http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/tags/schedule Orange Leaders Forum en-US Tue, 07 Feb 2012 17:00:35 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/search.php http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/topic/how-do-i-fit-a-family-experience-fx-into-our-schedule#post-13 Tue, 28 Apr 2009 09:06:46 +0000 Beth Nelson 13@http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/ <p>First, decide as a team what you want the goal of your FX to be - do you want to strengthen your current families, or do you want to reach out to new families? Also, perform a realistic assessment of the culture in your community. For example, is Wednesday night still known as a "church night" in your city? If so, maybe Wednesday night is good. If not, and if families have sports, lessons, and other programs going on Wednesday night, maybe you need to stick with a time on Sunday. For example, if high school football is huge in your community, it is not likely that families would forego the football game to come to your FX, so take Friday night off the table as an option. You might also pick a time when there is no other competing activity in your church (in other words, don't try to do FX during your adult Sunday school hour; it will be almost impossible to get parents to attend, much less<br /> participate as actors, tech directors, etc.) If you have to move into what might be considered the lunch hour, bring in pizza or<br /> sandwiches and allow families to enjoy a time of fellowship along with the program. Just try to start somewhere, even if it's once a quarter or a couple of times a year (around Christmas or Easter, for example).</p> <p>In the first year: Use FX to launch the ministry season (it could take the place of an adult service or be held as a special event), then another at Christmas, and another at Easter.</p> <p>In the second year, or if you have more resources: Hold your FX the first week of the month as a Family Night on Wednesday or a weekend evening. </p> <p>As a final step: Hold a weekly FX at a regular time. </p> http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/topic/what-would-a-sample-schedule-look-like-if-we-were-more-family-friendly#post-10 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:36:59 +0000 Beth Nelson 10@http://www.orangeleaders.com/forums/ <p>There are a number of different kinds of schedules that could apply here. It really depends on what kind of programming or style of church you lead. Obviously, the more heavily programmed you are, the harder it is to create space for family shared experiences. Simpler is usually better. At North Point Community Church for almost a decade, Sundays consisted of worship for adults while children and middle school students had large group and small group time. Following that we would host a 30- to 45-minute production for parents and children to give them their challenge as a family for the week. Then we would duplicate that entire process a second time and finish around lunch. High school students served on Sunday mornings and Sunday afternoons there would be a two-hour large group/small group time that focused on discipleship for high school students. A number of churches do monthly family shared experiences, some on Wednesday nights. There are quite a few who do a few times each year, and some are doing multiple family experiences in homes monthly. As it relates to student ministry, creating several strategic gatherings for parents every year to link them to what is happening in student ministry is important. </p>