Rethink Leadership - Reggie Joiner

Reggie Joiner is the founder and CEO of Orange, whose purpose is to influence those who influence the next generation. Here are some of his thoughts from his session at Rethink Leadership:

• Ask yourself what do I want a kid to become?
• Where do I want a kid or teenager to be so they can learn what I want them to learn?
• Strategy is a plan of action with an end in mind. Think of motorcycle training through cones. Look at the cones, and you will hit it. Look at an object at the end of the cones, and you will pass every time.
• What is the one thing that you would want your people to attend to create life change?
• A strategy is a plan of action with an end in mind. Orange is not a curriculum. It's a strategy
• Recruit the most qualified and educated staff to work with children & young people and pay them accordingly.
• Kids and students matter so give them your best.
• Two things that have to be right in your church – what you’re doing with your kids and what you’re doing with your presentation.
• You need to put your best talent in front of your greatest potential
• Kids are the engine of growth for reaching your community. The more budget you put into children and student ministry the bigger the whole pie will be.
• You can say student ministry is important but I want to see your budget. – Craig Groeschel
• You have to have a volunteer process that sets people up to win.
• We have amazing leaders who show up to invest in kids and teenagers. But senior pastors set the tone for that.
• Get the leaders for family and children’s ministry before we get leaders for anywhere else.
• Champion family ministry in a way that inspires high capacity leaders to volunteer.
• If you have been attending here for two years and you are not serving maybe you should go to another church as we can't help you grow
• What you need to do with parents is not a workshop you do once a year where 20% will turn up. You need an ongoing strategy to reach 100%.
• 20% of parents will come to an event. You have to figure out how to connect with and empower the rest.
• Turn up all the dials of communications to engage parents but one of your best tools to reach parents in your church and community is a small group leader.
• If you have the right curriculum, it will work with the parents in your church and the parents in your community.
• Suicides peak at 10th grade in our country (USA).
• Middle school is when kids start seeing things and experiencing things for the first time.
• Middle school is the Affirm Phase. I’ve never met a middle schooler who was affirmed enough.
• One-third of the cerebral cortex goes away in middle school. They are not being irresponsible. They are losing their mind. 
• Value the ministry to middle school, it sends a message to your community when middle schoolers matter.
• If we understand what's going on with a child in each phase of their life we will stop making assumptions and start responding differently. Resource: justaphase.comjustaphase.com

Check out Elements Conference at MKCC