Orange Conference was exciting and surprising. I’ve been following Orange for awhile now and have watched the live stream of the conference the past couple of years. Honestly, I didn’t expect to be going to the conference anytime soon. So I was surprised when my senior pastor approached me about going…….but not alone. He wanted take me and the youth pastor with him! I am so thankful to have a senior pastor who is concerned about the well-being of everyone in the church, even the kids!
Orange Conference was everything it’s cracked up to be. It was inspirational, it was inspiring, and it was educational. But I think the best parts happened during the conversations around the dinner table. As the three of us gathered together to discuss the things we had heard that day, we were able to take things a step deeper and apply them to our own people and environments.
Conferences can be a little overwhelming. So many amazing people, so many amazing ideas, and many times, so many amazing doubts. How will we do that? There’s no way we could accomplish those things! Well, sure, it’s easy for them – they have ____ # of kids, church members, volunteers, whatever. The idea of taking all those ideas home and implementing them can make anyone a little nervous.
But here’s the thing that we often forget about conferences. They’re not meant to be a one-stop shop or a how-to manual. The intention is not to implement every idea.
Conferences are designed to be a networking place. A place where you can meet with other like-minded people to talk about what you’re doing, what’s working and not working, and WHY you’re doing it in the first place. I highlight the WHY because I think most of us in ministry tend to get so caught up in the who, what, where, when, and how that we forget about the thing that pushes us to do (or not do) all of the rest – WHY.
So for me, Orange Conference was a reminder of WHY I do what I do. It was a reminder of WHY each of the programs, curriculums, environments, and volunteers are important to what we do as a church. Once I reacclimated myself to the WHY, I gained a greater focus on who needs to be involved, when we move forward, where we go from here, what we do to make any necessary changes or improvements, and how to do all of that.
I’ve attended conferences that weren’t as effective. I know they cost a lot of money and take a lot of time away from what you should be doing. But often, they make a world of difference between what you should be doing and what you could be doing. Plans are in the works for us to attend Orange Conference 2015……here’s hoping all goes according to plan!!
Michelle Suarez 