Archive for April, 2010
Drinking from a fire hydrant
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
So, Orange 2010 is officially over now. Unfortunately, I’m not even done blogging my experiences from the first day. More than any other year, Orange has been like drinking from a fire hydrant. Creative ideas and challenges from breakouts. Powerful message content from the main stage. Incredible people to meet and talk to in the hallways. Early mornings and late nights hanging out with staff and friends. On top of all of this, my brain is running at 100 MPH thinking about all the things I’ve learned and want to process.
That’s why I’m about two days behind.
Don’t worry, I’ll catch up. I’m not going home until Monday morning, so I should wrap up all my Orange posts before Monday morning. However, I’m sure you’ll be reading Orange inspired thoughts from me in the near and distant future.
My hat is off to the reThink group for another amazing conference (and I don’t even wear hats). It was that good!
If you didn’t come in 2010, make plans to come next year. Hey look, you can even register here.
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Collaborate book give-away
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
So, I’ve got a free copy of this book to give away. Do you have a copy of the hottest book written by 35 different people? Do you want one? Come find me, introduce yourself and it’s yours. It’s that easy!
In case you’ve been living under a rock, Collaborate is a book about the Church connecting with families to make a big impact. It’s written by some of the biggest leaders in kids, students and family ministry.
I’ll be honest, I’ve only read about a 1/4 so far, but it’s been fantastic so far.
Be sure to get a copy. If you’re fast enough, you may not even have to pay for it. Ready…. Set…. Go!
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#Orange10 Conference contest #3
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Today’s Orange Leaders Challenge:
List the top FIVE reasons you will be back for Orange ’11. Post your reasons to return on the Orange Leaders blog at www.orangeleaders.com.
One winner, chosen at random, will receive FIVE tickets to Orange ’11!
Go to www.orangeleaders.com for details!
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#Orange10 Day 1: Opening Session
Posted on 30. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
I must admit that this year’s opening session was the best ever. Unexpected? Yes. At first I didn’t know what I thought. Normally Reggie gives the big Orange message, but this year it was more of an introduction to Collide with an interview and message from another speaker. So at first I was a little disappointing I guess, but not becasue it wasn’t good. Does that make sense? However, as time goes by, the more I liked it. There are many things that continue to stick with me from that opening session.
The very opening was powerful. A speaker/actor gave a 10-15 minute monologue that was simply amazing. Through his carefully selected prose, he took all 4000 participants along an engaging journey of what ministry is like, what it needs and a hope for the future. Simply inspiring. The theme “Collide” was introduced and I’m almost certain that this will become one of my most overused words this year.
Collide: make a deliberate contact for the sake of a lasting impact!
Reggie interviewed Mark Batterson where Reggie interacted a great deal with Mark’s new book, Primal. He was also directing Mark toward issues dealing specifically with the Orange Philosophy. Mark had so many amazing things to say, but there were a few that resonated with my soul and continue to stick with my thoughts.
Early on Mark said, “We can stop doing ministry out of imagination and start doing ministry out of memory.” Wow, how often do I have to battle this. While I love to innovate and change things up, I’ve got my things that I like the same, the carefully guarded practices that I’ve held on to for year. Risks. What new risks am I willing to step out into.
Mark also said, “There are ways of doing church that no one has thought of yet.” Isn’t that the truth. Just take a look at the way church looks now compared to 10 years ago. Multi-site. Video. Internet. It’s crazy how much has changed. I will say this. I’m very glad to be at a church that is pushing the envelope in so many ways. It’s exciting to have conversations with staff that I know few other churches are having conversations about.
After the interview, Reggie introduced Chris Weirsma, a pastor from Calgary. His message impacted me. Time will tell if it will be one of those defining messages that I’ll carry with me for the rest of my existence, but it was powerful. His message revolved around Genesis 3, the fall of man. He explored what we really lost in the fall. He explains that what when Adam and Eve fell, they immediately noticed that they were naked and they took it upon themselves to cover themselves. They were concerned with how they would be perceived. What did they lose? They lost the unquestionable okayness with being a three year old. What does that mean? If you’ve got a three year old, you know that they have no problem with the way anyone perceives them. They’d have no problem walking down the street stark naked. Honestly, they’d probably prefer that. We lost this in the fall and at some point as we grow up, we lose this as well. We have a deep, compulsive need to control the way we are perceived and this insecurity messes everything up.
