Posts Tagged ‘Volunteer Minisrty’
How’s your vision? September 24th, 2009
I’m continuing a series of post on what I’ve been learning about recruiting volunteers for children’s ministry. You can check out the earlier posts below.
“Help we need more volunteers!”
“How not to recruit”
A couple of weeks ago Rick Warren posted a tweet that went something like this,
“You don’t have a giving problem, you have a vision problem. People don’t give to need they give to vision.”
I’m not sure you could say that any better and with the situation many churches are facing in the current economy, his advice is even more relevant. As I was thinking about this tweet it occurred to me, the same thing is true with volunteers.
“You don’t have a volunteer problem you have a vision problem.”
If you want people to volunteer for children’s ministry you have got to lead with vision. Vision – not a mission statement. A mission statement is a goal, and it’s good to have a goal, but it’s your goal or your ministry’s goal. It’s relevant to you and your current volunteers because it provides direction, but vision is different.
Vision is your ability to see the future. To look beyond what’s happening right now in your ministry and see what could be. Before anyone else can see this future you have to see it so clearly that you can almost touch it and taste it. This type of vision will capture people’s attention and inspire them to action.
We talk a lot in children’s ministry circles about how parents are willing to get so involved in sports or school but not in church. Why is that? Vision! Every time my daughter get’s into her little ballet outfit or dances in a recital, I can vividly see her all grown up and flying across a stage in front of hundreds of people. Every time she puts on her backpack and steps out of the car for school, I imagine her successful future. Because of this, I’m willing to give my time and talent (and money) to help her succeed in these areas.
I think the truth is, sports, schools, dance – the reason they get parents attention – is because they’re telling a better story than we are. They present a brighter more tangible, more visible future.
If you want people to volunteer in children’s ministry, or any ministry, you can’t lead with the need, you can’t lead with your goals or even the “opportunity.” If you want people to join you in ministry you’ve got to tell a compelling, tactile, visible story that presents a future that people desperately want to see become reality.
I hear children’s pastor say from time to time, “I’m trying to discover God’s vision,” or “I don’t know what the vision is.” Of course you do! It’s what inspires you to do ministry week after week. It’s God’s call to ministry in you life. Think about it, children’s ministry is hard. It’s rewarding but there are many elements of children’s ministry that just stink (like diapers) but you do it – and continue to do it – and love it, despite all the hardship that goes along with the job. Why, because God has given you a desire and a vision of the future that compels you to keep moving. What you have to do is to dig into the picture, the vision, that God has given you and find a way to tell that story to others.
When you understand this your vision and your story becomes the heart of your recruiting. Tell your story over and over again to those around you and anyone else who will listen to you or even slows down near you. Keep telling your story until you’re sick of hearing it. Over time something amazing will start to happen. The people closest to you will start to see the picture and they’ll start telling the story… and it will spread. When this happens people will begin to show up, not in droves, but little by little. The difference in these people is that they are coming because they can see the same future you see and they want to see that future become a reality. Even better, people who respond to vision will be more committed to realizing the vision than the person who is just responding to a need or a goal.
So, what keeps you in ministry week after week? What’s your story? What’s your vision and how can you begin to share that with others so they can begin to see what God has already allowed you see.
Tags: Children, Children's Ministry, enlistment, Leadership, ministry, Recruiting, team, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Volunteers | Comments (1)
How not to recruit September 21st, 2009
I’m continuing a series of post on what I’ve been learning about recruiting volunteers for children’s ministry. You can check out the first post below.
“Help we need more volunteers!”
So, what are we doing to recruit volunteers? I’m glad you asked… but let me start with what we haven’t done.
We haven’t publicized our need. We haven’t asked for help from the pulpit or in the bulletin. We haven’t held any enlistment campaigns. We haven’t sent letters of flyers home to parents (we did do this once a couple of years ago but we probably won’t again). We haven’t made “cold calls” to people not serving. We haven’t required people to serve… ok, enough of that. I think you get the picture.
Is there anything wrong with these approaches? No, they’re fine and sometimes necessary, but there are a couple of dangers that accompany these types of widespread approaches.
