Debriefing Conferences
Last week thousands of youth, children’s and senior pastors and leaders came together for the Orange ’11 conference in Atlanta. It was an amazing time where we got to network, learn and hear from the likes of Doug Fields, Perry Noble, Andy Stanley, Kara Powell, Reggie Joiner and so many others. It truly was an great week.
But now that the week is over, what now? How are you to move forward with all that you have experienced and learned? Well here are some suggestions:
- Review. Take some time and look over your notes (and if you went with a team, meet up with them to debrief). As you review your notes, look for things that really stand out to you after you have had a few days to debrief and process through all you experienced.
- Update your other Staffers on what you learned. Whenever you go on a conference, it is always great to update your other church staffers on what you have learned and show them that the church didn’t just spend money on a free vacation for you. Show them how it was an investment in the lives of families by sharing with them a few things you learned.
- Don’t overdo. It’s easy to go to a conference and come back with a ton of ideas and ways to change what you currently have. Change is always good and needed…in time. So don’t come back with wholesale changes that need to happen immediately. Spend some time reviewing and processing potential changes with your volunteers and other staffers so that you won’t jump into too much too soon.
These are just a few simple things you can do to debrief from your conference experience. But they aren’t the only things you could do. TAKE A MINUTE right now and share about what you do to debrief from conferences that you go to.
Also, if you want more insights on surviving re-entry into ministry from a conference, check out Ben Kern’s Average Youth Ministry site for 10 ways.
