As church leaders, we know Sunday doesn’t just happen. It takes time, energy, and resources to create programming week after week. But is what we do on Sunday the best way to set families up to win on Monday?

Today on the Think Orange Podcast, Reggie Joiner shares about his own personal experiences with reactionary versus creative action. He challenges us to flip from a Sunday to a Monday mindset. Then Jason and Hillary DeMeo, co-founders of We Are Curio, unpack how design thinking can benefit ministries everywhere.

Welcome to Episode 44 of the Think Orange Podcast!

Topic Timeline:

Reggie Joiner talks about reactionary versus creative action (7:25)

Reggie describes his early years in ministry when he discovered Sunday never has to be boring, irrelevant, exclusive, or disconnected (9:14)

The secret to reimagining Sunday: You have to imagine someone’s Monday before you can reimagine what you do on Sunday (13:19)

It’s easy to drift into becoming the kind of church that answers questions nobody is asking (16:07)

You don’t have to work at feeling the pressure that Sunday is coming—it’s just going to happen (17:05)

But what if we focused on the fact that Monday is coming (17:43)

What you say and do on Sunday has to matter on Monday (18:20)

Interview with Jason and Hillary DeMeo (20:38)

How We Are Curio got its start (24:17)

Explanation of design thinking—an empathetic framework for solving problems (26:00)

The difference between brainstorming and design thinking (29:45)

We Are Curio’s four stages in the design thinking process: immerse, expand, design, and act (32:26)

Ways a family ministry can use design thinking to maximize their efforts (34:46)

Changing the inputs coming in to create better outputs (39:37)

Finding “idea mentors” and “anti-mentors” to help shape the process (41:26)

What it looks like to “hack the system” (42:26)

Helping parents recognize their families’ unique mindsets (47:39)

What Jason would have changed during his years in ministry if he’d known about design thinking at the time (50:00)

Using design thinking at home with your family (55:42)

Where the name We Are Curio originated (58:16)

How dissent can actually make a team better (1:02:03)

How to connect with We Are Curio and the DeMeos (1:03:34)

Dave and Ashley’s final thoughts (1:05:07)

Ashley sings us out (1:11:10)