The holidays are here and so are new families. Something about fried turkeys and cute baby Jesus draws people to our ministries like a powerful magnet, during this wonderful time of the year. Though some of these families are visiting cousin Jeffrey for Thanksgiving, or visiting their in-laws for Christmas, or maybe ringing in the New Year with Grandma, other families live near our churches and are visiting because of the holiday season.

Regardless of their reasons for visiting, sharing the Orange Strategy with our families can make a tremendous influence on their trajectory. Those visiting from out of town can return to their homes with valuable principles, and may even share them with their churches. Yet, the families living just down the street can benefit week after week. Though the Orange Strategy has multiple components, the way we communicate it does not have to be complex at all.

[bctt tweet=”We want to help every parent become more intentional at home and more connected to a community of faith.” username=”orangeleaders”]

For us to maximize our efforts when engaging with families, every parent needs a clear plan. What is our plan? Have we simplified it to make it more clear to our parents? If not, maybe we can use this phrase shared by Reggie Joiner: “We want to help every parent become more intentional at home and more connected to a community of faith.” Can we imagine sharing that statement with families during this season? It simplifies things doesn’t it? How can we clarify that statement even more?

Reggie also shares some wisdom to do that as well. After saying that we want to help every parent become more intentional at home and more connected to a community of faith, parents may ask how we do that. Here is where the MAP IT acronym comes in. As a ministry, we want to help our families Meet people, Add experiences, Prioritize time, Identify needs, and Talk together.

We help our families meet people through small groups. Here we can explain why we have SGLs showing up consistently for their kids or students. We also help families meet people when we add experiences. Family experiences present great opportunities for families to worship together and meet other families. We prioritize time by sharing how there are approximately 936 weeks from birth to graduation. This news leads us to be more intentional with every week. Our Phase research provides parents with phase-specific insight to identify needs of their kids or students. Additionally, our Parent Cue resources provide weekly cues to encourage families to talk together.

The language we use will definitely be tailored more specifically to our communities, but this helps to steer us in the right direction. Preparing quick elevator pitches can be quite advantageous. As families flood our ministries this season, let’s provide a clear explanation of our Orange Strategy to them. In doing so, not only will we forge strong bonds between the church and home, we have the potential to build Orange communities.

Read more on this topic:

https://orangeblogs.org/orangeleaders/2018/02/16/easiest-way-explain-orange-strategy-team/