By now, you have probably heard via emails, Twitter and maybe even a few pieces of mail about The Orange Conference 2013. So, you may be wondering, “Why should someone who works in college ministry come to Orange?” After all, most people think of family ministry—preschool, children’s and student ministries—when they think Orange.

For many student ministries, the “end in mind” is graduation. However, the reality is that the “end” is not graduation. That’s not the finish line. The finish line is having a college-age person (18-25) who feels connected and integrated into a church body. That’s the heart behind our XP3 College Conversation Guides, which are intended to connect generations through dialogs that bring generations together to learn from one another and build relationship.

It’s also the reason we are offering some key breakouts at The Orange Conference 2013 that are important discussions for anyone involved with ministries for college-age people. We would love for you to be there and be a part of the conversation. Here are the topics we’ll discuss:

• Generational Tensions This breakout, led by XP3 College’s Chuck Bomar, takes a candid approach to the reality that there is tension between generations. Some of this is unspoken, but much is felt by both ends of the spectrum. It’s one thing to talk about differences, it’s another to pinpoint them—and it’s another to keep these differences in mind as we approach relationship with one another. This breakout will explore the different tensions between generations and how it applies to ministering to each one, especially the group most often skipped—college students.

• Protecting Your Investment: Transitioning Students from High School to College Led by Jared Herd and Chuck Bomar, this breakout explores the developmental needs of high-schoolers and how to teach and transition them into their next phase of life. Most students graduate from high school and lose their sense of belonging in the church. Student pastors have invested in them for years, but haven’t established a game plan for extending that investment beyond 12th grade. In this breakout, we’ll help you with that game plan.

In addition to these college-specific breakouts, there are also some great opportunities for you to be encouraged personally with breakouts like Chuck Bomar’s breakout based on his latest book, “Better Off Without Jesus” and other breakouts to help you navigate leadership and life.

We would love to see you at OC13, April 24-26! The XP3 College team will be there at the conference, working in the curriculum booth and leading breakouts. We would love the opportunity to learn, to connect and to dialog with you.

For more information about The Orange Conference, including a listing of all the incredible breakouts and speakers, visit www.TheOrangeConference.com.

I’m 43. Unless my children turn into Phineas & Ferb and invent a time machine, I’m not going to get any younger. (However, I do bring up relentlessly that they need to cut down on the sports and invent a teleporter. It would make my life so much more fun. Dinner at Disney, anyone?)

When I entered the workplace after college, over 20 years ago, there was a very clear structure to how things worked. You knew your place as an entry-level invisible, do-whatever-needs-to-be-done person. And, unless you were Michael J. Fox and pulled a corporate takeover, you worked your way up slowly.

You did what you needed to do. You moved up. Got paid a little more. Then did the next thing you needed to do.

Every team had a specific structure to it. There was a leader, and depending on his or her personality, you were given specific times of input.

I remember feeling that tension of wanting to be the person in charge, thinking that I knew better than those who were over me. Their ways were antiquated, and I saw the changes that needed to be made.

Then I messed up big time on my job. I made an editing error in an interview that made the person look bad, and we had to reprint ALL copies of the magazine I was in charge of. ALL. Every single issue. And mail them out to subscribers again.

I cried. Literally. I felt so awful that I had made such a big mistake and that it affected so many people.

And the boss who I felt was antiquated, who seemed to be holding me back, showed me an incredible amount of graciousness. So much so that I learned from the situation instead of being devastated by it.

And no longer did I see her as someone in my way, but I began to see her as someone who was protecting me, covering me. someone I could learn from. someone who could actually help me become better at what I loved to do.

I learned many lessons from her over the years, and I am the editor/writer I am today because of her guidance—and her red pen.

But it all had to start with learning grace.

©2012 tim walker. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

By now, you have probably read via emails, Twitter and maybe even a few pieces of mail about The Orange Conference. It’s kind of a big deal to us. Well, actually, not just to us—last year we had over 4,000 people at Orange.

So, you may be wondering, “Why should someone who works in college ministry come to Orange?” After all, most people think of family ministry—preschool, children’s and student ministries—when they think Orange.

For many student ministries, the “end in mind” is graduation. However, the reality is that the “end” is not graduation. That’s not the finish line. The finish line is having a college-age person (18-25) who feels connected and integrated into a church body. That’s the heart behind our XP3 College Conversation Guides, which are intended to connect generations through dialogs that bring generations together to learn from one another and build relationship.

It’s also the reason we are providing four different breakouts at The Orange Conference that are key discussions for anyone involved with college-age people. We would love for you to be there and be a part of the conversation. Here are the four breakouts:

• “Worlds Apart” by Chuck Bomar – If you haven’t checked out Chuck’s book with the same title, I highly recommend it. It’s a great read.