1. You look desperate.
“But, I am desperate” Yeah, I know… me too, but we can’t appear that way. Who wants to climb aboard a sinking ship or get involved with a ministry that appears needy? People want to be a part of a winning team and if they think you’re floundering they’ll avoid you like the plague. If you want to publicize something don’t start with the need, start with your wins. Tell people what’s going great. Then let them know that they could be a part of it… if they want to.
2. People respond out of guilt.
Most of the time the people who respond to public appeals for volunteers respond out of guilt. This might seem fine at first, but trust me, you don’t want these people. Not that they’re not good people, but if they only signed on to your ministry because they felt obligated, then they’re probably not going to be happy or satisfied in their service. People who don’t enjoy what they doing in ministry are like time bombs. They are going to blow up and walk out. The only question is when and how many people are they going to take out with them.
To make sure we have people that aren’t responding out of guilt we give people lots of “outs” in our application process. We’re constantly telling volunteers that our goal is not to fill the holes but to help them find a place in ministry that they love. If that happens to be outside of children’s ministry, all the better. A lot of times people ask us, “Where is your greatest need?” We refuse to answer that question, because our need is not the key factor. What’s important is what are they good at and what will they enjoy doing. If they don’t know what that is, we’ll help them discover it, but our goal is that every volunteer loves their ministry and is equipped to do it well. We never want anyone who is guilted into serving
These are some of the things we’ve found that don’t work. But what is working… that’s still to come.
Tags: Children, Children's Ministry, enlistment, Leadership, ministry, Recruiting, team, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Leadership, Volunteers | Comments (1)
Need more volunteers? September 15th, 2009
Now that I have a little more time on my hands, (You can see why here.) I’m going to try and finish a couple of blog topics I started earlier. First up… recruiting
Everyone who serves in children’s ministry has one thing in common. We need more volunteers. I’ve heard of the elusive “waiting list” to serve in children’s ministry, and I’m sure it exists somewhere, but I’ve never seen it. What I’ve seen more often is that as soon as we enlist more volunteers, God sends more kids. In truth, this is where I want to be, first because it means the kingdom is growing and second because it keeps us looking to God to provide for us.
Last year we recruited over 200 new volunteers in BrookwoodKiDs, Now, not all of them made it through the application process, but that’s how many new applications we received. We’re on pace to receive about that many applications again this year. Before you get too impressed, we are still way short on the volunteers we need. We combine groups every week and some of our ratios are not pretty. We have a long way to go and a lot to learn. That said, we’re making progress, and there are a couple of things we’ve done to that are helping us get there. So over my next few posts I want to share what we’re learning and I’d love to hear what’s working for you as well.
Tags: Children, Children's Ministry, enlistment, Leadership, ministry, Recruiting, team, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Blog, Volunteers | Comments (0)
Out of the “Church” Box April 8th, 2009
One of the volunteers in our children’s ministry is the CEO of a large company. I had the opportunity to meet with him yesterday to talk about the children’s ministry at our church. I thought I was meeting with him to help him understand what we’re trying to do in children’s ministry…
That’s not exactly how it went down.
Instead he spent an hour and a half telling me why our children’s ministry wasn’t as effective as it could be. Now, You have to know this guy to appreciate him. He’s not a jerk. Most guys who try to tell you what your doing wrong are just complaining or trying to grab power. But this guy loves God, loves our church, loves our pastor and I know he wants what’s best for us.
Even though I knew all this I was still a little defensive. Yeah, this guy knows a lot, but he doesn’t know anything about leading a children’s ministry. I tried to do what I know I’m supposed to do in this situation and just listen and have an open mind. But I have to admit I’m not very good at that, so instead I went with the “healthy debate” approach.
At one point as we were “discussing” small group environments I mentioned something about Northpoint church. The response I got from this guy was interesting,
“Who the h— Is Northpoint?”
