We get to see all types of ministry spaces around the country when we are on the Orange Tour.  Some are in brand new buildings with the latest technology and others are in rented facilities moving in and out every week.  Then you have the ones that are doing the best with what they have and do an incredible job with their creativity.  No matter the space it is a great time to see how they cater to their community.

Here are some pictures that were sent in by Lisa Molite of Community Christian Church

What does your space look like?

The Orange team met Heath Krueger at Chick-Fil-A during the Charlotte Orange Tour.  Heath has  been in student ministry for over 15 years. Heath wrote on his blog (http://heathkrueger.com/) what he learned at Orange Tour– Charlotte.

Check out some of the many things Heath learned:

(1)  An Orange leader is someone who influences parents and leaders to build faith into the next generation.  Design a strategy that combines the family with the faith community to demonstrate the message of God’s story, in order to influence the next generation.  Our strategy is different than our mission. Our success as church is not determined by our mission but our strategy. Strategy asks “What do we want them to become?” and “How do we craft an environment where students can get to that end?” Strategy is a plan of action with an end in mind. What are the relationships to develop? Will the church walk away from church knowing how to be the church?

(2)  It doesn’t take a leader to kill something that’s dead. It takes a leader to kill something that’s living. A strategy gives you reason to say NO to people because you have a plan, enabling you to be proactive not reactive.  What’s the most important commandment? Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all soul and with all your strength. And love your neighbor as yourself.” The second one got the Pharisees where it hurt as opposed to the first one.Jesus wanted them and He wants us to see God and see others correctly.

(3)  We turn three dials—wonder, discovery, and passion. First, how do students see God? Wonder: we are instinctively drawn to what is supernatural, miraculous, or spiritual. We turn the wonder dial down subconsciously. Do we incite Wonder? Do they know that the God of the universe created them and that they are made on purpose for a purpose? Do they know their Identity, that they are created in His image and that God is involved in the process to restore that image? Connection-do students know that He desires to have a relationship with them? We emphasize different things at different ages. During the preschool years we turn up the wonder dial, that God loves them unconditionally. Do kids think God is their enemy?

(4)  How do students see themselves? Discovery: we are instinctively drawn to understand our own uniqueness and role in a bigger story. We are wired to want to know who we are, which is why it is important how we process their questions and the space we give them to wonder. May we provoke discovery and be comfortable with how kids wrestle with doubt. May we avoid pat answers to uncomfortable questions. Our job is to lead students to a place where they can own their faith. May we allow students to process their own doubt. After all, we don’t need great faith in God but faith in a great God! Churches lose people because there is no room to doubt, so we have to be ok with a generation who has honest doubts and questions. It’s about transformation.Despite baggage and sin, God can restore and conform us to His image. God’s responsibility is to change people, it’s not ours! We changed didn’t we? In Charlotte, there is a middle school pastor who used to be a middle schooler! So relax! Its not up to us! Take what is timeless and bring it to bear on the moment. May we understand the big picture and give kids context so they get the bigger story. Or truth will not make sense!

(5)  How do students see others? Passion: we are instinctively drawn to connect relationally and to rescue those who are hurting or broken. Are we turning this passion dial up or down? The question should be not “How many kids are coming to youth group?” but “How many kids are doing ministry?” This sets up students to stand firm in their faith. How do we make sure we keep turning these dials over and over? May we encourage students to tap into the image of God and give them something significant to do. May we give them a better story to live than what is handed to them daily. May we look for ways to fuel their passion. May we invite students into community and speak the truth in love thru relationships. May we put consistent leaders and adults into their lives so they can walk with them. Seniors graduate—but they are not on their own. Rather they own their faith. When Jesus said ‘Love your neighbor’, it flipped everything upside down and redefined the term ‘neighbor’. So may we intentionally invite different people from different backgrounds to meet our kids. When we turn up the compassion dial, we are inviting kids into a better story!

Life is a story and a picture. Often life doesn’t turn out the way we expect or hope and we hold broken pieces of the picture in our hands. We extend hope to others by inviting people into God’s story of redemption and say, “It’s ok to be broken! We all have a messed up beautiful story!”

(6)  When we communicate with students, may we remember that saying less is saying more—so that everyone will know what really matters. How do we want kids to finish this sentence when they are 60 years old: “One thing I remember from youth group is…”So what do we say ‘now’ that will influence what they will say ‘then’? Because all Scripture is not equally important, may we prioritize what we say to kids. May we consider what Jesus didn’t say. After all, we are in the business of shaping worldviews. So what are the big rocks? Discovery, faith, transformation, truth, passion, community, compassion. May we be relevant in HOW we say it, because it’s presentation not information that captures imagination. May we communicate timeless truths in a relevant way, connecting it to the matter at hand. May we use what is cultural to communicate what is timeless. This is relevance. God became relevant in Jesus…

You can find the original post here.

