This week I’m reposting some thoughts I had around this same time last year.  I’m really hoping I can get some comments, and would love to hear if anything resonates with you:

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I promise this will be the last boring question post for a while. Monday we tackled #1, and Wednesday got no comments on #2.

The burden that many assume I carry alone as the ‘Children’s Pastor’ is to recruit workers. It is in fact a BIG part of my job, and one that mostly I enjoy. However, I’ve learned in 5 years of Children’s Ministry that the most effective recruiters are my volunteer leaders. There is something about the CP asking someone to volunteer that can seem intimidating or self-serving on my part, but when a person who is asked to come on board and be a part of the team is asked by an existing, contributing volunteer it can make a much deeper impact. History has shown that some of my best volunteers are those recruited by current volunteers.

The main way that I try and get this accomplished, is by how I respond to my existing volunteers. Quite often I have someone on my ministry approach me and say, “Pastor Jonathan, could you get me someone to help assist in my classroom?” I tell them that I will indeed start looking, but then tell them that there is nobody more qualified to find an assistant than them. They are in constant interaction with the families bringing children, they can better describe what they need help with in their area of ministry, and they have a ‘calling’ to these particular age group of kids that I might not have. When I ask them if they’ve asked anyone to assist them, they usually respond with “NO.” Hmmm, I wonder why they don’t have any help?

There is a great post on getting volunteers that I found at the Access Elevation Church Blog. It’s a great thought on all the things I’ve spoken about this week.

This week I’m reposting some thoughts I had around this same time last year.  I’m really hoping I can get some comments, and would love to hear if anything resonates with you:

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Yesterday I asked the question:
First Question: How do I get current volunteers to recruit their own replacements?

I got moderate response to the question, but I’d love more. Today I’d like to tackle an issue that I see constantly amongst my volunteer workforce.

Second Question: How do I make it easy for people to leave my ministry?

Let me explain. I don’t want my volunteers to leave. I love and appreciate their time investment in my area of service. But at the same time I don’t want them to feel like working with me is a death sentence. There are other things in the church, or outside the church for that matter, that people might find fulfilling. There I said it. It’s true. What they do for me, or my area of ministry, isn’t the most important thing in the entire world. So how do I consistently make people feel like they could comfortably leave if they felt called to something else?

I think the biggest factor to creating this kind of environment, is to encourage participation in other areas of the church. I also go to great lengths to praise other areas, and celebrate success in other areas of the church. I also think that just having a healthy environment for my workers to exist in will eliminate the bondage to my ministry.

I have spoken with a family recently that feels held hostage to the class they teach. They aren’t happy with what they do, but feel that if they leave the class will only get worse. They’ve been tricked into believing that they can’t leave. Changes will be made soon, whether they like it or not.

Let the comments fly!

This week I’m reposting some thoughts I had around this same time last year.  I’m really hoping I can get some comments, and would love to hear if anything resonates with you:

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I’ve been experiencing a difficult season in regards to getting those involved in serving. It’s always a challenge in church ministry, and specifically Children’s ministry to get people involved in serving. I mean ALWAYS a challenge. Even when people are getting plugged in to the ministry in big numbers, I could always use a few dozen more. It’s the nature of the beast.

However, this past month I’ve seen an exodus of volunteers. Most of them for perfectly decent reasons, and I’ve celebrated their leaving with style, class, and grace. It’s just that I haven’t seen the replacements come in the timing I would prefer. In the spirit of this challenge I would like to get some opinions from these great readers of mine. For the next few days I’ll throw out a question and see how much knowledge (or lack thereof) I can gain.

First Question: How do I get current volunteers to recruit their own replacements?

I have always strived to make my leaders take ownership in the areas that they serve. I figure that they know their class/area/age group better than I do in most cases, and their opinion is of high value to me as the leader. When someone approaches me about leaving, moving on, or transitioning to a different area of service the first thing I say (after thanking them for their bravery) to them is, “Do you have anyone who has been working alongside you that may be able to step in and take over your class?” or, “Could you pass along some contact information for someone who might be interested in taking your place?” or “Better yet, could you contact someone who you think might make a great replacement for your class?”