The thing is, he wasn’t being argumentative, he really didn’t know. At that’s when I realized something, most of my volunteers don’t know who Northpoint is either, and they don’t care to. I think it’s easy for us to get caught in the church box. If you’re in ministry it’s where you spend most of your time. We go to church conferences, read ministry blogs, buy “church leadership” books. We become experts in field that doesn’t always relate to the people we’re leading. Just because I know what I’m doing it doesn’t mean my volunteers know what I’m doing. I think it’s possible that we become blind to this because when we start spouting off all our “church knowledge” to our volunteers they just assume we’re right and back off.
Fortunately, the guy I was talking to isn’t the type to “back off.” He didn’t have all the answers. Some of his ideas we’re way off. But he did have a very different perspective and he asked some questions in a way that I hadn’t thought of before. At the end of the day talking to this guy who knew nothing about ministry helped me learn a lot about how to do ministry.
I’ll wrap this up with a few of questions for you. How do get out of the “church box?” Who are you talking to that challenges your ideas and perceptions? Who has a completely different outlook on life that could challenge your status quo? If you don’t have someone like that I’d encourage you to seek them out.
Also let me hear from you. What are some of the ways you’ve found to get an outside view of church and ministry?
Tags: Brookwood Church, Brookwood Kids, Children's Ministry, Leadership, ministry, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Children's Ministry, Leadership | Comments (3)
Lead the Leader – Pt 1 April 6th, 2009
Last week I introduced a series of posts based on lessons I learned in a workshop I attended years ago. (apparently it was MANY years ago if you listen to some of those who commented on the post ☺) The workshop was called “Growing the Children’s Ministry You’ve Always Wanted” and it was presented by Gordon and Becky West. The principles I learned there have had a huge impact on my ministry and I wanted to pass them on in hopes that you will find them equally valuable.
First, an illustration. Take your best guess…
How much is an eight-foot piece of rebar worth. You know, plain old steel plugged into a mold and formed into a bar. Of course prices could vary, but usually it costs around $5. What if I took that same amount of steel and refined it a little more and formed it into horseshoes? Now it’s worth around $10.50. Ok, let’s take this a little further. Suppose I take the same amount of steel and form it into needles. If I did that it, it would be worth nearly $5000. Let’s take one final step. What if I took the same amount of steel contained in a $5 piece of rebar and formed it into fine Swiss watch mainsprings. In this case the steel would be worth nearly $250,000. That’s not an exaggeration!
Here’s the principle:
It’s not the material; it’s how the material is used that creates value.
Now a question:
How are you using your volunteers?
Are you investing in your people and doing everything you can to help them reach their full potential, or are you “plugging holes” with your volunteers? In the first five minutes of that workshop I realized why my children’s ministry was failing. It was because I thought I was a children’s minister. I mean, that was my title, right? However, the reality of children’s ministry is that if you want to grow the children’s ministry you’ve always wanted, you can’t be a children’s minister. You must be a volunteer minister.
If you have more than 10 kids in your ministry you’ve already got more kids than you can effectively minister to by yourself. Think about, Jesus chose to disciple only twelve men and He’s God. It would be pretty arrogant of me to think I could effectively disciple twenty, right? This means, if your children’s ministry is going to be effective, you’re going to have to invest most your your time not in working with kids but in developing volunteers.
There’s much more to come so stay tuned. For now, I’ll leave you with this. What are you doing to develop “watch spring” volunteers in your ministry?
Tags: Brookwood Church, Brookwood Kids, Children, Children's Ministry, Conferences, Gordon and Becky West, Leadership, ministry, Ministry 101, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Children's Ministry, Leadership, Volunteers | Comments (2)
More Than “Just” A Volunteer March 20th, 2009
I just got back form the hospital. I was there to visit Sarah. Sarah is a beautiful little three-year-old girl who has cancer. I’m not sure there’s much on the planet that makes less sense to me than that. Never the less, I went by to spend some time with Sarah and her Mom and try to offer some comfort. I’m not sure how much comfort I offered, I could barely hold it together. Please pray for Sarah and her family, they’ve got a long road ahead and they need our prayers.
