If you’ve not registered for The Orange Conference, then go ahead and kick yourself.  You’ve missed out on a great special that expired last week.  However…it’s not too late.  In fact, there is still time to register and still save some money on those that might wait until the absolute last minute to register.

Register your group between February 22 and March 18 and pay $280 per person.  That’s $20 off the regular price of $300!  Let’s do the math for a minute.  If you take 3 people to Orange you can save $60, but you could save $1,000 if you take 50 people!

PLUS, that is not all…

Your church or organization will get 6 months of free curriculum from OrangeLeaders.com!* This leadership material is an incredible resource to use with your volunteers during training events as well as for your own personal growth.

*Access to your OrangeLeaders.com subscription will be available beginning on April 1, 2010. Access to download your materials will be given for a period of three months, although the materials may be used in your environments through December 31, 2010. This offer does not apply to current subscribers to OrangeLeaders.com. Coupons to access the free materials will be emailed to each qualifying group leader during the week of March 22, 2010. Questions? Call 877.313.9826 or email orangeconference@rethinkgroup.org

What do you think when I offer you the chance to see the making of an Orange?  What if I change one of those words and offer you a chance to see the Making of The Orange Conference?  Trust me.  You do NOT want to watch this video on how to make an orange germinate and grow much faster.  Really.

You do however want to visit www.makingoforange.com

It’s MakingOfOrange.com and it’s a way for people to follow along and participate in the process of planning The Orange Conference.  They will be giving daily updates of what the teams are working on and asking for input along the way.  They will be putting up videos of meetings and posting pictures as well.

Then when the conference is happening, there will be interviews with the speakers streaming live from backstage on this site.  Lots of good stuff going on with this site!  Go check it out now!

I promise to take a break from all the overtly Orange blog posting over the next few months.  I will however have some giveaways coming up, and some ReThink product reviews before The Orange Conference in April.  Which you should have already registered for, right?

Last Thursday I was at the Dallas Orange One Day Event.  Texans know how to pull these things off, and we had over 700 people in attendance.  It was a great time to really focus in on change.  Change is scary, and most of instituting a more Orange environment for our families will result in massive amounts of change.  The following video gives you a much better summary than my text could.  Enjoy!

For this entire week I have written about how I have worked  the 5 Elements of Orange into my ministry strategy.  Catchup on my earlier posts:

#1 Integrated Strategy

#2 Refine the Message

#3 Reactivate the Family

#4 Elevate the Community

#5 Leverage Influence

I hope that you’ve taken the time to read and see what everyone else has said this week in regards to these same things.  I’ve tried to share personal experiences, and how I’m trying to effect change from the bottom up.  Just know we’re all in this together!

Dan “The Orangest of them All” Scott

Sam “Yankees are like the Church” Luce

Jonathan Cliff

Matt “White Pants” McKee

Kendra “Curriculum Guru” Golden

Anthony “Let me complain about 65 degree weather” Prince

JC “the lesser” Thompson

In the spirit of giving, I want to offer a free giveaway this morning!  On Thursday, January 21st I will be selecting one person to receive:

How do you win this?  Easy…ok maybe not that easy.

First: Leave me a comment here on this post tell me why your better than everybody else and deserve this free $40 value gift.

Second: Twitter this blog post! For example you could say, “@jonathancliff is the coolest person I know.  Go to http://www.jonathancliff.com/2010/01/orange-giveaway/ and see what I’m going to win in his Orange Week Giveaway!”

Third (in case of not having twitter): Go to your Myspace account and say something nice about Kenny Conley.

I’ll select one person that is the most creative in leaving a twitter comment directing others to this blog to win the Giveaway!  Stay tuned!

UPDATE: We have a winner! http://www.jonathancliff.com/2010/01/winner-winner-chicken-dinner/

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If you’re not making plans to attend the Orange Conference in Atlanta this Spring, then start making them now.  I’ll be there, and many more important people as well.  Come see if an Orange way of thinking can help you integrate strategy with your entire Next Generation ministries at your church!

Yesterday I started laying out how I have worked the 5 Elements of Orange into my ministry strategy.  Catchup on my earlier posts: #1 Integrated Strategy and #2 Refine the Message and #3 Reactivate the Family and #4 Elevate the Community.  Please bear in mind, that I am the Children’s Ministry Pastor, and bear no overall job responsibility for the other Next Generation ministries at my church.  Currently I am responsible for birth through the 5th grade, and am trying my best to implement Orange from the bottom up.

# 5 Leverage Influence

When you combine two influences you mobilize generations

To leverage influence is to create consistent opportunities for students to experience personal ministry (last time I promise, it’s in the book!)  This is the chapter that youth pastors nationwide should read.  And then when they’re done, they should read it again and again and again.  If Reggie gets on a soapbox, it’s in this chapter.

This is something dear to my heart, but I sincerely believe that it is through service that people experience true spiritual growth.  It has been a frustration of mine for most of my adult ministry life when there is an overemphasis on classroom discipleship at the expense of service.  Why would I feel this way?  Because my own life was changed when given the chance to serve.  It began to change when a youth pastor gave me opportunities to lead small groups of High School students at a Disciple-Now weekend.  I then experienced a breakthrough when asked by a friend in college to share my journey of dealing with the death of a close friend with his college ministry group.  Then while being discipled by some more mature believers in college, we would regularly visit dorm floors to begin new relationships and look for those seeking answers to life’s problems.  Again and again, God revealed himself to me through service.

Of course there was tons of Bible study, book reading, and prayer; but looking back it was the experiencing part of serving that helped me grow.  Doing is always better than learning all by itself.

To leverage influence as a pastor, I am working to find areas for young people to lead.  I will reach out more to the 14 year old than anyone else, because I see the impact their service could have beyond my areas of ministry.

As leaders and parents, our primary calling is not to keep our children in the church, but to lead them to be the church.  The family and church were designed ultimately not to protect children, but to set them free to demonstrate God’s love to a broken world.

If you’re not making plans to attend the Orange Conference in Atlanta this Spring, then start making them now.  I’ll be there, and many more important people as well.  Come see if an Orange way of thinking can help you integrate strategy with your entire Next Generation ministries at your church!