• “XP3 College Unpacked” by Chuck Bomar and Abbie Smith – Find out how this very different resource shifts the way we connect college-age people with the church, and the church with college-age people.

• “Why They Leave” by Jared Herd – Jared wrote a great book this past year called More Lost Than Found, and this breakout will build on that conversation.

• “Protecting our Investment in Kids” by Chuck Bomar – What happens to that high school senior after graduation? Do we simply turn them loose? Or do we find a way to continue walking with them through the big transitions that lie ahead?

In addition to these four college-specific breakouts, there are also some great opportunities for you to be encouraged personally with breakouts like Doug Fields’ “The Private Life of a Public Leader” and Carey Nieuwhof’s “Renewing the Leader’s Heart.”

And if you register before March 15, 2012, you can save $20 off the regular registration rates AND $30 off preconference! The prices haven’t been this low since the summer, so it’s a great time to take advantage of this offer. For more information about The Orange Conference, including a listing of all the incredible breakouts and speakers, visit www.TheOrangeConference.com.

So, don’t miss out on this year’s conference. It should be a great opportunity to learn, to connect and to dialog.

I have been in the workplace for over 25 years. I have had good bosses, okay bosses and a handful of horrible ones.

I had one boss who was a chain smoker. She would only be in the office for about an hour or two during the entire workday because she took smoke breaks every 10-15 minutes. And the breaks would last about 30-45 minutes each.

Some have taught me by example of how to lead, others have taught me by example how NOT to lead.

I’ve had bosses who would offer praise freely, others who preferred the “home on the range” method—where seldom is heard an encouraging word.

I’ve been a follower, and I’ve also had opportunities to lead. Sometimes I’ve done it well, and other times I’ve made a horrible mess. I’ve had to deal with things that gave me great empathy for previous bosses because I realized that what seemed so clear cut from the “employee” side, actually was very complicated and messy from the “boss” side. And I’ve also had situations where I see that sometimes a boss just made a wrong choice. It happens.

Now I have a confession—I hate leadership and business books. I think they are extremely boring. I’ve tried to read them, but I can never get past the first chapter. But from my observations and experience over the years, there are a few “tips” I would like to give people who lead. Things that made a lasting impression on me when I saw a leader do them.

There are no big secrets on here, and this list is certainly not exhaustive. But there are a few things that I believe are important to do, but often overlooked by those in leadership.

• Praise others publicly. It’s one thing to tell someone they’ve done a great job, but it’s another to let everyone know what a great job they’ve done. It’s the equivalent of sending a woman flowers at her work so that everyone can see how much she is admired and appreciated. People need to know what other people have done well, and your employees need to know that you are proud of them. So, send an email, bring up that successful launch or project at the meeting. Build up those who are following you.
• Clean the dishes in the sink. Load the dishwasher. Don’t be that guy who leaves things for others to clean up because you are too busy. Just because you’re a leader doesn’t mean it’s someone else’s job to clean up your coffee cup or plate. It’s your plate, your responsibility. Clean up your own messes.
• Admit when you’re wrong. You’re not always going to handle things in the best way. You’re not always going to make the right decision. I know sometimes, because of workplace policies and issues, you have to be careful about this one, so use wisdom. But keep in mind that when you are leadership, you are modeling what that looks like for others who may someday lead. And they need to know that leadership doesn’t mean you always make the best decision. Sometimes, you’ll lead people into dead-ends, or take the long way to get somewhere. Don’t just shrug it off. Let people see you learn from those mistakes, and even let them help you be a better leader by offering input into what you could have done differently.
• Don’t lift everything yourself. In other words, the weight of responsibility should be on your shoulders because you are leading, but you don’t have to lift alone. You have others to help you do it. That’s what they are there for. They’ve either volunteered or been hired to do it. Let them do their jobs in a way that brings out the best of who they are while completing the task well. People higher up than you notice someone who leads a team well just as much as they notice someone who has a lot of successes. Share the workload and the credit.
• Lift something. This one may sound contradictory to the previous point, but it goes along with the tip about cleaning up your own mess. It’s important for the people you work with to see you working alongside them. I had a boss who would load the van every time I had to go represent our workplace at a convention. It made me want to represent the company well because I felt like we were in this together. Your job may not involve loading trucks, but as a boss, you can refill a copier or printer tray with paper. Or replace the water bottle in the water cooler. Whatever it is, work alongside people instead of simply giving orders and watching them scurry around.