I’m amazed sometimes at how a volunteer will invest a year of their life working with a collection of kids, and then leave with a customary 4 week notice; and never seem to give a thought to who will be taking their place. Isn’t this weird? Of course I know that I have a slanted perspective, being the department leader.

So again let me pose the question: How could I get current volunteers to recruit their own replacements?

I’m expecting some comments, let them fly! I’d love comments from those inside and outside of ‘church’ ministries. Give me some different perspectives!

Tuesday night I spoke to a great collection of college students that attend our church.  They meet weekly on the campus of Texas Tech, and do the normal things Christians do when they get together; sing songs, listen to someone teach/preach/talk, fellowship, and generally hang out.  It was a fun time, and I’ll be back next week to do more of the same.  When I do events like this I inevitably get asked the million dollar question.

“Why would you want to work with kids?”

I’m sure they are confused about me, seeing that I don’t fit their experience of what a normal Children’s Pastor looks like.  I guess you could say I’m an abnormal Children’s Pastor.  So here’s my official online response to the above question:

Three Reason Why I Love Working With Kids:

1. IMPACT -Working with kids give me more potential impact on the entire family than any other demographic.  I’ve worked with college students, high school students, and senior citizens; but have never been able to influence the spiritual direction of families more than I do when working with kids.  There is something about leading an 8 year old to Jesus that impacts families in a special and unique way.  I have never felt more “on the front lines” than I do now that I work with kids.
2. VOLUNTEERS –Working with kids always leads to working with adults.  When I did college ministry I could usually do any event with myself and one person to lead worship.  We could take turns running the sound board, and the two of us could do just about anything.  When working with kids this becomes totally impossible!  You just can’t throw 300 kids between the ages of birth and 12 in a room with two people…or at least you shouldn’t.  Working with kids has allowed me to invest time with volunteers in greater numbers than ever before.
3. They’re KIDS –For goodness sakes, we’re talking about kids here.  I can get a laugh every week when I ask the boys to put their purses under their chairs.  Every…single…week…without fail they will giggle at that joke.  Teenagers wouldn’t laugh, and God knows that adults never laugh.  Working with kids forces me to be more creative than I ever thought was possible.  Working with kids has made me really think through anything I’m about to say to make sure it’s as understandable as possible. (and I think more adult speakers/pastors would be better served to spend more time doing this as well.)

I’ve not been in Children’s Ministry for decades, but I think I’ve finally compiled a strong list of ways to keep parents from bringing kids to church:

1. When the nursery kids are dropped off in their classroom, firmly plant them in a high chair and leave them there to eat Cheerios for 90 minutes.
2. Force parents to look through 5 pages of check-in papers to find their kids name and check off their name with an old Abilene Credit Union pen with the end chewed off.
3. Make parents hang out in classrooms with their kids until the teacher arrives 10 minutes later.
4. Have volunteers repeatedly hack, cough, dry heave, and scratch their skin incessantly while they try and help children find their classrooms.
5. Give each elementary child at the very least their body weight in candy while they are with you.
6. When that hurried parent trying to pick up their kids as fast as possible tells you that service is over, just tell them you’re not done yet and ask them to wait patiently for 5 more minutes.
7. If at all possible try and send home all craft projects with white Elmer’s glue still wet and dripping in every direction.
8. Don’t take the time to remove the VBS classroom signs from three months ago, if they’re serious about finding the class for their 3 year old they’ll come upon it eventually.
9. Just go ahead and let that 9 year old big brother hang out with his 2 year old sister in her preschool class.
10. Let the kids use colored sharpie markers while unsupervised.

I can guarantee you with actually certainty that all of these work. Trust me, I have first-hand experience in these matters. ;)