I am always amazed by how churches use their buildings for ministry.  I also enjoy seeing churches get really creative in using volunteers and resources.  The Church at Argyle is just one of those churches.  They have done a fabulous job making sure kids and families know that they are a priority.  Here are just some of the pictures from around their church.

Thank you to the staff and volunteers of The Church at Argyle.  You guys are a great host church of the Orange Tour and a pleasure to get to know.

While on the Orange Tour we take questions during the stop by text message throughout the day.  I am amazed by the amount of questions we get.  I’m also impressed that people send in all types of questions.  Here is a list of questions that we had a hard time answering that you might be able to help us out with.  Enjoy!

• Where does your lap go when you stand up?
• Who is smarter, Reggie Joiner or Andy Stanley
• Where are the snacks? (only funny because we give out free coffee)
• Reggie, where are you? (we ask this a lot as well but don’t expect it to come from a text message by someone attending the tour)
• How do I become a confident praise leader?
• How does Reggie stay fit?
• What’s the meaning of life? (that’s a great question that is very hard to answer)
• Who would win in a fight, Reggie Joiner or Chuck Norris?
• Why are you not handing out oranges? I’m kind of hungry.

Do you want to chime in and help us out with any of the above questions?  If so your comment would be much appreciated.  Thanks.

The host church at the Indianapolis Orange Tour stop was Connection Pointe.  It was an incredible church that is doing great things for the community.  I was very impressed by their entire staff but I really connected with a 20 year guy named Alex Holt.  Alex works on the production team for Connection Point and grew up at the church.  He beats the odds of kids falling away from church in a mighty way.  It was an honor to be able to hear his story and see how he is making an impact not only at his church but around the nation.

Alex with 3 other friends started a non profit called the Andy Project when they were in high school.  The four of them where in New York and meet a homeless man named Andy.  That one event was a game changer in the life of all four teenagers.  It impacted them more than they could explain and they felt like they had to do something about it.  So they did when they got back to Indy.  What birthed from their efforts was an organization that helps the homeless.

Here is what Alex says about the Andy Project and what it means to him:

“I don’t think words can describe what The Andy Project has been to me. Over the past few years this has been an adventure that has literally changed my life. The places I have been and the people I have met because of The Andy Project will never be forgotten. God has given me the opportunity to serve His people, and I am so thankful for that every single day. I can truly say that some of my best friends are my homeless brothers and sisters of Indianapolis. The revolution that I saw in my head when we started this thing has come to life, and it is growing larger and more amazing every single day…all because of the blessings God has given to our cause.”

If you want to find out more about The Andy Project and Alex Holt then you can find them here, here, and here.

Thanks Alex for your passion for people and the work you do.  It was great meeting you.

The Chick-Fil-A meetings on Orange Tour always surprise me. Besides what I learn from strategic thinkers who drop in to talk, I think I enjoy the personal and authentic side of the conversations the most. On our way to a Chick-Fil-A stop in Charlotte, we also stopped at one in Greenville yesterday morning. There were a couple of leaders who showed up there because that’s where they go to get breakfast. So they weren’t actually looking for us. It was a nice surprise and great to hang out and catch up. It was also great to be able to introduce a few leaders to one other.

We really feel like it’s worth it when leaders from different churches in the same city or region get to meet each other. That’s going to be happening a lot today. Over 400 will be hanging out for the Orange One Day event in Charlotte. I’m praying for a lot of meaningful discussions to happen in the next several hours.

One thing happens when you travel around the country that never ceases to amaze me.  That one thing is you get to meet great people.  It doesn’t matter if you are in California, New York, or North Carolina the people make the difference.

Let me tell you about a team that I met from Elizabeth City, NC.  They drove 5 and half hours to come to the Orange tour in Charlotte.  That might not be the farthest that someone will travel to come to an Orange Tour stop but it is still pretty impressive.  It’s also impressive that 3 of the 5 of them are volunteers and took off from work to be here. The staff members were just as impressive.  Why?  They were both volunteers until just a month ago when they became staff members.  This is what we are finding more and more typical in churches around the country.  People care about their communities and their churches so much that it doesn’t matter if they are getting paid or not.

Here’s a picture of this great team from Elizabeth City, NC:

It’s a great reminder that leaders aren’t just those that have been doing ministry for 20 years at churches with thousands of people but they are the people next door who are making a difference.

Wanted to make sure that you were aware of upcoming opportunities to connect.

Orange is inviting you to meet us at Chick-fil-A to talk about leadership!

We’re asking the question: “What has been a game-changer in your life or work?”

