A Big Win
by Ashley Cornelius
posted 7/03/2006
 1 of 4
Hot times, summer in the city … Summer is here alright, in the cities and yes, even in the suburbs. With summer come popsicles, water balloons, vacations, and so much more. But what goes? All of your regular children's ministry volunteers, of course. So while you lament the state of your ministry over a glass of cold lemonade, let me share with you how the children's ministry (Promiseland) at our church set out to cure the summer volunteerism blues.
For many years now we have given all of our regular, weekly volunteers the summer off. Many children's ministries do the same thing. Those leaders who serve week in and week out giving their all to bring kids closer to God deserve a break. We have found over the years that by giving our volunteers time off in the summer, they come back rested, rejuvenated, and ready to serve faithfully for the next ministry year.
So while the regular volunteers enjoy the R & R, who is with the kids in children's ministry? Other volunteers, of course. So now the key question becomes: How do we recruit people to serve in our children's ministry during the summer?
Here's a look at the six-step approach we took to make summer 2006 "A Big Win" for volunteerism in Promiseland.
1) PLAN
Have a plan. A simple, yet often overlooked step. Starting right after the new year, with snow up to our ankles, our team began to think about and plan for summer. While much of the final plans of our summer strategy were not finalized or implemented until May, it proved imperative to our success that we start early. With time, not only can you sit with ideas, concepts, and strategies before you have to sign off on them; you also have the benefit of getting other ministries and your pastor involved—without anything having to be last minute. Don't be in denial and arrive in a season unprepared. Instead, anticipate the truth: you need new volunteers for summer (or the start of a new ministry year).
Your plan should include key activities for recruitment, who will implement these activities, how the activities relate to one another and all come together towards a common goal, and how you will measure success. Your plan can also include a theme for your recruitment drive (more on ours later) that you will carry through the entire season—maybe even beyond—and a plan for celebrating, training and retaining summer volunteers.
Once your plan is set, all that's left is to put it into action. It's time to move it off paper and onto reality.
2) ENLIST
Enlist the support and buy-in of your senior pastor/lead pastor first. Your senior pastor should be the first person you recruit. Through a one-on-one meeting, the leader of your ministry should clearly and compellingly paint the vision for your summer program. Let your Senior Pastor know: a) what has been accomplished by your regular leaders over the course of the ministry year, b) why they deserve a break, c) who and how you want to recruit to replace them, d) what he or she can specifically do to contribute to your plan and finally (and perhaps most importantly) e) how this will benefit the rest of the church. Here's the best result that comes from having your senior pastor on board and clearly asking for his help—you have just recruited the single most influential person in your church to be your spokesman. Not a bad start!
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