It’s a question I get asked on a regular basis: “How do you get folks in the church to volunteer when they think it is the children’s pastor’s job to do the ministry?”
This is one of the most difficult tasks of a kidmin leader—recruiting volunteers. I can tell you, there is no magic formula. The only way to recruit successfully is through continuous hard work and adherence to a few key principles. However, there are three important keys that I live by. Hopefully they will help you build a strong team of leaders to serve the children of your church.
Keys to Add More Volunteers to Your Ministry Team:
1. Don’t recruit from a need; rather, recruit from an opportunity.
There is nothing worse than a children’s ministry director standing up in front of the congregation and saying, “We are so overwhelmed. We must have help. Please help us!" That tells the person listening, “There must be a reason no one is working with them.”
Never use the phrase, “No one wants to help" or "I can’t get anyone to help me.” That’s like my son starting off a question, “I know you are going to say no, but . . . .”
Rather than moan about how much we need help, choose to celebrate the growth and excitement of your kids' ministry. Don’t talk about what you don't have, talk about what you do have—opportunities for the members of your church to make an eternal impact on a soul for whom Christ died.
2. Recruit from the VISION of your ministry.
Start by raising the value of children’s ministry inside your church. Share stories in church services about life change in children or have volunteers share stories about how their lives have been changed. Serving in children’s ministry is an opportunity to honor God—not a duty or a task (Colossians 3:23).
You are recruiting by giving people an opportunity to be a part of what God is doing in the lives of the children of your church. Explain to them, “God is going to accomplish His plan in the lives of the children in our church. The question is not ‘Will God do it?’ The question is ‘Will you be part of it?’”
3. Recruit One-on-One and Face-to-Face.
Rather than putting a blurb in the bulletin, a video announcement, or a pulpit spot from your senior pastor, recruit by approaching people one-on-one and having a meaningful conversation with them.
Ask God ahead of time who He is preparing for service (Luke 10:22). Once He leads you to someone, approach them. Don’t just walk up in the hallway at church—that doesn’t communicate to someone that you value them. Instead invite them to lunch, call them on the phone, or go out to eat with them after church.
Explain to them that as a result of what God is doing in your children’s ministry, an opportunity has arisen. You have been praying about who the person should be to serve in this area. You felt led to talk to them because you feel that they have the right gift mix to be able to make a Kingdom difference in the lives of these kids.
I know that adding volunteers to your team is a lot of work, but I can honestly tell you that every bit of that work is worth it! Get out there and build your team so you can win the lost!
Brian Dollar grew up as a “church brat.” God radically saved him and called him to Kid's Ministry. He has served as a Kid's Pastor for twenty years and currently serves at First Assembly of God in North Little Rock, Arkansas.
@BrianDollar1
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