As adults, the idea of influencing the faith of the next generation can be daunting — not only is there an age difference to contend with, there’s also the fact that kids these days are experiencing life way differently than when we were growing up. How are we supposed to get through to them on their level?
On Episode 24 of the Think Orange Podcast, our guests, Carrie Hood, Mike Clear and Greg Payne talk about the best way to reach the next generation — through family fun and honest conversations.
Topic Timeline:
Dave introduces today’s topic about the Family Experience, or FX, and how churches can leverage it to reach families (:37)
Ashley defines what Family Experience is — An event a church puts on to bring the parents and children together for an experience they don’t normally get on a normal Sunday (:51)
Dave introduces today’s guests: Carrie Hood, family experience director of Village Church in Hayesville, NC; Mike Clear, executive director of children’s strategy at Orange; and Greg Payne, director of family experience at Orange (1:40)
Carrie talks about when she was asked to start an FX initiative at her church (3:25)
Carrie explains creating an FX is not about having tons of resources or having a stage (4:40)
Carrie talks about starting KidStuf in international churches through Buckhead Church. A team of them helped startup churches start a family ministry event in Brazil, Mexico, Slovakia (5:55)
Carries shares a story about working with a church in Bosnia (6:51)
Carrie defines what FX is and why it’s important for you to be able to explain clearly what it is — It’s a fun, shared experience for families to come together for a purpose (8:38)
FX is created to communicate a truth God wants to teach us — to change us on the inside so we can impact the world around us (11:00)
FX is designed to feed spiritually both parents and kids so they have a shared experience they can go home and have a conversation about (11:47)
Every FX is centered around truths and virtues such as honesty, gratitude, and commitment (12:15)
FX is not a show or a worship service— you don’t sit back and watch. It’s participatory (13:54)
Dave, Mike, and Greg join in the conversation about FX (16:05)
Why would a church want to do FX? (16:40)
Greg says if you want to influence kids, you need to influence those who most influence them — their parents (18:21)
Mike shares how to tell if your FX is effective in your church (22:20)
Greg and Mike talk about the elements of a typical FX program (23:01)
Greg talks about who the target audience is for FX (25:24)
Greg shares how FX can be done with any sized budget and team (29:28)
Mike shares how he was able to do an FX 18 years ago with just three other people, a limited budget, and a backdrop (32:01)
If you’re going to start an FX program at your church, you don’t have to do it every week. You just have to try it once. (36:40)
What kinds of resources Orange provides to implement FX in your church (37:28)
Mike shares why the best time to try an FX is at Christmas (39:23)
How to access FX resources (43:29)
Final thoughts from hosts (45:17)
