Orange merges with Amazing Life Foundation months after founder's resignation
Less than a year after the resignations of its founder and CEO, Orange, a leading provider of church youth ministry curriculum resources and leadership training conferences, has announced it will merge with the Amazing Life Foundation.
In a statement published Wednesday, Joel Manby, chair of the Orange Board, said the merger followed "months of prayerful consideration and thorough evaluation of various opportunities for Orange's future." He described Amazing Life as "the ideal partner to elevate Orange to new levels of impact, surpassing what we have accomplished so far."
The announcement follows the April 2024 resignations of Orange founder Reggie Joiner and CEO Kristen Ivy, who both engaged in a past "inappropriate relationship" that violated company policies. At the time, the Orange Board kicked off a search for a new leader while Mike Clear served as acting president.
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The Texas-based Amazing Life Foundation describes itself as an organization committed to creating "Gospel-centered resources designed to meet people at every age and stage of life—from birth to mature adult or new believer," while the Georgia-based Orange partners with thousands of churches and characterizes its mission as creating "strategic curriculum, resources, and training for future thinking children's ministry and youth leaders."
Amazing Life serves as the umbrella organization for other Christian initiatives such as Amazing Kids, the Bside App and Tome.
"I am honored to lead Orange into this new chapter and to build on its legacy of equipping churches and families with practical, Gospel-centered, and world-class resources," Amazing Life CEO Chris Heaslip said in a statement.
The announcement contends that the merger "will strengthen Orange's resources, including its curriculum, Parent Cue, and flagship events such as the Orange Conference" while "while leveraging Amazing Life's expertise in areas like technology, marketing, and customer success."
The entities will now operate with shared oversight and will ensure "continuity" for Orange's existing staff and programs. The Orange staff will maintain operations at its Cumming, Georgia, office while Amazing Life will still be headquartered in Plano, Texas.
Author, podcaster and speaker Carey Nieuwhof also cheered the merger as a positive development.
"I believe in the strategy behind Orange and have been a friend of Orange and Chris Heaslip for years. This exciting news creates a significant opportunity to bring together two mission-aligned organizations under one leadership team, providing fresh resources to churches and families."
Founded in 1996, data compiled by Orange reveals that during the 2022-23 school year, the organization collaborated with more than 10,000 leaders "who had weekly influence with" 273,738 preschoolers, 385,612 elementary school children and 187,181 teenagers.
Additional details about the merger will be revealed at the 2025 Orange Conference, scheduled to take place at the Gas South Convention Center in Atlanta, Georgia, from April 29-May 1. The event bills itself as "a wildly practical and inspirational three-day event for future-thinking family ministry leaders" that will feature workshops focusing on children's ministry, young adult ministry and other topics.
Ryan Foley is a reporter for The Christian Post. He can be reached at: ryan.foley@christianpost.com
