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Archive for June 18th, 2010
Why is it so tough to think Orange?
Friday, June 18th, 2010
I have had the opportunity to meet with staff members from churches all across the country… several Sr. Pastors… some Youth Pastors…and several very frustrated Children’s leaders that desperately want to “Think Orange”, but seem to be hitting a wall. Why is does it seem to be a consistent theme? Here are three obstacles that I have noticed churches face when contemplating an “Orange” approach:
1. Everyone wants to define it
Everybody defines it differently. Here’s my take on it… or at least a post covering 3 distinctive between family ministry and ministering to families. (Read Post)
**Bonus**
A great resource that explores this in more details is Perspectives on Family Ministry. This book looks at 3 “successful” views on Family Ministry. (Click here to purchase from Amazon)
2. Sr. Pastors want to understand how it’s structured
How do you structure a church “administratively”? It just depends on who you ask, their background, their personal preferences… leadership style …etc. Bottom line. Family Ministry is about “being” a family ministry and not about “having” one. It’s really about a philosophy that drives your ministry and not about having “the right family ministry leadership structure”. You definitely need a Family pastor… unless you don’t want one… You need to have the children / students/ and adult all studying the same thing…unless you don’t want that… You need to be sure to have a separate service where kids and parents come together … unless you don’t want it.
The conversations senior leaders need to consider is not what’s The Family Ministry Leadership Structure BUT how do we need to structure our ministry to flush out our vision. (These are not easy conversations and take time)
3. People only know one way to do ministry
This third obstacle was really surprising to me, but so true and consistent. The bottom line – Thinking Orange is a very different way of thinking. Typically, we’re use to our siloed approach. It’s tough to come out of that silo whether it’s to work with other ministries or even just to work with parents (student ministers have a real tough time with this on…they believe parents really don’t care –maybe they don’t?) When ministries step out and begin to work together – a lot of great things can happen for Families. Here’s another quick post I did on moving from Silos to Integration and what that can look like.
Well, for good or bad, this is the way I see it. Here’s the great thing: Even with these roadblock I’m encouraged to see that churches are still pushing forward. Their taking ground with engaging the family. THIS IS THE WAY THE CHURCH (at least here in America) IS HEADING FOR THIS GENERATION!
Is your church heading this way? What are you doing to engage families and equip parents?
***Bonus***
Here’s a great post on the Orange Leaders blog: 3 Ways to be More Orange by Fall
Get The book (here)
If you like this post you might try these
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