Tidbits from the Opening Session #OC16
Wednesday night kicked off the Orange Conference 2016 (#OC16) just outside of Atlanta, GA. It was a great start as the them is “Every week Monday is coming”. The premise is are we, the Church, prepared to reach people beyond Sunday. Here are my notes from some of the presenters and Reggie Joiner’s message.
Jon Acuff – “Here’s the thing you and I know about people: they visit on Sunday, but they live in Monday”
Ciera Bobo – When a youth leader showed up during the week it made me realize that people care about me…they care about my Monday…not just my Sunday. When youth leaders and church workers do that for students it shows them that God cares about their Monday.
Kellen Moore – Mondays can be unpredictable. You cannot help the kid, the student, the person when you’re not around. They need you to be predictable in their unpredictable world.
Eryn Erickson – Mondays are loud. She realized that all these people are not alone. There are stories of broken hearts and made decisions based on a lie. What would it be like if someone wasn’t louder than the other noise for people? What would Monday look like if we were much louder than the other noise and lies kids and students face?
Carlos Whittaker – as a parent Mondays are chaotic. Chaos never leaves. Churches has such opportunity to lead into the chaos of families
Reggie Joiner –
- Sunday never has to be boring
- Sunday never has to be superficial
- Sunday never has to be irrelevant
- Sunday never has to be exclusive
- Sunday never has to be disconnected
But, you have to imagine someone’s Monday in order for you to reimagine Sunday
When you have a Sunday mindset– you think about what happens during 1 hour, how many show up, you recruit enough volunteers for every room, you make decisions on who is coming, you say what matters to you, and you promote weekend programs.
However, when you have a Monday mindset – you think about what happens during the week, how many come back, you recruit a consistent leader for every kid and teenager, you make changes to reach who isn’t coming, you decide what you say because it matters to teens, and you challenge them weekly
- Strategy matters. You can have a great vision but if you don’t have a strategy you lose.
- Family matters.
- Doing good matters. We are made in the image of God
- Every week when it’s repeated makes a difference.
- The Church matters because it’s a place. Your church is an impression.
- The Truth matters. Truth matters when love matters. The Truth matters when kids know they matter to you.
It’s hard to speak the truth in love when you don’t understand someone’s Monday.
Empathy is the ability to press pause on your own thoughts and feelings long enough to imagine what someone else is going through.
You can’t make assumptions, you have to do your research and you are going to have to get in their world.
We need a new generation of leaders who are willing to be Jesus for the next generation of kids. It is showing up more than just 1 day.
We need to reimagine how to knock on someone’s door.
We need to reimage how to step into someone else’s Monday.
Some people will never step into your church until you step into their world.
Did you experience the Opening Session of the Orange Conference? Whether you did or not, what did you think of the presenters and Reggie’s message? Share your thoughts below or on social media using #oc16 or #ymsidekick to share what you think.
