WHY DO WE CHOOSE ORANGE?

Orange is Biblical

​Each week a biblical passage or story is explored and explained to increase kids' knowledge of scripture and its guidance for our lives and a single bottom line that is relevant to kids is identified and emphasized. This bottom line is crafted based on the teaching and understanding of who God is and his desire for who we are. Examples from the elementary curriculum include the following.

• Whatever happens, remember how powerful God is.
• Whatever happens, remember God is still working.
• Whatever happens, remember Jesus is alive.
• Whatever happens, remember God is bigger than your questions.
• God is always with you.
• Keep going even when it gets tough. (When Peter and John were before the Sanhedrin)
• You can choose joy when life gets hard. (Paul and Silas in Prison)
• Trusting God can help you get back up.
• Keep going because of what Jesus did for you

Furthermore, these bottom lines point to a single life application or virtue for the month that matters to kids' lives at home, at school, and with their friends. Examples of these monthly life apps or virtues include the following.

• Friendship: Using your words and actions to show others you care.
• Responsibility: Showing you can be trusted with what is expected of you.
• Integrity: Choosing to be truthful in whatever you say and do
• Peace: Proving you care more about each other than winning an argument

Each week's bible passage or story is grouped in a monthly series around these common life applications or virtues with a creative theme.  Additionally, each month, a specific bible verse is repeated and memorized to help kids hide God's word in their hearts. Over the course of three years, we explore more than 140 biblical stories and passages (69 from the Old Testament and 74 from the New Testament). Once every three years, the curriculum walks through the entire bible chronologically so that all elementary kids experience the sequential story of the bible twice before moving on to middle school.
You can view the annual teaching plans here for ...

• Elementary (We use this curriculum for PreK - Grade 4)
• Preteen (We use this curriculum for Grades 5-7)
• High School (We use this curriculum to guide our content for Grades 8-12, midweek)
  Note: For Confirmation (Grades 7-8), we use our denominational curriculum as well as resources from the Bible Project.

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​Orange is Theologically Sound

​Orange's Statement of Faith and and the teachings found in their curriculum are firmly within orthodox Christianity, and are aligned with the four pillars of Evangelicalism (Authority of Scripture, Centrality of the Cross, Necessity of Conversion, Christian action in Evangelism and Social Work) as well as the six Affirmations of the Evangelical Covenant Church (the Centrality of the Word, the Necessity of New Birth, a Commitment to the Whole Mission of the Church, the Church as a Fellowship of Believers, a Conscious Dependence on the Holy Spirit, the Reality of Freedom in Christ). Orange curriculum majors on the majors and lets individual churches major on the minors of denominationally specific theology (Pentecostal, Baptist, Reformed, Lutheran, etc.).

​Orange is thoroughly biblical in its theology and teachings around the nature of who God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are, who we are are as bearing the image of God while being fallen in our sin and in need of redemption, God's vision for his Kingdom on earth through the people of God with social and racial righteousness, and the importance of care for God's creation.

Three basic biblical teachings are woven throughout the entire curriculum—I can trust God no matter what; I need to make the wise choice; I should treat others the way I want to be treated. Each week's lesson highlights one of these three basic truths. Ultimately, our leaders are able to use the Orange curriculum to teach kids what God uses the Bible to teach us about himself, ourselves, our relationship with him and with others, and his vision for us as the people of God.
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Orange is Gospel Driven

​The good news of Jesus Christ and the Kingdom of God is meant to be share with everyone in our community. Orange curriculum supports this goal and guides our leaders in crafting their lessons, language, and activities in a way that actually helps kids and families who are new to church and christianity understand and embrace the Gospel and the teachings of Jesus. It is created with the assumption that our church is doing its job of bringing families in and leading them to Christ.
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Orange is Developmentally Appropriate

​Each phase of a child's life is unique and has different needs. Orange curriculum is powered by the Phase Project (the science of developmental research) which synthesized hundreds hours of research from educators, counselors, and family ministry experts. This research guides our understanding of each phase of a child's life—what they need, how their brains and emotions work, which biblical and theological concepts best connect with them. These concepts are then explained in common everyday language that kids of that particular age group can truly understand.

For more about the Phase Project, go here.
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​Orange brings the Church and Home Together

​The name "Orange" is based on bringing the light of the church (yellow) and the warmth of the home (red) together (orange) in partnership to raise up the next generation of Christ followers. Orange acknowledges that the church has approximately 40 hours of influence  with kids each year (at best) and parents have approximately 3,000 hours. Parents have the most influence in the life of a child and the church as the most influence in the life of a family. One of the greatest dimensions of Orange is its superb ability to help parents and caregivers disciple their kids and inspire deeper faith at home through a vast array of resources. These include the weekly ParentCue, the ParentCue App, the ParentCue Blog, the Parenting through the Phases series, parenting studies for groups, and many more.

For more about the ParentCue, go here.
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​Orange is Fun and Creative

​When it comes to fun and creativity, Orange has no equal. Orange is serious about fun! From inspiring environments and professional graphics and videos for the screen and social media to engaging skits, scripts, activities, games, and events, Orange has the best toolbox available to leaders for making ministry with kids and families amazing.
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Orange Provides Training and Development for Leaders

​The training and resources Orange provides for ministry leaders and volunteers is astounding—developmental research about the needs of kids and families, ministry organization and leadership, room and behavior management, the intersection between faith and mental health, having faith conversations about health, technology, and sexuality, volunteer management and development, etc. is astounding. It's comprehensive, thorough, and fully aligned with the heart of God, the truth of Scripture, and the needs of kids, families, volunteers, and leaders.

THAT'S WHY WE CHOOSE ORANGE.