If you’ve been a reader of my blog for the last few years, you’ve probably heard me talk a lot about Orange. And no, I’m not talking about the fruit or the wireless carrier. I’m talking about a method of doing ministry. In the past, I’ve referred to this as a strategy for family ministry, but it’s really more than that. It’s a philosophy that can change your entire church.
Today, during “Orange Blogger Week,” I’d like to give you my top five reasons for your church to go Orange.
1. You will begin partnering with parents.
The entire Orange philosophy is based on a partnership between the church (yellow) and the home (red). When you start doing ministry with that mindset, you will automatically begin equipping parents to be the spiritual leaders in their homes, instead of the church being solely responsible for spiritual growth – it becomes a full partnership between the two. Yes, spiritual guidance should and does happen within the church, but it must also happen in the home. An Orange mindset makes sure it’s happening in both areas, and both are working on the same thing at the same time.
2. You will go beyond your specific ministry.
Quite often, we silo our ministries in modern churches. That means our children’s ministry is doing one thing while our student ministry is doing another thing. Meanwhile, the adults are doing something else. In larger churches, this is even more widespread. When you start thinking Orange, the silos begin to fall down, and ministries begin working together to reach entire families, because homes are often made up of kids, teens, and adults. I know that my ministry is much better when I am working alongside our other staff instead of against them or feeling like I’m all alone in my area.
3. You will program simpler.
When we have all these separate ministries running in a church, we often over-populate the calendar, which can actually hurt families. If we adopt an Orange philosophy, we begin to work together to come up with events, programs, and classes that equips families to take the talk home. Instead of having a separate kids and adult events, why not have one event that hits both age groups every once in a while? Yes, it might be difficult to do this with all areas. There are times when kids need to be with kids learning about kid-related things, but there are other times when we can combine efforts.
4. You will refocus efforts.
If church leaders start to realize they are not the only spiritual leaders for all these kids, teens, and adults, they will refocus efforts to equip and empower. In this, church leaders can multiply their efforts. If we are equipping and empowering parents to lead in their homes, then those children are being led to Christ in the home. And their family can have an impact on other families. We also equip and empower families and individuals to help each other, instead of relying upon the church staff to do it all.
5. You will go back to biblical principles.
Throughout the Bible, we see families serving God together. Scriptures like Deuteronomy 6:4-9 and Joshua 24:15 are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to God’s plan for families. We also see families partnering with other families in what Carey Nieuwhof calls “widening the circle.” In the New Testament, in particular, we see God working through families to add daily numbers to the early church in Acts. When we focus our efforts together in the church, we go back to the way God wanted it to be.
If you would like to read more about the Orange philosophy, please click here for a post I wrote a while back, which explains it in much more detail.
Like I said earlier, it’s “Orange Blogger Week,” so there are several other Orange Bloggers writing about Orange, The Orange Conference, and more this week. Be sure to check out their blogs! In fact, if you go to the Orange Leader blog today, you’ll get to participate in a giveaway for a free ticket and airfare to The Orange Conference 2016!
Also, if you’d like to know more about The Orange Conference, check out the 2015 recap video below and go to http://www.theorangeconference.com to register today!
Steve Cullum 