As we kick off Orange Blogger Week for September 2011, I’d like to address a simple question of “Why Orange?” For those of you who have been in ministry situations for a while, or just starting, I know a new idea like this could be confusing as to why to change it up.
For me, it is all about the heart of the Orange philosophy. The idea of Orange is combining the heart of the family (red) with the light of the church (yellow). These two institutions were began by God, and it is important that they are brought together. Too often in churches today, we are fragmenting our ministries. The student ministry, children’s ministry, worship ministry, etc. have no clue what is going on in each others’ area. On top of that, parents often have the mindset that the church is the primary spiritual influence for their kids, instead of themselves. The Orange philosophy is about dismissing these two concepts. Instead, the idea is to get all ministries on the same page, partnering together in support of families being the primary source of spiritual influence. The church should partner with parents and families to make this happen.
This is why I have chosen to support Orange, this is and why our church has adopted this philosophy. Specifically, for student ministry, this means that I am working with parents more and championing the family. In the end, it seems like a “why not?” decision for me. Why not partner with families in helping them serve Christ? That’s why orange.
For more about Orange, check out http://whatisorange.org.
The 2011 Orange Conference is now behind us all. If you were there or just kept up with all my blog posts, you know there was a ton of information. Often, one will be overloaded after a conference like this, wondering what to do first. I know I was like that last year, and I tried to take steps to prevent that as much as possible this year.
