Have you heard?

My friends at Worlds of Wow are giving away TWO tickets to the 2012 Orange Conference!

I know that many leaders I talk to want to go to the conference but are limited by budget or personal finances.  Now you can enter to win tickets for F-R-E-E!  And, here’s the kicker:  If you read the fine print, you can double your chances to win with two submissions!

Leaders are learners.  And this year, we are making the Orange Conference power packed with as much information as you can take!  Check out the latest news about what is in the works for YOU this April:

The Orange Conference Partners with International Network of Children’s Ministry andYouth Specialties

The Orange Conference, designed for entire family ministry teams, has a number of new exciting announcements for this year’s attendees, the biggest of which are partnerships with International Network of Children’s Ministry (INCM) and Youth Specialties (YS). To be held April 25-27, 2012, in Atlanta, this event gathers children and preschool leaders, student pastors and senior church leadership called to understand the changes influencing this new generation.

INCM and YS will each present a specialty track at The Orange Conference 2012.  Orange will be a two-conference-in-one experience this year!

CONTINUING EDUCATION UNITS

As if the power packed partnership wasn’t enough, there is more!  For the first time at an Orange Conference, attendees will be able to accrue continuing education units (CEU’s) according to the standards of the International Association for Continuing Education and Training (IACET), without being members.

125 DISTINCT WORKSHOPS AND BREAKOUTS

Last year the conference offered over 80 workshop and breakout options. In 2012 there will be over 125 distinct offerings with over 80 percent new material!

NEW RECOMMENDED TRACKS

In addition to presenting recommended tracks by age group ministry and role, there will also be tracks based on the categories of training most requested by previous attendees. So whatever role or area of responsibility in a church, attendees can feel like the conference was created specifically for them. Tracks include Preschool Ministry, Children’s Ministry, Student Ministry, Senior Pastors Forum, College Ministry, Special Needs Ministry, Navigating Change, Worship Leaders, Small Groups Leaders, Investing in Your Volunteers, Middle School Ministry, Getting Parents Involved, The Start Up Church, Family Experience Nuts and Bolts, and Social Media in Ministry.

FREE BONUS WORKSHOP

This workshop will be available on Wednesday afternoon. Any attendee may join in at absolutely NO COST.  (We love Free!)

CONVERSATION GROUPS

Key speakers and leaders in family ministry will offer the opportunity within a small, relaxed gathering to ask questions, network and brainstorm with attendees and speakers. This will be an up-close and in-person environment.

The Orange Conference was a total game changer for me in ministry and I know it will be for you too!  So enter today to win your FREE TICKETS from Worlds of Wow and make plans to join us in Atlanta this April!  Act quickly, submissions will be accepted until January 31st!

Recently I was speaking to a leader who was having difficulty with a couple in his ministry who were…well, shall we say, a little set in their ways.  They had been Sunday School teachers for decades and were finding the shift to a Small Group strategy very difficult. They were used to owning it all.  The lesson, the activities…  In their minds, the way things were worked for so long, why wouldn’t they work now?

The pastor wanted to honor these volunteers.  They were committed to the mission but not entirely confident in the new methodology.

A friend once told me jokingly, “Ministry would be great if you didn’t have to work with people!”  All kidding aside, we have all been there at one point or another.  I’ve often maintained that if you don’t have a clear understanding for why you do what you do, then plenty of people will step up to the plate and insert their opinions about what should be done instead.

The truth is, making the change from Sunday School to Small Group / Large Group can be a difficult shift for many Sunday School teachers. Here are a few principles that may help you help your leaders make the smooth transition.

Assume Nothing

Your volunteers have no idea why you are making a change.  If you read and listen to the embedded podcast from my previous post, you’ll learn why it’s so important to strongly communicate the “why” behind your “what” to make an emotional connection to the part of the brain that controls decision making.  By activating the emotional side of the brain, chances are higher that your volunteers will decide to follow you in this new strategy for ministry.  Be aware that you have the “curse of knowledge”.  You know way more than they do about changes that need to be made in the context of our ministries.  Don’t assume that they understand all the details that you do.

