Archives For Orange Conference
It’s that time of year again. Since 2008, I’ve had a fun opportunity to spend a week in Atlanta, Georgia with friends that do my job and those that love the things we do. I have a real passion for parents, kids, and everyone that loves them; and when I’m in Atlanta at the Orange Conference I never feel more surrounded by likeminded people than I do when I’m there.
In honor of what will be a few updates from the Orange Conference 2013, I give you the Friday Bag…Orange Edition.
New Orange Conference Family Ministry Track — This is a great opportunity to really narrow down what we do for families within our church, and it’s a special chance for me to lead a breakout with these same leaders. I’m stoked to be teaching “Clarifying the Win for Family Ministry” on Thursday Afternoon, April 25th.
Tune into The Orange Conference! – “We’d love for everyone to be here in person for OC13, but realize that’s not always an option. So, we’d like to offer you the next best thing: tune in online. You’ll be able to see on and off-stage action, including session streaming, speaker interviews, mayhem and hi-jinx, resource updates and giveaways, and perhaps even win a ticket to OC14!”
The Orange Conference App – “If you’re planning to attend The Orange Conference this Spring in Atlanta, Georgia, this app will help make your experience on site pretty darn stellar.”
This is a guest post from Kenny Conley, the one organizing this special new Family Ministry track at the Orange Conference. Kenny is the NextGen Pastor at Gateway Church in Austin, Texas; and also a great friend to my family. // He is also very tall, and extremely easy to find in a crowd.
Spring is here. The trees are starting to bud and the scent of new life is in the air. Spring is one of my favorite times of the year. One thing that comes with every spring for me is the little conference I attend every year in Atlanta called Orange Conference. Ha! There’s nothing little about Orange Conference!
This year makes my fifth year to attend this great conference. From time to time, people ask me why I keep going back. “Once you get this whole ‘Orange’ thing, can’t you move on to something new?” For me, Orange Conference has become a part of my annual routine because each year, it’s a totally different experience. I come home with different ideas, have different conversations and each event inspires me in a fresh new way. It’s less about the “event” and more about the people and conversations that accompany the conference (but I must say, the “event” is spectacular). There are very few places where so many people are gathered in the same place for a few days that challenge and inspire me so much within the context of the ministry I’m currently in. Why wouldn’t I make my way to participate each year?
Now, I must say that this year is very unique for me. Something is happening at OC13 that is not happening anywhere else, and I think it is incredible. This year, Orange Conference is hosting a specialized breakout track for NextGen/Family Ministry leaders. Not just people who are responsible for family elements of ministry, but those in the unique staff role of both student and children’s ministry oversight. It’s a very new, but rapidly growing role within the church and there’s so much to learn. Orange has put together some amazing communicators to talk about the things NextGen/Family Ministry leaders are dealing with. These breakouts attempt to define the role and the family ministry team. This track aims to process through the biggest hurdles leaders in this role will face. What I’m even more excited about is gathering and rubbing shoulders with others in this role as we all learn together.
Breakouts include:
- Leading a NextGen Meeting with Kenny Conley
- NextGen/Family Ministry Leadership: Leading 360 Degrees with Michael Bayne
- The Art of Delegation with Powell Grisham
- Family Ministry 101: Defining the NextGen/Family Ministry Team with Darren Kizer
- Leading Through Conflict Resolution with Kenny Conley and Jim Wideman
- Clarify the Win: Narrowing Down What is Most Important in Your Ministry with Jonathan Cliff
So, if you are in this role, or you work with someone in this role, OC13 is the place to be this April.
If you’d like more info about the various tracks at OC13, we’ve added for 2013 are Track Champions and a greater explanation of our tracks. You can read more about the goals of the each track here (http://www.whatisorange.org/orangeconference/2013/new) and watch the videos here (http://vimeo.com/whatisorange) to offer further explanation.
For this year’s Orange Conference I will be experiencing it from a very unique angle. For the past 5 years, I’ve had to get on an airplane, rent a car, drive through Atlanta traffic, and bum a hotel couch off a friend just to be there. This year my house and family are 38 miles away from the Gwinnett Center. I’m going to be there, and I’m excited for it to be in my own backyard.
I hope you’d consider the ONE conference for children’s workers, senior pastors, student leaders, small group leaders, volunteers, preschool directors, and family ministry directors. This year Orange has added a special NextGen/Family Ministry track for those leading the whole team of family ministry, and when you see the list of speakers for that track…Woah!
In honor of a special Orange Week with a ton of other bloggers, Orange would like to giveaway a free Year Subscription to YouLead.
Check out the resources you can find now in the new YouLead:
ISSUES – A collection of media tools focused on a core topic.
Each Issue provides resources for you and your team, including book previews, podcasts, videos and case studies along with prewritten emails to send to your volunteers—all centered around a topic, like: creating a family experience, developing a Small Group culture and focusing your message.SESSIONS – Selected messages from ministry experts
Sessions are featured podcasts from Orange Events that will help answer specific questions you have in ministry. For example: How do I create an environment on a budget? How do I make a big impact on families with special needs? How do I recruit and retain great volunteers?CULTURE – Executive Summaries and Book Previews
We are learning from the best! Culture provides you with case studies and best practices from organizations such as Pixar, IKEA and Zappos that have relevant application to your family ministries. Also, we provide Book Previews of titles like The Way We’re Working Isn’t Working, Choosing to Cheat,and Switch to help you sharpen your leadership skills and be on the cutting edge.SOCIAL – Messages and images that inspire volunteers
Social gives you tools to connect weekly with your volunteers. We have created messages and images that will help your volunteers learn, live, lead and laugh. Plus, these pieces will help you stay connected and cast vision!PREZ – Strategic presentations to train teams
Prez is designed to help you become more effective in your presentations to leaders and volunteers. It provides you with a graphic package and/or audio or video file to help you enhance your PowerPoint or Prezi presentation—and in some cases, we will even include a complete Prezi presentation—a cloud-based presentation and storytelling tool for exploring and sharing ideas on a virtual canvas.PLUS – Random stuff leaders want
Plus provides you with a variety of random resources that you will love. It includes podcasts that explain the Orange Strategy, bumper videos to enhance environments and curriculum tools to equip you and your team.
For samples and the complete YouLead Resource Catalog, click here!
Tim Keller on How to Read the Bible - “There is, in the end, only two ways to read the Bible: is it basically about me or basically about Jesus? In other words, is it basically about what I must do, or basically about what he has done?”
Live a Visible, Exemplary, Everyday Life - “As I mentor and coach leaders in North American churches, I find a common theme among many pastors: They live and lead in such a way so as to disqualify themselves as an elder in their own church..”
Michael Hyatt on His top 10 Favorite iPad Apps - “I have been asked numerous times about which iPad applications I use. I thought I’d share here my top ten favorites. These are the applications I am using daily.”
Why Come to Orange Conference 2013? // Well, besides that I’ll be there and you can say hello in person?