In the midst of this sad situation there was something beautiful going on. You see, I wasn’t the only visitor there. When I got there one of our children’s ministry volunteers was already there. Her name is Donna. She told me, “I had the afternoon off so I decided to come by.” That sounds pretty unassuming, right, but think it through. After a week of work Donna decided to take her afternoon off and spend it in the hospital caring for Sarah and her family. That’s amazing!!! What’s more amazing is that I bet Donna doesn’t think it’s amazing. It’s just what she does.
On my way home from the hospital a couple of things occurred to me.
First, I think this is the real role of a children’s ministry volunteer. Our kids need volunteers like Donna. As leader’s we’ve got to stop apologizing for asking people to give an hour a week and give them a vision for ministry that is so much bigger. Sunday should be just the tip of the iceberg. Our kid’s need leaders who are involved in their lives. Yes, they need to be there in the hospital, but they also need to be at the soccer game or the dance recital. They need to know what’s happening in kid’s lives and give them a call to say happy birthday or good luck on that big test.
The other thing that occurred to me is how over-rated being a pastor is. Even with all my “pastor” training and “pastor” experience I was the least important and least effective minister in that hospital room today. Donna was the one making the real impact. I really believe it’s our volunteers who have the greatest potential for ministry not us “professionals.” I think that’s why in Ephesians 4:11-12 church leaders are charged to equip the body for works of service. The best I can do is to create an environment where volunteers like Donna can thrive, then cheer them on as they do the real work of ministry and extend Jesus’ love to others.
I wonder if our volunteers realize how critically important they are, or do the think they are “just a volunteer?” How can we help them see their incredible importance and potential for ministry?
Incidentally, Donna volunteers in my daughters room at church. I’m excited my daughter gets to learn from someone like her.
Tags: Brookwood Church, Brookwood Kids, Children's Ministry, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Children's Ministry, Volunteers | Comments (0)
Help, I need somebody… February 25th, 2009
Do your kids have somebody? A while back, God really brought something to my attention. I started looking at our children’s ministry and realized that it was possible and sometimes probable that a kid could come to our church, check-in, go to small group, go to large group, check-out and leave and nobody ever got to know that kid. I mean the large group program was great, the small groups all had their curriculum, we had enough volunteers, but in some places kids were just drifting in and out. They were not getting connected. They were not known.
For us this realization caused a fundamental shift in our vision for ministry. Our mission became not only to help kids know Jesus—but to help kids know Jesus and be known personally.
As I started talking to our volunteers about this I asked this question, “How many of you came to know Jesus because of a program, a bible study or a curriculum?” A few had, but for most the answer was no. Then I asked, “How many of you came to know Jesus because of somebody?” And guess what, nearly everybody answered yes to that question. I’ve asked these questions dozens of time to hundreds of people and it always comes out the same way. Think about it, no one says, “You know that (insert your curriculum name here) curriculum, third grade, second quarter, fourth lesson… it really changed my life.” But most can say that Mrs. Becky, Mr. John, a parent, a friend, a neighbor—it could be anybody but it is almost always somebody who really made a difference in my life. For me there were several somebodys, but one that stands out is my junior high band director Rodger McClendon. We called him Mr. Mac, and he saw something valuable in me when there wasn’t much to see. Most of my teachers (at school and at church) had written me off, but Mr. Mac invested in me and it changed the course of my life.
Our goal cannot be to have the best most amazing programs. Great programs and solid curriculum and teaching are important. However, our primary goal must be to connect our kids to the best most amazing somebodys.
Here’s the good news. As we’ve started sharing this vision with our volunteers, they get it. They’re beginning to understand that success is building a relationship and being a Godly example even if you never get to the lesson plan. They’re beginning to realize that connection requires a commitment and most of our volunteers who used to serve once every six weeks are starting to serve every week. Even better, this resonates with the people we’re recruiting for ministry. Not many people are interested in volunteering for a program but they are very interested in joining us to make sure that every child is known personally.
So here’s a question for you. What are you doing in your church or organization to help connect your kids with great people who can invest in their lives and make a lasting difference? I’d love to here from you.
Tags: Brookwood Church, Brookwood Kids, Children, Children's Ministry, Recruiting, Volunteer Minisrty, Volunteers
Posted in Children's Ministry, Leadership, Volunteers | Comments (1)