Secondly, don’t assume that you know where they want to serve in this new reality.  If you are changing up the job description, that means there is a renegotiation of responsibilities.  How would you feel if you showed up to work Monday morning and your boss informs you that you are moving into a new role?  No questions asked.  No negotiation.  You would likely be upset, wouldn’t you?  Sit down with every volunteer and let them know their options.  You might be surprised that a few of your Sunday School teachers want to be your Storyteller — because they enjoy TEACHING.  Honor that by giving them the opportunity to move into that role if it’s appropriate.

Identify the Win

If a Sunday School leader decides to move into a Small Group Leader role.  Take the time to vision cast the win for the role.  Sue Miller said that when it comes right down to it, the primary thing that separates a Sunday School Leader from the Small Group Leader is their primary focus.  Because Sunday School Leaders typically lead classrooms of 20+ kids, they are forced to focus primarily on teaching information.  Small Group Leaders have smaller ratios, (8-10 kids for every 1 leader), which allows them to shift their primary focus from teaching information to building relationships.

Both types of leaders have the best intentions:  they want to serve their church, they want to see changed lives for kids, they want children to fall in love with Jesus.  The real difference is in the win.  What is the goal?  In a small group / large group model, we put our most powerful communicators up in front of everyone to creatively present the information (lesson) and empower our small group leaders to focus in on relationship and application.

Meet in the Middle

Some leaders have strong feelings about what is most important for them to do in the context of their time with kids.  When you meet one on one with your volunteers, ask them what they feel the most important things are.  If there are some non-negotiatbles, wouldn’t it be better to see if you can work that into their huddle time rather than fight them on a hill they are willing to die on?  For some traditional leaders, it’s a big deal to open up the Bible and read the passage with the kids.  Empower them to prioritize that activity as long as they are committed to trying one of the prepared application activities as well.  If you can meet them in the middle, they will be more willing to be on your side for bigger issues.

If you are leading ministry, you are in the development business.  People development.  Your primary focus should be on equipping the body to do the work of the ministry.  When you have a spirit of empowering the people that God has given you, it causes you to slow down, to make sure no one is left behind and that they are all serving in their passions and giftedness.  Every change gives you the opportunity to remind your leaders of what is most important — what is core — which will help them make the upgrades necessary to help a generation run passionately after the heart of God.

What about you?  How do you come alongside seemingly stubborn volunteers?

This past orange conference we had a little fun with some lanyard buttons that attendees could collect to be eligible for an iPad2 giveaway.  Pretty fun — but one button had an extremely important message that may have  been overlooked by some in the excitement of winning the latest tech gadget.

2>1+1

Orange is simply a color that represents a cohesive strategy.  With over 70% of students walking away from the church once they graduate High School, the way that we have been “doing church” is clearly not working and needs to  change.  We believe that two combined influences will have a greater impact than two influences.  And so with everything that we do, we passionately and unapologetically advocate for combining the influence of the light of the church with the heart of the home for a greater impact in the next generations faith….thus the color Orange.

Now, just because I can articulate that concept in a few sentences does not mean that accomplishing this goal is easy.  Quite the contrary.  It takes more work.  Why?  Because churches tend to drift toward complexity, silos and many leaders think in terms of shepherding and teaching but are light on strategy.  (No offense, I’m sure if you are reading this you are very strategic!)

Small Groups for kids are where you find the very essence of Orange.

I had the privilege of leading a breakout on how to organize intentional small groups at the conference this year.  And what I hope every person clearly understood was that small groups are where you find the very essence of Orange.  Intentional small groups requires the church doing everything it can do to place intentional community in the lives of children.

Earn Relational Change

When you intentionally place a 2nd voice in the life of a child, you are partnering with parents.  As kids mature, they naturally are looking for outside voices to speak into their lives and influence decisions.  Ultimately, friends and leaders influence our choices.  So we need to do everything we can to help kids get around peers who believe what they believe and leaders who believe in their spiritual potential.

I think that when you do this, you begin to earn relational change…..you are making deposits in your relationships with parents.  And by doing so, the interest earned on that relational deposit is trust.

Trust is the foundation of all relationships.

