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A positive culture atmosphere is not complete without clarity, which is knowing what you want your ministry to say and then saying it well.

Do you communicate clearly, early, and often? Think through your printed materials, website, mailed letters, mass e-mails, and every other possible piece of communication coming from your ministry. Is there a common voice, design, and purpose for your communications? Do families and volunteers look forward to hearing from your ministry? Do you bombard people with too much? When arriving for the first time, do new families know what to expect from your ministry? When a potential volunteer comes through your doors, is there clarity in the process of signing them up for duty? Remember, every person in your church is a volunteer candidate. Every communication from your ministry is reaching out to potential volunteers.

We seem to have a tendency to be organized and clear when it comes to recruiting events, but a bit scatterbrained the rest of the year. So, keep clarity and competency at the top of your mind no matter what audience you're addressing.

In anticipation of a good harvest that bears much fruit, a ministry needs first to be cultivated. Many times, something is well established at the beginning, only to slowly fall apart over time through lack of care and intentionality.

As you prepare to be a people-ready ministry, remember that starting well is important—but continuing well is even more critical! Volunteers will step away from ministry every year for various reasons; don't let your lack of cultivation be one of them.

Community time, training, encouragement, and heartfelt thanks are important elements of volunteer life. One of the best things you can do to be a people-ready ministry is to provide abundant care for the people you already have—the secret recipe for retention. This will also yield an excellent return in the form of new workers because current, well-cultivated volunteers are your best recruiters.

Sometimes it takes something as simple as a television commercial to remind us how important people are. Thanks, Microsoft.

While you build your ministry, remember it's not so much about where you are today as about where you can be tomorrow. Ready yourself, your volunteers, and your ministry to be truly people-ready.

Copyright © 2006 Promiseland.

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