Charlotte, NC | Wednesday, October 19, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
Click here to let us know you’re coming.

Chick-fil-A @ South End
3015 South Boulevard
Charlotte, NC 28209

Indianapolis, IN | Monday, October 24, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
Click here to let us know you’re coming.
Chick-fil-A @ Avon
10791 E. US Highway 36
Avon, IN 46123

Jacksonville, FL | Thursday, November 3, 2011 @ 2:00 pm
Click here to let us know you’re coming.
Chick-fil-A @ Wells Road
1925 Wells Road
Orange Park, FL 32073

The number one reason we do the tour is to connect with leaders around the county.  One of the leaders that we got to connect with was Michael Bayne.  Michael is a great friend to Orange and runs a blog at http://michaelbayne.net.  He has some great insights on his blog that I’m sure you would enjoy.

Michael was gracious enough to take some notes from the one of the stops that we have made so far.  Here is just one set of notes that he took from the tour:

When you serve kids, teens and college students you are serving moving targets. They are in constant motion. Their outlook is constantly changing. They influences are consistently morphing. This generation and all that will come ahead of us are moving targets. How do we know we are getting through to them? How do we know we are communicating what is most important? These are questions those of us who are thinking Orange are constantly asking because we are trying help preschoolers, children, teens, and college students to become fully devoted followers of Christ. Today at the Orange Tour we processed the idea of focusing our message so we are communicating what matters most to this generation. We are trying to move this generation in a specific direction. We are trying to incite wonder, push for self discovery, and fuel authentic passion . Check out what this looks like and process this idea…are you helping the moving targets you serve hit the right target as they grow in their faith?

Incite Wonder / design (we are intentional) Identity (you were made in the image of God) Connection (the God of the universe wants a relationship with me)

Self Discovery / faith (relationship with Jesus) Transformation (tension that we are in process, we have not arrived) Truth (God has given truth and it can be a compass)

Fuel Passion / The Cross (Jesus gave himself for others, we do the same) Community (we are connected, we are a family and we are connected) Compassion (others!) Restoration (we can be a part of the solution)

What would happen if our ministries helped the moving targets we lead embrace these truths? 

Thanks Michael for sharing with your community and for meeting us along the journey.  We really do appreciate you.

On the Orange tour we get to connect with leaders all over the country and even sometimes from other countries when they fly in from Korea.  We talk through difficult decisions and topics along the way.  One leader that doesn’t get to join us very often is Jared Herd.  Jared leads our XP3 curriculum and is now an author.  Orange is happy to announce a new release by our own Jared Herd. You probably know Jared from his speaking engagements across the country, and his involvement in BigStuf Camps. Now, you can hear Jared speak straight to you through his book, More Lost Than Found, released today. In Jared’s words—

As humbly and as gratefully as I can, I’d like to present this book that has taken four years, countless rewrites, and a lot of soul searching. I can’t begin to tell you the ways in which this project has changed me, but I would like to tell you why I have written it.

There are many great books out there written about this generation. My goal was to write as honestly as I could to this generation. In these pages, I go through the hard questions that may not have answers, not around them, to share my own struggles, doubt, and disillusionment with life and faith. This isn’t a book written about my life, rather a book written through my life. Within the first few pages, I share the story of coming to faith and being baptized by my father who was a pastor, and then losing my faith seven years later.

“My family’s carefully pruned image was shattered when my father’s affair became public. My faith in God was built by his words, words left hollow by his scandal. During a Sunday night prayer service, my mother, brother, and I stood to ask for prayer in front of a sparse but committed crowd, and there I stood like a wounded war pony just a few feet from that same baptistery. That night . . . with my mother’s face as red as the Georgia clay the church was built on . . . my faith died in the place where it began, and alas, I was more lost than found.”

The rest of the book is written to help those who have struggled with their faith, or walked away all together, to hold on to it. To return to a place where it matters again. We know the statistics of students abandoning the church. If you are like me, you don’t just know the statistics; you know their names and faces. What is to most a vague statistic on CNN about an “evangelical trend” are real life stories to each of us. With each story, I wonder where the red tape of religion might have blocked someone’s path to experiencing the life that Christ offers. This book is my attempt to remove that red tape. I hope you like it.

Jared Herd
October 4, 2011

To purchase More Lost Than Found, click here:

Over the past few years, Jared has been traveling the country sharing the hope of Jesus with a humorous and captivating approach that has reached thousands of teenagers and college students. He serves as creative director for XP3, the student ministry curriculum of Orange. Jared is also one of the featured speakers at BigStuf Camps in Panama City Beach, Florida, each summer. Jared and his wife, Rosanna, live in Atlanta, Georgia.