I didn’t get these from a business or leadership book. I got these tips by seeing them in the men and women whom I’ve had the privilege of following. And the reality is that many of these tips were modeled by Jesus. They involve a leadership style that is based on serving others, putting others first. Instead of fearfully grabbing the glory and power as a leader so that others will notice you and promote you, it’s about trusting God for your future at work, and about investing in one of the things He loves the most—people.

Tim Walker is a husband, father of three boys, editor, writer, superhero—well, you get the idea. More of Tim’s words can be found at http://thegrayzone.wordpress.com/.

© 2011 Tim Walker. All rights reserved. Used with permission.

I’ve always been that kid, you know, the one who asks a million questions and wants to know the exact itinerary of every moment of the day. “So what are we going to do today? And what about after that? And after that?” Yeah, I know. It can get really annoying. But there’s just something about knowing that puts me at ease.

As a volunteer in student ministry and a parent of a middle schooler, I don’t think I’m alone. Your volunteers want to know what’s going on so they are prepared. Your parents just want to know what’s going on since you’re investing in their children. You don’t have to pick the topics I want to talk about, or even talk about them in the way I would, but just let me know what you’re talking about. And if you’re planning an event, or retreat, or anything, please let me know far enough in advance– it helps as both a volunteer and a parent. Trust me on that one.

Are there any ways that used to be effective with volunteers and parents, but aren’t anymore? If you had a piece of advice for a new ministry leader about what not to do when communicating with your partners in ministry– what would you say?

Two Sundays ago was Valentine’s Day. Now normally our world gets really small on Valentine’s and the day becomes about my wife and me. But this year was different. My family and I got an opportunity to love others.

The children’s ministry at our church, Bridgepointe Church in Woodstock, GA, uses 252 Basics, and this month is all about honor and showing others they are valuable. So the staff at Bridgepointe got the idea to let kids make valentines on Sunday morning, and on Sunday afternoon, we handed them out at a local nursing home.

So on Valentine’s, our family joined others and went room to room at the nursing home, taping valentine cards to the door, interacting with the residents and showing others they were valuable.

At XP3, we are passionate about giving students an opportunity for an experience with every series we create. It’s something we call the XP. But on Sunday, my elementary age sons got an opportunity to experience what “honor” really meant as well. They also got a chance to see how what they were learning at church played out in real life.

As a dad, it was an opportunity to do one thing more than I was doing. And I’m thankful for a church that made the connection and gave me that experience with my family.

I’m the next Food Network Star. Yes, it’s a bold claim but I have uncovered a food secret even Alton Brown doesn’t know.

Years ago, I was teaching a high school Sunday School class. The previous teacher brought a buffet every week with pizza, subs and doughnuts, and I was also expected to feed these students. But I just didn’t have the time or the money to pull that off.

So one day, I discovered this crumb coffee cake mix in the baking aisle and decided to give it a try. I followed the directions on the mix (yes, guys can follow directions), baked the coffee cake, threatened my childrens’ lives if they ate a piece, and took it to the church.

Now Sunday School for teens is, well, gut wrenching. It’s the last place they want to be. But they devoured the coffee cake. They talked about it. In fact, they talked more about the coffee cake than they did Jesus. So I made it again the next week and the week after that. After a while, it was the first thing they asked for when they walked in the room.

But I started seeing something different happening with the students. They seemed more connected with me. We started talking more.  The coffee cake opened the door for me. In fact, I still use that same $2 mix now with my small group. It’s magical. Sometimes I wonder if the way to a teenager’s soul is through their stomach.

NewPointe Community Church sent in highlights from their KidStuf Family Experience for the Crash Orange 10 Contest– deadline to turn in your 3-4 minute video through YouTube or Vimeo is February 8th.  The winners get free tickets for your entire cast and a chance to shine on the Bare Bones Showcase stage.  Can’t wait for a sneak peek… your church might be the next one posted on Orange Leaders! Any questions?

I love comfort. I wear jeans and a t-shirt to work every day. I like to eat things that taste good, but may not be good for me. I like to sit on a comfy chair or bed to read or watch TV.

But lately God has been pushing me. You see, I also like comfort spiritually. I like to do what I want to do, when I want to do it. But God has been prompting me in many areas of my life to quit seeing comfort and to seek Him. And there’s one phrase that He keeps bringing to my mind—do hard things.

I know there’s a whole youth movement out there based on that statement, but what God has been speaking to me is more personal. He wants me to do hard things. He wants to move me beyond comfort. I recently walked/ran my first 5K. I’m also trying to eat better. And I’m trying to find better ways to interact with my wife and kids. I’m focusing on more application in my spiritual life, instead of just information.

God wants me to do hard things. (Just read the book of James.) Not because He’s sadistic, but because when I do hard things, I grow.

What about you? What hard things are you avoiding that keep you—or your ministry—from growing?