Trust Your Volunteers




In a few weeks, I'm going to do one of the scariest things I've ever done with volunteers.  I'm going to give them the opportunity to quit.

In many ministries, we recruit volunteers or volunteer ourselves with no end in sight.  We very infrequently recruit for a specific time.  After studying the recruiting strategies of several different large churches that have hundreds of volunteers and lots of prayer, I decided that I needed to trust my volunteers.

So every six months the volunteers in all of Kidtricity will be given the opportunity to quit.  Of course I don't frame it this way.  I ask our volunteers to re-enroll in their ministries.  This gives them the opportunity to change their Sunday, their service, or even their department.

After all of this moving around is done, I may have some vacancies, but I think it is worth it. My hope is that new people will take this opportunity to step into a new adventure in children's ministry.  Think about it.  Which would you rather do, volunteer for the rest of your life in an area that you're not even sure if you like it, or volunteer for six months as a trial?  Personally, I would like the choice.

I am choosing to trust my volunteers to listen to God and follow his leading, no matter where that leads them.

So will you trust your volunteers?

Comments

  1. AnonymousMay 24, 2012 at 6:36 PM

    i dont know if i would give ranger leaders this choice or not....they may all take off running!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. David ReneauMay 24, 2012 at 6:59 PM

    Ha Ha Ha!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

5 Volunteer Statements for Your Ministry

Image
Photo by jules a. on Unsplash I worked at Sam’s Club for a year and half while I was at my first church. Now when I go into any Sam’s and I need help, I can start dropping some jargon like it’s "in steel," or "it’s in that mixed pallet," or "it’s on the end cap or pod." Usually when I use their insider language, their eyes light up, and they're far more motivated to help me because we have something in common. No matter what job you do there are certain phrases and words that are specific to your culture. Most of these words and phrases develop naturally over time as a result of events, ministries, or your denomination. For example, I’m in the Assemblies of God. Here are just a few of the acronyms that any minister in the AG (see what I did there) will know. BGMC STL LFTL ACMR GC JBQ AGWM If you’re not in the AG, I’m sure you can come up with your own list of acronyms that mean something to you, but outsiders will have a no clue. But that’s just
Read more

When You Feel Like It's Time to Go and What to Do About It

Image
Photo by Jan Tinneberg on Unsplash I’ve served at 4 different churches and deciding when it’s time to go is never an easy decision. Serving in ministry, we feel called to the city, the church, the people, and now that time may be coming to an end. For some, it’s like being hit by a Mack truck, others it’s a slow burn or something in between. Whatever it is, for better or worse, there will come a time for you to say goodbye. We are all itinerant ministers. There was probably someone before you, and there will most likely be someone after you. Even if you serve for 50 years in the same place, time and people move on. But how do you know when it’s time to move on? How do you know it’s a prompting from God and not your emotions getting the better of you? There are no simple solutions, and every situation is different. I know because the reason I’ve moved from each church has been for vastly different reasons. The list I’m giving isn’t exhaustive, but rather created from personal
Read more

5 Things I Learned Switching from Group VBS to Orange VBS

Image
This summer I decided to make the switch from Group VBS to Orange VBS. I knew this was going to be a big change for everyone. I've done Group for almost 20 years. It's the only VBS I knew and the only one I've led. I even got to be a part of a focus group for Group a few years ago. A few years ago, I transitioned my children's ministry to the Orange curriculum. I loved the strategy, my small group leaders loved the simplicity of following the curriculum, and my kids loved all the fun they were having. When I started at my church almost 6 years ago, they held several VBS programs in the past but they were hit and miss over the past 10 years, so I had a clean slate and did what I knew by bringing Group VBS to them. Group helped us grow from a VBS of 100 kids to over 300. They were great to us. However, I wanted to be more strategic and I loved the fact that the Orange VBS theme lined up with the summer series. So, I casted vision, laid the groundwork,
Read more