When I take my son to your church, if I feel (as a parent) that the environment is chaotic, that there is no one who really took the time to know my child’s name let alone speak into his potential, that things feel haphazard and non-intentional….you can bet that I’m not going to trust any insight you have to share about leading my child’s spiritual journey.

But….if you are counter-cultural….if you are strategic, relational, intentional….and my son feels the love of Christ when he is around your ministry….I will likely have ears to hear when you want to offer some solid wisdom for my home.

If you can’t or won’t provide a consistent voice in the life of my child, you may teach truth but you are not discipling a life.

My son is one of seven 5th grade classes at his Elementary School.  There are over 210 kids in his 5th grade.  There will be 419 incoming 6th graders when he transitions to Middle School this fall.  I can’t even comprehend the number of students he’ll have in his freshman class of High School.  Finding his “tribe” is proving difficult in the massive herd of students in our schools.  He has to have a student ID number on all his papers to identify who he is…..his name is not sufficient.

He needs you to provide a place where he belongs and is known….not just as a number but as an individual.

Let me leave you with this story….I recently sat down with a friend who told me about her 7th grade son’s experience at church.  He has a tightly knit group of friends who have been this attending church since the days of preschool.  Their youth programming has bright lights, booming sound, and even a great communicator…. But discussion groups are often over 20 students, and fluid (not only do the kids change but the leader does as well).   As a result, their conversations are not able to go deep.

This small group of 7th graders knew they needed something different.

They went to a Coach at their public school and asked if they could meet after school — once a week — during his office hours to talk about God.  They assured the coach he wouldn’t have to lead anything or do anything, they just wanted a safe place to talk about their faith and do a Bible study together.  The coach agreed to allow these wise-beyond-their-years kids to meet.  And while they have created their own intentional small group, they are missing the key ingredient — a leader.

One of my all time favorite take-away quotes from the conference this year was from Ron Hall when he prayed over attendees asking for God to help us move from Bible studyin’ to Bible doin’.

This won’t work for us.

It’s going to take some work, many will tell you it cant’ be done…you might even be one of those who believes it won’t work.  You may think your church is too unique….there’s no way it will work in your situation….  The truth is, it does work.  Too many of us have gone before you to show that it does work.  AND, those who have gone before you are willing to help you.

What you should say is “I’m not willing to do that” or “I don’t know how to do it” or ask for help — but saying it won’t work is putting a message out to the Church that there is no hope for change.  So please, do the rest of us, (who are working really hard to help the church be better), a favor and stop trying to level the playing field.  It can be done…the church is the hope of the world…and kids deserve more than a stage, lights and a sound bite.  They deserve relationship.

It’s your move.

Does mobilizing youth leaders sound like another 40 hour work week added to your already busy schedule?

I rarely speak with a ministry leader who doesn’t believe in the power of owning personal ministry for youth.  Most are quick to throw the keys at young tweens and teens and hope that it all works out in the end.  But we would never hand over real keys to a car without making sure a youth had passed driver’s education or had several hours of behind the wheel training.  Youth need specialized leadership development to win.

So where do you begin?  And how can you keep it simple?

Help youth understand how they are uniquely gifted.

Recently my friend Cara brought my attention to the Clifton Youth Strengths Explorer.  It’s a simple assessment designed to help youth identify their strengths.  Included in the assessment is a student workbook designed to help put their gifts and strengths into action.

Help parents understand their child’s strengths.

The Strengths Explorer also comes with a parent manual that helps the parent be a part of the learning process.  Our impact will be much greater when we structure our youth leadership program to partner with parents.

“Successful people understand their talents and build their lives upon them.” Clifton Youth StrengthExplorer

I had my 11 year old son take the assessment and I have to tell you….it was completely on point with what we intuitively knew about Charlie but never had the right words (or combination of words) to fully grasp how he is uniquely designed.  I feel that the assessment is a huge gift for our parenting and will likely have Charlie take the assessment annually to see if anything changes.

It doesn’t have to be really difficult to mobilize the next generation of leaders.  You can start by putting them on a path of self discovery.  The Leader’s Activity book will help you use this assessment tool on a broader scale. For more information, you can visit the StrengthsExplorer website.