It was a great opening session!
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#Orange10 Day 1: Catching volunteers up to Speed
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Over the years, I think I’ve attended more Darren Kizer breakouts than any other. He’s a great presenter and shares some great stuff!
Daren began is talk communicating about a crisis his church recently went through, when a former volunteer was arrested for molesting a child. What helped his church make it through and probably saved Daren’s job was the good documentation that was kept. All this tied into his talk as an introduction, as we recruit and train volunteers, it’s so essential to follow our processes, take our time and do things the right way. Don’t take shortcuts and document thoroughly.
Darren shared some great resources, one was a tool called the VSI which was tool that indicates people’s satisfaction about where they are in an organization. According to this VSI, there are four factors that relate to retention. When an employee or volunteer scores high in these four factors, it relates to them being satisfied and happy in their role.
- Organizational Support – Do they have the tools that they need to be successful? Are they fully resourced? Are they frustrated due to a lack of training or resources? Equip, equip, equip!
- Group Integration – Do they feel like they’re a part of a team? Are there others that they can connect with while doing their role? People need community!
- Participatory Efficacy – If people don’t see success or hear stories of success, they’ll wonder why they’re dong what they’re doing. They need to know that they’re making a difference and that their efforts are valuable to the organization and to others.
- Empowerment – Do they have a say in the game? Can they make decisions or take action? Do they feel as if their hands are tied? This is one of the quickest ways to kill a high-impact leader/volunteer.
In addition to this VSI, Darren shared a great book called 12: The Elements of Great Managing. It too asks great questions that you should ask yourself as one of your volunteers to gauge the environment you’re creating as a manager/leader of volunteers.
- Do I know what’s expected of me?
- Do I have materials to do my work right?
- Do I have the opportunity to do what I do best?
- Does someone care about me as a person?
- Do my opinions count?
- In the last 6 months, has someone checked on my progress?
One of the key take-aways for me was this: What I did to recruit a volunteers is different from what I had to do to keep a volunteer. A person usually volunteers because they want to do something good. They stay becasue they they are getting stuff out of their volunteering.
Some resources that Darren shared are as follows:
Better Safe than Sued
Moodle – a free site for setting up training volunteers
Ubvee
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#Orange10 Day 1: Building an apprentice mindset
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
My first breakout, hosted by Brian Vander Ark & Tim Vandlen was about some of the most important and strategic work we’ll do as a leader – duplicating ourselves into others. The fact of the matter is that one day, we will be replaced. One day it’s going to be over for us. It’s like death and taxes. However, there’s two approaches in dealing with this idea of being replaced.
- We can passively let it happen
- We can intentionally prepare
Most Children’s and Student workers are focused on what they do. Programs. Worship. Events. Emails. Recruiting. The problem is that most churches are distracted by the urgent and they neglect the important. If we set our sights on the future, what our future needs will be above our current needs, we’ll treat our volunteers differently. Rather than use people, we’ll develop people.
Here are a few ways a church can implement this strategic work of developing people who replace themsleves:
- Create the expectation in your volunteer and staff environments. Do this by putting it in everyone’s job descriptions. Do this by modeling it yourself. In addition, create multiple entry points into the ministry.
- Mobilize your volunteers to replace themselves. You can only really know 30 people, so it’s essential that you leverage your volunteer’s and their circle of influence. Teach your teams to recruit out of vision, not need. Most importantly, know that leaders aren’t moved by the passionate plea from the stage, they want to be asked. Replacing ourselves is very personal. Entrust this important task to every volunteer to hand select the person who will replace them.
- Engage students in serving opportunities as part of their discipleship process. The beauty of this is that students can work out what they’re learning and wrestle with spiritual concepts int he context of serving. However, it’s important to help your adult volunteers know how to work with students. It’s important to give students something significant to do.
It’s time to take a break. It’s time to pause and focus on what’s most important.
Here are some of the resources they recommended:
- 7 Practices of Effective Ministry
- Simply Strategic Volunteers
- Making Your Chidlren’s Ministry the Best Hour of Every Week
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#Orange10 Conference contest #2
Posted on 29. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Today’s Orange Leaders Challenge:
The success of every leader is dependent upon knowing where to get your questions answered and knowing how to network with other leaders.
