What is Orange Leaders!
 OrangeLeaders is a gathering place for those who are committed to the simple idea that two influences together can have a more powerful impact than one influence alone. All over the world, churches are finding that their greatest effect comes when ministry leaders and families work together, when ministry departments combine forces, and when churches and other cultural voices find themselves on the same page ready to write the next chapter in the lives of our homes, our ministry centers, our communities.
We are intrigued by the possibility of so many Orange Leaders dialoguing about what they’re experiencing in their unique environments. This site is an ongoing conversation about how we can achieve the following Orange effects:
- Staff members and leaders synchronize their efforts to work together more effectively.
- Parents are recognized as the central influence in their children’s lives and equipped to more fully help the church help their children grow.
- Key leaders become long-term mentors for children and teenagers, providing a trusted voice and an encouraging word.
- Environments for each stage of life are designed so they present a focused, engaging message.
Students experience a greater level of spiritual development as they are mobilized to engage culture and discover their own personal ministries.
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Why Orange!
Orange is our color because it represents the idea that "two combined influences will make a greater impact together than just two influences alone." Red and yellow are fine on their own, but combine them and you get a third, more vibrant option: orange! It's why we want to put children's leaders and student leaders in the same room discussing their strategy for graduating Godly students. It's why we want church leaders to combine their influence with parents. And it's why we want ministries to be both relevant and strategic, to teach truth while offering hands-on experiences, to be more together than we could ever be alone. What does it look like to be an Orange Leader? Here are five characteristics that you should be nurturing in your ministry environment:
STRATEGY-DRIVEN Alignment for Your Team
Oranges are orange, of course. But so are apricots, tangerines, mangos, cantaloupes, and pumpkins. Your ministry teams, whether paid staff members or key volunteers, come in all kinds of flavors. But no matter the shape or size, they should all have orange in common. Discover how to align your ministry-wide objectives with step-by-step processes so everyone is truly on the same orange team. This means children's ministers, student ministers, education pastors, ministry coordinators, senior pastors and more, working together as a team with an aligned strategy. A lot of people talk team, but not that many are a team. We want to help you change that!
FAMILY-FRIENDLY Families First so Families Last
For ministry leaders tired of being babysitters, this means a new mode of transportation as a toddler travels from preschool to high school. Family ministry is the new growth engine for ministry, but it means more than parenting classes, family life centers, mother-daughter teas and father-son camping trips. Family ministry means making mom and dad the prime drivers in the strategy to guide the spiritual lives of their children. When you actually know where you're going, it will be a lot easier to get there.
SKILL-BASED Charge Up Your Power Tools
In these do-it-yourself times you want the best tools from the best craftsman with the most know-how. We've been very intentional in inviting the best clinicians and most seasoned ministry leaders to contribute to OrangeLeaders.com. When we selected these leaders, we determined to offer truly innovative thinkers. You’ll find their content helpful, challenging, and thought-provoking, and we look forward to hearing your reactions to their input.
COMMUNITY-FOCUSED Ever Been to the Real O.C.?
Thousands of churches are already part of the Orange team, with their own Orange-friendly ministry processes, weekly family productions like KidStuf, curriculum resources like 252Basics, FamilyTimes Virtue Packs and other relevant ways of impacting children, students and families. These churches are living out the five Orange principles every single week. This is the real O.C. an Orange Community of change agents and influence leaders who exchange advice, encouragement, ideas and more. Take advantage of the collective experiences of this team and join us as we work to continually improve Orange ministries all over the world.
BEST PRACTICES You Shoot! You Score!
Through OrangeLeaders.com, we'll challenge you to think about an intentional strategy, not a temporary model. As we've expanded our experiences with churches across the nation, we've discovered a dynamic reality: whether it's a family production or a student small-group study, we can all learn from the best practices being developed and demonstrated by Orange-oriented leaders. It's not a matter of following someone else's model, but finding the best way for you and your team to achieve the strategy for which you're shooting.
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