Tag: reggie joiner

5 Catalyst Guys you should follow

October 8, 2010 / / 0 Comments

I’ve spent the week at Catalyst Conference, and have been completely impressed with the way this conference has run.  I thought I’d mention a few of the folks that helped pull this event together.  You can read all of my Follow Fridays HERE.

1. Brad Lomenick – Brad’s leads the Catalyst Conference team, and did a great job pulling everything together this year.  It was a great success.  Brad blogs on leadership HERE, and you can find him on Twitter HERE.

2. LV – I first met LV when we rode from our church offices to Ruby Tuesday’s in a 1985 Volkswagon Vanagon.  Nope, not kidding.  LV was on a road trip around the country to connect with leaders who had been impacted by Catalyst.  LV does a great job investing in and coaching young leaders.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

3. Reggie Joiner – Reggie’s talk at the opening labs was phenomenal.  You can read my notes HERE.  I love the work Reggie is doing with his ministry, Orange, revolutionizing the way churches lead students and families.  He stays around all week at the conference, also, to emcee.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

4.Andy Stanley – I know, I know…Andy isn’t technically on the team that organizes and pulls off the conference.  But he spoke to launch the conference, and will close the conference this evening.  You can read my notes from his session HERE.  I love hearing him speak, because I feel like he communicates in such a way that he can take a difficult concept and explain it in a way that makes me feel like it’s easy to understand.  You can follow him on Twitter HERE.

5. Tripp and Tyler – I’ve mentioned them before, but I’ll do it again.  These guys emceed the event, bringing a twist of creativity and humor to the announcements.  You can follow Tripp on Twitter HERE, blog HERE.  You can follow Tyler on Twitter HERE, blog HERE.

 

Reggie Joiner and The Slow Fade

October 6, 2010 / / 3 Comments

I’m at Catalyst Conference this week, and I’ll be blogging through some of the sessions that I attend.

Reggie Joiner had this to say:

Here are some statistics taken from 20-29 year olds:

  • 95% say they attended church while in middle school
  • 55% say they also attended while in high school
  • 11% say they also attended while in college

Why are we as the church not doing anything to change this?

Of those age 23-30 who stayed in church from 18-22, a mere 6% don’t currently attend church.

The problem is that the church is programmed to draw a finish line at 12th grade.  At “graduate Sunday,” it’s like it’s all over.  So what if we moved the “finish line” from high school graduation to college graduation?

Myths about college ministries:

  1. That’s what campus ministries do…not local churches. But a campus ministry isn’t the same thing as a local church.  There’s a need for peer-to-peer interaction, but also a need for intergenerational relationships
  2. This isn’t a college town or community. Yet only 25% of 18-24 year olds attend college full-time.
  3. We tried doing it before and it didn’t work. Maybe you did a program, when what they needed was leaders.
  4. We don’t know how to appeal to college students. What they’re hungry for is authenticity.
  5. There’s not enough in the budget. Yes there is.  You make room for what you prioritize.
  6. We can’t hire another staff position. This isn’t something you can hire for.  This is changing the way people think about building relationships with college students.
  7. This isn’t a long-term investment. They’ll leave as soon as they graduate.  This isn’t about a long-term investment…it’s about protecting the investment you’ve made throughout middle and high school.
  8. It’s hard to see how this benefits our church. Maybe this is just one of those things that’s bigger than your church.
  9. These are the years they should solidify their faith on their own. But there’s a difference in owning your faith and doing your faith.

Questions for your church to ponder:

What is your church doing to invest in the lives of those who are college-aged?

What are you doing to invest in the life of someone who is college-aged?

 

Purple Carrots

November 9, 2009 / / 0 Comments

I’m reading the book Think Orange, by Reggie Joiner, and find much of it fresh and challenging.  I thought I’d share this with you.  I love what Reggie has to say in this quote (taken from page 136).  It’s kind of long, but worth the 3o seconds it will take you to read it.  Just trust me.

“Up until the sixteenth century, carrots were grown in a variety of hues: red, black, yellow, purple, and even white.  There were no orange carrots until the seventeenth century when some Dutch growers began feeling patriotic.  In honor of their king, William of Orange, they married some yellow and red carrots to produce our modern day orange carrots.

I imagine there must have been some orange-carrot skeptics in the beginning.  They were probably overheard saying things like, “These can’t be true carrots,” or “Carrots aren’t supposed to look like that,” or “Those are not the kind of carrots my parents ate.”  Nevertheless, the color of carrots changed forever.  But here’s an important point: Changing the color of carrots did not alter the fundamental nature of the carrot.  In other words, orange carrots were just as nutritious as black carrots.  The only real difference between the two was that more people were willing to eat orange carrots than black ones.

If you knew more kids and students would engage in what you teach if you packaged it differently, would you?  Would you color it orange if more kids would listen?  Before you start using phrases like “watering down the truth” or “not deep enough,” just remember you can change the color of something without compromising its nature.  It doesn’t mean you weaken your message just because you focus on what your audience needs.

The principle is clear; If you want more people to eat carrots, then change the color.  If you want more students to listen to what is true, change how you present it.”

What do you think?  Can we change the way we present the Truth (or the way that we “do church,”) without altering the Biblical message?

 

© 2024

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