Today we will challenge you to do both. We have come up with a phrase, and the first two people to write the complete phrase on the Orange Leaders Facebook page, will win!
In order to figure out the phrase, you will need to get a little help. Who can give you the most help on your Orange journey? Your Orange Specialist of course. Find the Orange Specialist for your state, and they will give you one word of the phrase. Then, connect with other leaders from around the country to find out the rest of the words. (Hint: Each Orange Specialist will have a different word. Orange Specialists are assigned by region of the country and curriculum.) You can use the blog, Twitter, and Facebook as well as networking, to connect with other Orange Leaders!
Today’s winners will receive either the Orange Team Bundle or the Orange Resource Leadership Bundle.
Go to www.orangeleaders.com for details!
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#Orange10 Bloggers Brown Bag Lunch
Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Some have asked if there’s any kind of lunch and learn activities like there were last year.
Not sure of all the stuff, but there is a Brown Bag bloggers lunch tomorrow (Thursday) during the lunch break. You’re going to want to grab a lunch (maybe from the concession stands) and then come up to the Orange Leaders Lounge. From there we’ll head to a secret back stage spot for a lunch where we’ll talk ministry, strategy and whatever else happens to come up (including theories on Lost). Okay, I made that last part up.
So, make your lunch plans to hang out with us bloggers. You don’t need to be a blogger, this is for anyone. There is only capacity for about 50 people, so get to the Orange Leaders Lounge as quick as you can.
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Brand New Orange Leaders App
Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Last week I blogged about the new Orange Conference iPhone App. Although I was sworn to secrecy, I knew that another app was in the works that would take it to the next level. Now it’s here, the Orange Leaders App for iPhone and Android. It’s a killer app that goes beyond the conference and links you to all things Orange Leaders throughout the rest of the year. It’s going to be a great tool this year at the conference as it will better manage my schedule than the other app, but it is also socially connected and will allow me to connect with others attending the same breakouts as me.
I highly suggest you go to your phone’s app store and download the app today. Just search “Orange Leaders.” If you like this app and would be curious what an app like this would do for your ministry, check out the architect of this tool here.
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#Orange10 Meat up to Tweet up
Posted on 28. Apr, 2010 by Kenny.
Wow, how much fun! Last night’s casual meet up at the Varsity turned into quite the shindig. Over 30 Orange-minded leaders came out to gobble down some Varsity famous onion rings and and Orange shakes. It was a blast. We joked around, had fun and learned from each other.
In the two hours I was there (the Varsity finally kicked us out at 11:00 PM), I sat and talked family ministry/parenting ministry philosophy & staffing structure with Michale Chanley (as well as some cool new ideas he’s got for the future). He’s in a position that doesn’t exist in 99% of all other churches and there’s really a lot we can learn from what he’s doing. I caught up with what’s going on in my friend Jonathan Cliff’s life (his church is going through a huge capital campaign where out of it he’s getting a new, state of the art kids building). Anytime I get to sit and hang out with Jonathan is time well spent. Except, if you get up to go to the bathroom or order food, don’t leave your phone, he’ll tweet nice things about himself from your phone while you’re gone. I only got a few minutes to talk to Jim Wideman (I’ll get more time with him at dinner tonight), but I did get to play with his iPad for a few minutes. He’s as big an Apple fan as Reggie, he’s owned every Apple laptop that’s ever come out. I also got to hang out with Amy Fenton Lee for a few minutes (who I just met via email last week). She just launched the Inclusive Church blog a few weeks ago, a HUGE resource on Special Needs ministry. This blog’s going to be huge!
In addition to all that, I shook some hands, chatted a little and had a great time meeting some new ministry friends. It was so easy and so much fun. It’s got me really excited about the “official” Tweet Up tonight. It’s going to be so much fun as I expect many more people being that everyone going to Orange will have arrived. It’s at 10:00 at the Chocolate Perks. Click here for more details. Also, don’t forget to come visit us in the Orange Leader’s Lounge, it’s the 2nd floor of the Arena. Grab some coffee (it’s free) and hang out for a little while. I look forward to meeting you!
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