Reggie Joiner's Blog, page 16

5 Reasons Leaders Choose Orange Conference

I’ve been asked this question many times… what is it about the Orange Conference that keeps drawing thousands of leaders every year? Almost 80,000 leaders have attended Orange Conference since it started over a decade ago, and thousands more are planning to attend next April.

I’ve seen many events come and go and have their time in the spotlight. They’ve given me great memories and dozens of stories about events and tours over the years. But nothing compares to the impact and hype of Orange Conf...

Orange VBS Theme Reveal 2023: Ready, Set, Move!

If you only had five days to talk with kids about what it means to have a relationship with Jesus, what would you say? 

 

You can answer that question all sorts of ways. At some point, of course, you’d plan to talk about God’s love for us in sending Jesus—how Jesus died and rose again to make new life possible for all of humanity. But that’s one day. What happens the rest of the time?

 

This is the sort of question we ask ourselves when we’re planning our Orange VBS experience. 

 

Our goal at Or...

Developing a Healthy Model for Special Needs Ministry

If we can agree that both of the following are true . . . 

 

1) Every human is made in God’s image. 

2) God has given each of us different abilities.

 

. . . then we can also agree people learn about God and respond to God in different ways. That’s why making your ministry accessible for everyone is so important. It shows your church how wide and vast God’s family is and sends a message to families affected by special needs that your church is committed to passing along an everyday faith to each...

What Parents Aren’t Telling You, But You Need To Know

As ministry leaders, we get the privilege to not only serve the kids and teens in our ministries, but we get to serve their parents, too. And let’s face it. Parents will have way more influence in their child’s life than we ever will. We leaders get around forty hours a year with their kids, and parents get over three thousand hours! 

 

You see, parents and caregivers matter. 

 

We must understand them and learn from them. 

 

And while you might not agree or get along perfectly with some parents...

Is My Curriculum Deep?

Chances are you have heard the stats. The average student will be in our programming for less than 40 hours a year. That’s less than 40 hours to teach and influence the next generation, building a spiritual foundation that lasts far beyond their time in our ministry. So, the pressure to make sure we are utilizing those hours and getting the most out of them is high—understandably.

 

For that reason, if there is ONE question that plagues many church leaders as they determine what to teach, what c...

Getting Phase-Specific in a Combined Middle & High School Environment

If you lead a ministry with a combined Middle School & High School gathering, you don’t need us to tell you about the challenges you face. 

 

At Orange, we champion your ability to get as phase-specific as possible with your programs. You can learn more about why that’s the case here. We even created a resource called The Split Kit to help guide you through the process of creating phase-specific programs for your MS & HS students. You can REALLY deep dive into the phase stuff here if you’re unfa...

How to Budget for Team Development

As ministry leaders with tight budgets, we often find ourselves getting creative to budget efficiently for what is most important. This is no simple task, especially because last year you had to do the same thing. And now you have even fewer funds to work with this year. You are required to keep the “Must Haves” and throw off some of the sin that so easily entangles, otherwise known as the “Nice to Haves.” Therefore, what we tend to do is get rid of some of the intangible things. 

 

We keep tang...

What Everyday Leaders Can Do for Kids’ Mental Health

As many kids are headed back to school, you may observe behaviors that seem out of the norm.  For a child, any period of transition or uncertainty can generate stress or anxiety. Additionally, kids have observed and experienced a lot recently which may have impacted their mental health. 

 

According to the CDC, 7.1% of children ages 3-17 have been diagnosed with anxiety and 3.2% with depression. According to the CDC, 1 in 6 U.S. children aged 2–8 years (17.4%) had a diagnosed mental, behavioral,...

Serving Jesus By Being a Student Writer

My church uses the Donut Shop Coffee brand every Sunday morning to welcome our members as they enter the church doors. Whenever I smell this specific coffee brand, I think of my church. This is because I have smelled this coffee for the last six years.

 

Over the years, I’ve attended and served at my church. I’ve participated and served in every imaginable way – ushering, singing, assisting with production, volunteering in Kid Ministry, and serving at summer camp. Engaging in my church communit...

Circles of Influence in Teen Friendship

“THIS IS RIDICULOUS!” 

 

I’ll never forget the moment a particular girl in my small group started yelling this phrase. Not really at me but just yelling in general. They were sophomores at the time and we had just begun a late night discussion during a weekend retreat. I had tried to open with a light icebreaker but she wasn’t having it. And pretty soon the entire group chimed in echoing her frustration. 

 

“This is ridiculous,” she went on.

“You guys are ALWAYS saying we’re supposed to be frie...