What do you do to help build into your youth leaders?  I’m sure we could all benefit from your experience!

“You are going to have to convince me why I should give you my child for an hour every week?”

Believe it or not, that is just the question one parent asked their children’s pastor.  And you know what….it’s a question that we should all be prepared to answer. Before you break into a cold sweat, here are some filters to help you think through a great answer.

The Value of Community

Kids are not only media-driven, they are media saturated.  All of this “texting instead of talking” can have an adverse affect on interpersonal skills.  Friends influence our choices and character.  My son’s elementary school has seven 5th grade classes.  He doesn’t even know all the kids in his grade level now — how in the world will he really know all of his peers in High School?  How will your ministry stay relationally small in a super-sized, digital world?

The Role of Parents

We actually want parents to ask questions like the one above and take an interest in knowing where their child is at spiritually.  How are you making it easy for parents to continue the dialogue at home?  Unrealistic expectations for parents to lead a family devotional every night is setting them up for failure.  Believe in the potential for every parent to do something….not necessarily everything.  Encourage them to continue the dialogue at home.

The Sovereignty of God

When life takes a downward turn, will kids (and parents) understand that there is a really big God they can trust — no matter what?  Are you presenting God’s truth in such a way that kids will be able to apply it to their everyday lives? The way we communicate Biblical truth and encourage kids to wrestle with questions that are not answered with a simple “yes or no” is a huge issue for our ministries.

Intentional Leaders

Consistency is key with volunteers.  Weekly commitments, intentional training, constant affirmation.  How are you developing the voice that will speak into the lives of kids?

While these are just 4 filters to think through, I firmly believe in the 5 Things Every Kids needs as a great roadmap to structure children’s ministry around.  And now the pressure is on for you – Why should parents give you their kids for an hour every week?

Child Survival Program Promoter

During my trip to Ecuador with Compassion International, I had the opportunity to learn about the Child Survival Program.  This initiative is one of the newer programs of Compassion but is proving to strengthen the local church, save lives and offer the hope of Jesus Christ to those in abject poverty…and I’m looking for 105 compassionate people who will commit to $20 / month to fund a CSP project in Ecuador.

Tragically, one out of 11 children will die before the age of five — most from preventable causes.  When Compassion began to look at this issue, they understood  that moms in abject poverty do not have access to healthcare, parenting classes, and many of them are literally living in very hopeless situations.  Additionally, more than 40% of the mortality rate happens within the first month of life.

The Solution?  CSP — Child Survival Program.  In areas where there is a CSP, the mortality rate goes from 24/1,000 to a dramatic reduction of 1/2,000.  There are 4 main ingredients that go into this successful prescription for saving the lives of the next generation.

The Local Church.

Compassion International works with local churches in abject poverty areas to bring the hope of Jesus Christ, education, healthcare, and community to mothers and their babies in the most critical of circumstances.

You will never see a Compassion International sign hanging on the local church.  Compassion empowers local churches who best understand the unique issues facing their community.  The passion and commitment that local communities have to take care of each other is unparalleled.

Education.

Mothers are given access to healthcare, immunizations and education on proper nutrition.  The  CSP program focuses on equipping mothers to help their child develop in four key areas:  physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Children who graduate from the CSP program are often developmentally ahead of their peers and excel further in primary education.

One to One Relationships.

Each local church has a team of CSP “Promoters” who work with mothers throughout their pregnancy and through the first 3 years of the baby’s life.

These volunteers are vital to the success of the program.  They work 6 days a week and visit every mother and baby for up to an hour once a week.  Home visits are the highlight of the week for new moms who often feel overwhelmed and worried about the condition of their child.

While the goal of the CSP is to increase the survival rate for babies, the incredible side effect is a deep friendship between mom and Promoter.  Promoters enter into a world of compassion because they see the problems and the longings of the mothers….they feel what the mothers feel.  The mothers feel that the Promoters are a friend, sister and counselor.

Elevate Self Worth in Abject Circumstances

Mothers who are a part of the CSP program also attend weekly skill workshops at the local church that help them discover new talents that can even be taken into the marketplace to earn income for their family.  These workshops, more importantly, help build self esteem in the mothers who often feel completely worthless and help them find purpose for the talents God has given each one of them.

