Reggie Joiner's Blog, page 50

New Year. New Me. And This Time, It’s Personal

You can see the difference in a leader who is just showing up and a caring leader who shows up predictably to create a safe community. There’s an obvious difference between someone reading off a script and someone who has crafted an engaging, relevant, and memorable experience. And you can feel the climate change in a ministry when the leader goes from checking off another Sunday to aligning a team with a common language and strategy. The difference comes, and things begin to change, when you...

Answered Prayer, Life-Change, and The Orange Conference

You’ve likely heard the saying, “Be careful of what you pray for, it might just come true.” That saying has been around for a long, long time, and has been proven true for as long as any of us can remember. I’ve reflected on that thought many times thanking God for, time and again, coming through on things I was praying about. Well, I’d like to share with you one of the biggest prayers I’ve prayed and how God used The Orange Conference to answer what I had been praying about.

I was once an in...

Ways to Save on Your Registration and Trip to OC19!

Dec. Jan. Feb. March. April. and then it is May! Orange Conference 2019 is happening May 1st-3rd this year! Every year, Orange Conference seems to be so close yet so far away. For me, it’s personal. One way or another, I have not missed an Orange Conference since 2004. I have been gifted tickets. I have had to fundraise for my ticket. I’ve been a volunteer. And I have had the privilege of working at a church that saw this as an investment and purchased the entire trip. Can you relate to one o...

It’s Personal During Orange Blogger Week!

Jesus made it personal—being born into a family, ministering to and with friends, and dying on a cross for you and for me.

Ministry is personal.

It always has been.
It’s just sometimes we get so busy in the work we do, we may forget why we do it.

But when we act like it’s personal it changes how we . . .
Say what we say
Spend our budget
Design our programs
Lead our volunteers
Work together as a staff
Prioritize our calendars
Care about our communities

OC19 will be a challenge to start over ev...

Preparing Kids Room at Christmas and Beyond

During the Advent Season, we’re often reminded to “prepare Him room.” We set up special activities like the Advent Wreath or the Jesse Tree that walk us through Scripture each day leading up to our celebration of the birth of Christ on Christmas morning. These activities help keep our hearts focused on the true meaning of Christmas instead of being sidetracked by all the lights, presents, and activities. All of which will fade away the minute the season passes.

Each year around this time, I a...

Explaining Orange to Holiday Visitors at Your Church

The holidays are here and so are new families. Something about fried turkeys and cute baby Jesus draws people to our ministries like a powerful magnet, during this wonderful time of the year. Though some of these families are visiting cousin Jeffrey for Thanksgiving, or visiting their in-laws for Christmas, or maybe ringing in the New Year with Grandma, other families live near our churches and are visiting because of the holiday season.

Regardless of their reasons for visiting, sharing the O...

Talking to Kids About Death

There are times in our ministries where we are called upon to do very difficult tasks, perhaps one of the most painful is being the person to deliver the news to a child or student about a family member’s death. Everything matters. Our words matter. Our actions matter. Our follow up matters. It’s a very heavy responsibility, and yet it is an honor to be in the inner circle with families in those life-changing moments. Our responsibility is sacred when we are discussing life and death. These c...

Maximizing the Four Most Pivotal Times of the Day

Every so often the alarm sounds. Sometimes, even before the alarm, something else may trigger it—a pleasant smell or maybe an appealing commercial. It can be a little different for all of us, but one thing is for sure. There is no Do Not Disturb button for the hunger alarm within us. We have to eat!

Oh, yes! The alarm sounds at different times for us all. When we awake. Before we sleep. At lunchtime. Dinnertime. Snack time. During a long meeting. During our commutes. At the best times and at...

Navigating Loss Through the First Year

All my life my mother was a schoolteacher. Through the years, she taught several different grades, but primarily she taught elementary school. However, it wasn’t until I was in fifth grade that I discovered that my mom had actually gone to school to be a singer. She had a beautiful voice. Although I remember her singing in weddings and that she had taught piano out of our house most of my elementary school years, it never occurred to me that music might be something she wanted to pursue. Beca...

What Can Your Church do to Welcome Special Needs Families This Christmas?

The Christmas season is upon us! It’s the time of year that you can catch Elf on TV at least 20 times and it’s socially acceptable to quote it often (I quote it year around!). It’s also an opportunity for your church to be intentional about connecting with families in your community. As you consider all families that might come through your church’s doors this season, it’s understandable to sometimes feel ill-equipped to minister to families with children and students with special needs who m...