Recruiting Like Jesus Recruited-Part 3

Seize opportunities

Jesus went out looking for workers. He didn’t wait for workers to come find him. When Jesus recruited his first disciples, he was walking out by the Sea of Galilee; he wasn’t back in his office behind a desk filling out paperwork. He was out drafting the people he needed.

Here’s my advice for any children’s ministry leader who’s frustrated with not having enough help: Go out and find people. Go where people are. I go to church, to men’s meetings, to women’s meetings…anywhere I might find people who love God and who haven’t found a place to plug into service yet.

And I’ll run databases from the church computer, too. I run a list of all our members, then a list of people who are volunteering already somewhere else. That gives me a list of potential volunteers.

I’m always looking, and guess what? That means I’m always finding, too.

Jesus required commitment, not just sacrifice

Jesus didn’t make it easy for people who were coming to help him. Read  through the Gospels with a highlighter and mark everything Jesus had to say about volunteering. Jesus never once asked someone to sacrifice. Instead, he asked for commitment. The sacrifices followed, but they flowed out of a decision to be a faithful follower—so they weren’t really sacrifices at all. They were simply the cost of discipleship.

When I’m recruiting volunteers, I ask for commitment, too.

I know that cultural trends would say to make every volunteer job something people can do without having to commit much time and effort. And I could do that—but I won’t. Our kids deserve better. They need the consistency, and the volunteers need the time to get better at what they do

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Recruiting Like Jesus Recruited-Part 2

Jesus made everything a matter of prayer—including recruitment

Forty days in the wilderness. Forty days of prayer and fasting. Jesus had plenty of time to talk things through with God.

It’s not recorded what Jesus prayed about, but I believe with all my heart he asked God to lead him to the right people. I believe that because the first thing Jesus did when he walked on out of the wilderness was recruit some help.

You and I have a tendency to do everything but pray.

Are you praying for the Lord to bring you the right people to staff your children’s ministry?

Jesus took his time to fill the roster

Jesus needed twelve disciples…but he recruited in ones and twos. Could Jesus have lined up twelve recruits in a bigger hurry? I think so—but he wouldn’t have gotten the people he wanted.

Take your time getting people placed in your program. You’re building a team and discerning giftedness, not just scribbling names onto an organizational chart. If you want leaders to emerge from your program, and people to stick long term, Take your time recruiting the right people not just whosoever is willing!

Jesus instituted a draft

Jesus wasn’t shy about getting the people he wanted on his team. In fact, he didn’t recruit them as much as he drafted them.

“You come and follow me” doesn’t sound like a question. It’s a command.

I don’t have quite the authority Jesus has, but when it comes to getting people working in children’s ministry, I don’t ask for volunteers either.

Here’s my favorite way to recruit people: I walk up to folks in my church and ask, “What are you doing in this church?” Most of the time they say, “Nothing.”

So I say, “That’s what I thought. Fill out this four-page worker application. I’m going to make a children’s worker out of you.”

And you know what I hear? Most of the time I hear, “OK.”

Now, keep in mind that when I ask someone to work in the Nursery I’m asking them to apply to work in the Nursery. I’m inviting them to enter into a discussion about whether they’re the right person to work in the Nursery. They won’t necessarily end up working with babies; we’ll sort that out through the interview process.  But until we get talking, nothing happens. 
more to come

Recruiting Like Jesus Recruited

             The Bible has a lot to say about recruiting volunteers. People always seem surprised to hear that. We’ve come to believe that “recruitment” was invented recently.

Jesus managed to get people recruited without bulletin inserts. Without announcements made from the pulpit. Somehow, he was able to recruit people as “disciples,” which involved more than a six month commitment and a willingness to attend a couple training meetings.

 That’s why Jesus is my model for recruiting volunteers. I think he showed us everything we need to know about it in his ministry.

At each of the churches I’ve worked at we’ve had good success applying Jesus’ recruitment principles and practices. Over the years, I’ve had some of the finest volunteers I’ve ever met serving with me, and I’d trust them with my life. Even more—I’ve trusted them with my children’s lives as my daughters have grown up and gone through those classrooms.

In my book, Volunteers That Stick, I go into great detail and include twelve of Jesus’ recruitment principles and practices, and tell you how we’ve put them to use. I want to introduce you briefly to my favorite seven.

Recruit by vision

Don’t talk about your desperate need for volunteers. Talk about what those people who are selected to serve in children’s ministry will do, and the impact they’ll have on young lives.

If you’re leading your children’s ministry, you are the vision-caster. Jesus talked about the Kingdom of God, and people responded. Could they see it? Taste it? Touch it? Not really…but they could feel it. They felt it in the words of Jesus and the vision he shared.

Walk the talk

Whatever I require others to do, I have to do. Volunteers value authenticity. They value integrity. Have both.  Jesus is the ultimate example of that. He didn’t expect James and John to walk away from the family business to serve God without doing the same thing himself. Jesus was faithful all the way to the cross. He has the moral authority to ask the same of you. 

more to come...

Dealing With People Who Overstep Their Bounds...Part 2

Ten keys to establishing and maintaining authority in your ministry.

 1. Know your Pastor’s vision and submit yourself to his authority. Give others a good example to follow!

 2. Represent your Pastor well. Represent him in all things from the way you dress, in the way you serve, in your family life to your business dealings. Jesus showed his submission to his Father by telling his disciples if you’ve seen him you have seen the Father.

 3.  Seek to establish your Pastor’s heart into your leadership and into all                                            the people who serve in your ministry. Authority works best when it is unbroken.

Build allegiance & loyalties to the Pastor not to yourself.

4.  Make a flow chart of the flow of leadership in your department. Let people see                             the chain of command so they know how to function. Establish middle managers                                                                            to help you lead. Start by identifing every position for a volunteer.  Write out all duties and make a job description. Always delegate authority along with responsibility. Establish policies and train your team how you want it done

 5.  Spend time with your middle managers & key leadership.  Teach, coach and model ministry. Allow them to ask questions and learn from you.

     

6. Inspect and evaluate how things are being done. People don’t do wat you expect                                     they do what you inspect.

7. Make corrections, constantly improve.  Dare to confront. Don’t be afraid to                                     discipline workers after they won’t head your corrections. I believe we prove our                                                                                          love for people when we dare to correct them.

 8.  Constantly show your volunteers that you appreciate them. Put your key workers                                   in the lime light.  Allow them to be recognized. One of the reasons volunteers                                                                                       over step their bounds is they don’t think those in authority value them. Look for every opportunity to brag on those who represent you well. Catch people doing things right!

 9. Teach and encourage your leaders to put into those under them. Successful                                           teams have depth at all key positions.

10.   Make changes that are needed. Don’t just keep doing things the way they’ve                                        always been done. Same action brings same results. Listen to your volunteers                                                                                      and let them help you identify if there is a better way to do things. Constantly                     improve. As your ministry grows allow your structure to grow also. Remember to keep the leadership above you in the know, especially when volunteers                                              oversteping their bounds. Always side with authority. Leaders who side with the                                                                                                  Word and the authority of the house are not always popular but their always                                                                                                 right.