If you feel like the problem of poverty is too big for you to impact, let me encourage you…. You can have an enormous impact — and save lives — by supporting strategic programs like Compassion’s CSP.

Share your thoughts below.  Do you struggle with how to impact poverty?  I’m giving away one of my favorite books by Dr. Wes Stafford, “Too Small to Ignore” to all those who join in the discussion by posting a comment through February 14.  Show a little more than love this Valentine’s Day, show Compassion…..

Our Group, Nancy's family and her CSP Promoter

What would be on your “Top 10″ list for reasons why you should serve in Children’s Ministry?  This was a fun exercise that my husband and I played with over lunch one day.  So without further delay — here are the Top 10 why we think you should serve in Children’s Ministry:

10. You never have to make decision on what to wear on Sunday.

9.  Unlimited coffee (don’t worry — for you, not the kids!)

8.  Acting like a kid is encouraged — so you will definitely fit in….!

7.  HIGH FIVES for everyone!

6.  You can channel your inner boy band and sing as loud as you want.

5.  You can hype them up and give em back to their parents.

4.  Kids can (and will) teach you how to use your iPhone.

3.  Walking among kids makes you feel like you are Dirk Nowitzki.

2.  You will speak God’s love to a captive audience (who wants to hear it…!)

1. You’ll be a part of God’s bigger story to the next generation.

2011 Orange Conference Promo from Whisper Productions on Vimeo.

What are you doing here?  You should be HERE!

It’s the opening day of Orange Conference Registration and this year, we are kicking things off with a huge opening day promotion.  But it’s only good for Opening Day, October 5, 2010! (Don’t say I didn’t tell you….)

I was a ministry director when I attended my first Orange Conference.  It was an experience unlike anything I had ever experienced before.  I found encouragement, practical ministry ideas and solutions….and most of all, inspiration.  It was a game changer for me.  Our team wrestled with ideas and direction, worshipped together (seriously, when is the last time you and your team worshipped TOGETHER?), networked with other leaders, and for some of us….we had a little heart to heart time with God.

If you have never been to Orange, this is your year.  (Or at least it really should be…)  It’s time to get creative and think outside of the budget box.

Can you do fundraising?  I’ve heard awesome ideas for fundraising — from selling tshirts to washing cars.  What can you do?

Can you ask for airline miles or hotel rewards points to be donated to you?

Can you take a step of faith and commit to being there?

It’s time to work ON ministry instead of IN ministry.

It’s time to be strategic with what you are doing.

It’s time for you to come experience it all for yourself instead of reading about it on blogs.

Registration opens today.  Go.  Register.  See you there!

In what seems to be a previous life, I worked for a non-profit organization in California that took old computers, refurbished them and donated them to public schools.

From time to time, we would actually have donation events where we would unveil the new computers at a school library.  During one of these such events, we were in a very depressed neighborhood of Northern California.  The students were extremely excited to have the computers and we were equally — if not more so — excited to give them.

The donation itself, however, was not the most impressionable experience for me.

Our Executive Director had to use the restroom while on campus and politely asked some of the students where the closest facility was.  They shrugged and said that she should use the teacher’s lounge in the office.  The Executive Director insisted that she could just use the one down the hallway and asked them why she should go all the way back to the office when clearly there was a closer option.

Their demeanor changed to try and mask the embarrassment.  And then they confided that the restrooms for the students didn’t work.  The toilettes didn’t flush anymore —  they were clearly apologetic for something that was not in their control.

I would like to believe that conditions have improved since that day, nearly 15 years ago.

However, recently, I had a 3rd grader confide in me that his head was flushed in the toilet at school….

What breaks your heart?  I know this issue breaks mine.

What if the church saw it as their responsibility to partner with our local public schools to help educators change things for the better?  What if every church adopted a public school?  Would that help things change?

I’ve seen some pretty remarkable things happen when the church partners with public education.  There is much to be learned and even more work to be done……  But, I think it would be a great beginning of a new story……

So are we waiting for Superman?  Or is Jesus just waiting for us…..?