our church. In fact, as soon as I read it, I thought, "I need to share this with my readers."

Rachel is a seminary student at Golden Gate Baptist theological Seminary and serves on my high school AND middle school leadership teams. She is a called leader with years of experience working with adolescent-aged girls. I commend this post to you. Give her your support and read her other posts on her personal blog at BIG CITY small world. As you chew on its hearty content, think about this question, "How can you - a parent, ministry leader, or caring adult - faithfully respond to the girls under your care in such a way that encourages self-worth and vulnerability, not value through the lens of a filter?

I give you, "Are You Jealous of My Filtered Life?" unedited and uncut:

2 Questions Student Pastors Need to Consider When Partnering with Parents

2 Questions Student Pastors Need to Consider When Partnering with Parents

When I started in Student Ministry about 10 years ago, I gave very little credence to parents and rarely considered their point of view. In part, I attribute the arrogance of my late teens and early 20's, but I also thought as a Student Pastor that my job solely mattered for students. I figured that if a parent needed to talk to someone, then they should speak with a Pastor for adults. 

Perhaps that made sense in my early 20's, but now in my 30's, that would be a sure fire way to either limit my potential for growth or my job altogether. 

The tides of Student Ministry have changed since the programmatic heavy culture of the 90's. Nearly all of the research across the board - whether it be from Sticky Faith, the Institute for Youth Ministry at Princeton, or other well known sources - tells us that if you desire to do great Student Ministry with teenagers, then you must do great ministry with their parents. 

Which means: You must learn and understand the assumptions of parents. 

Leveraging "This Sucks" for Evangelism

Leveraging "This Sucks" for Evangelism

Is it still possible to evangelize high school teenagers by simply inviting them to attend church and youth group?

Perhaps now better than ever before! But you may need to think critically about how you do so. 

As with all effective missionaries across the centuries, one of the most difficult tasks for any faithful, evangelically-minded Christian includes contextualizing the surrounding culture and learning the language of the indigenous people groups. 

For the sake of my vocation, along with many of who read this blog, that means... adolescents. 

Parenting Connected Kids

Parenting Connected Kids

Occasionally, I read a post or see an infographic that POPS out of the page at me, and I immediately think about how much my readers and subscribers would appreciate this, as well. I saw the graphic below this morning on Doug Fields' website, and it immediately brought to my mind all of my prior conversations on this topic with parents, kids, and other pastors.

I hope the content on this infographic spurns you onto conversation, further knowledge, and ideas about how you - as a parent, pastor, or caring adult - can equip kids about the power of technology.

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? 

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

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

I recently write a post titled, "Professional Initiatives: 5 Habits to Begin Your First Month on the Job." Though I incorporated these habits into my game some time after my first month on the job, they became game changers for me after I worked them into the rhythm of professional routine. I only regret that I did not think about how important these habits would be the success of my professional initiatives. 

Then, after further reflection, I realized that in addition to habits that support my professional initiatives, several habits of mine also have supported my personal initiatives, which in turn, has contributed to the overall success of my work-family-life rhythms and balance. 

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.