Reggie Joiner's Blog, page 43

Tuning Up The Band: Using The Summer to Cast Vision

Have you ever noticed that as soon as the last bell rings, classes are dismissed, and the hallways in your local schools are empty for summer break, that your ministry spaces may not be as full as they were for the previous season? Welcome to summer. Welcome to vacation season. Welcome to attendance fluctuation.

Even though this just-short-of-phenomenon occurs annually, sometimes it still shocks me when our first (earliest) of three services on Sunday mornings goes from 40 kids to 12 kids see...

Transitioning To An Orange Strategy In A Denominational Setting

Working with kids and families in denominational churches can create unique challenges. I often hear phrases such as, “I loved this when I was a kid,” and “This is what makes the (insert your denomination) program for kids so unique and important.” As rich and important as some of our denominational traditions are, they can also prevent us from making the changes necessary to influence the lives of young people.

When we look at moving from a denominational curriculum or strategy to adopting a...

It’s Always Time to Get Personal

By: MB Mooney

It’s always time to get personal.

As with any organization, Phoenix Roasters has our own catchphrases and statements that define our mission and culture. Any good business will have these embedded into their DNA. These statements help to remind us of the vision and mission of #CoffeeThatMatters.

One of those statements is – “Life is about relationships. The rest is just details.”

Phoenix Roasters is a coffee company created from a ministry, a church plant dedicated to the hurtin...

Four Choices Good Leaders Make

My friend, Hal Runkel, just wrote a book that I think is brilliant. The book is called Choose Your Own Adulthood and it is formatted like a choose-your-own adventure book. It is written for adolescents moving into the adult phase of their journey from letters he wrote his daughter along their journey. In the book, he talks about choices that we face that often look very similar, but by choosing one over the other we often get much different results. I think that is true for many things in lif...

Strategy, Not Curriculum

A curriculum provides information, but a strategy teaches with the end in mind. There are key things a child needs to learn at each age from birth to graduation—age-specific core concepts, principles, and experiences to have a real, growing and personal relationship with Jesus Christ. By having an overall strategy, a master plan exists that keeps the end result for a child in mind.

A curriculum equips leaders, but a strategy develops them.

A strategy helps leaders focus on the right things—de...

How To Navigate Transitions In Ministry

Transitions can be difficult. Even the most thought-out and well-designed transitions can be stressful. When we are leading in ministry, transitions are something we come to expect. People in our communities move on, someone on our staff transitions out, we have to let people go, or sometimes transition is forced upon us.

If we are not careful, we can easily allow our minds to spin in unhealthy directions. Many times during transition, we do not know all of the details or variables. We have t...

Does Anyone Love Monday?

Does anyone love Monday? I typically roll out of bed to the sound of a 4-year-old begging to play on my smartphone while eating Lucky Charms® (the marshmallows anyway). She likes shiny new technology and sugar. Preschoolers and middle schoolers. They are like the same thing. After sending the big kids off to school and dropping the littlest one off at preschool, I hit up Starbucks on my way into the church office. A freshly brewed dark roast always makes Monday SO MUCH BETTER. Are you with me...

Orange Conference 2020, Orange Tour 2019 & Brand NEW Orange Labs Tickets: ON SALE TODAY!

Registration for our 2019 Fall and Winter Tour opens at 5:00pm ET today, and we want to see next year! If you’re a guy/gal who likes to save a buck or a bunch of bucks, these are the lowest prices you’ll see. Better get them this week before they increase. And you’re in luck, no couponing necessary! You won’t look cheap; you’ll look like an early adaptor. Orange Conference 2020 will take place here in Atlanta April 29 – May 1, 2019.

Orange Conference 2020: INDIVIDUALS PAY ONLY $225. You’ll sa...

Discover New Orange Books at OC19!

Orange Conference is a prime opportunity to discover resources, not just for yourself, but for your ministry team. (Especially as you plan your fall ramp-up in just a few short months.)

If you’re coming, be sure to visit the onsite store and check out what’s new and new to you. It’s a good way to take the best ideas from Conference home with you. (Staff will be available to help you find the resources you need.)

While you’re there, don’t miss these new Orange Books. (To get a sneak peek, go t...

Meet The #OC19 Blogging Team

There’s going to be a lot of activity at the Infinite Energy Center this week once OC19 gets started on Wednesday. We want those of you following along from home to stay in the loop as much as possible, despite the frenzy of information that may be happening on social media or even from those you’ve sent to Atlanta. One of the best ways to do sort through it all is to not only watch the Live Stream from your home or office, but also to follow our bloggers throughout their experience. It’s a g...