Orange Week: Best Breakout Session from OC ’12

With Orange ’13 just right around the corner (seriously, April comes up quick and registration begins very soon), I’m participating with other bloggers this week in Orange Week…highlighting some of the key connections, speakers and workshops from Orange ’12.  So this week I’m going to be sharing some of my great moments from last years Orange Conference and invite you to share yours as well.

My favorite, best breakout that I went to last year had to be the how to “Intentionally Connect to your community through Sports“.  It was led by Caz McCaslin, founder of Upward Sports.  Right before Orange ’12, Upward and Orange announced a partnership with each other and I was really excited for a number of reasons.  But the number one reason I was excited was because my church, New Life Christian Church, built our building, the nZone, as a way to have sports and recreation minister to the community.  So I couldn’t wait to hear from Caz as he talked about sports and ministry.

Here are some of the things Caz said that really enlightened me:

• Churches have to find common ground with people and sports is a great common ground for people to connect
• The world is telling us that they love sports and recreation.  The church needs to listen to that and be intentional about finding ways to get people to participate in these kinds of activities.
• People aren’t looking for a friendly church…they’re looking for friends.

To read more about what Caz had to say last year, check out my notes here.

This was just one of the many great breakout sessions that Orange offers EVERY year!  You don’t want to miss out on what Orange ’13 is going to have in store for all of us!  Registrations open Sept. 27th!