It’s one thing to lead followers and another thing to lead leaders. How do I get people to follow me who would rather be the leader, and why should I try to get people to follow me who don’t really want to follow? Followers are great at getting things done, but you will reach more […]
People are busier than ever. I used to train my volunteers at monthly meetings on Sunday night, but it’s hard to get people to show up for extra meetings. I had to figure out how to train my volunteers in small doses. Now, I do all of my training in three bite-size nuggets. 1. The […]
I have had several different jobs, and with that several different types of bosses. One of my jobs, I worked at a daycare. It was a well-respected daycare franchise, my bosses were very friendly and nice. But I only had a total of 2 hours of training, and by training, I mean they had me […]
If you talk to most KidMin pastors, they will tell you that recruiting volunteers is the most stressful part of their job. Part of the reason for the stress is that many kids’ pastors spend much of their time on things that don’t work. First of all, let’s talk about what doesn’t work. • Bulletin […]
Business 101 asks three questions: 1. Who are my customers? 2. What do they want? 3. How can I get it to them? Volunteers are the lifeblood of any KidMin program. I can survive without money, but I cannot survive without volunteers. We need ask the question, “What do […]
I still remember the day I changed my strategy for recruiting and training volunteers. It was a cold winter morning in 1987 and I had just accepted a new position as a kidmin pastor at a church in Minneapolis, Minnesota. I was frustrated because yet another volunteer had informed me they were stepping down. […]
As a leader, we need to have vision for the future, while not forgetting who helped us yesterday. One of the best ways is to send a “Thank You” the old-fashioned way – an actual note card from you. It makes a huge impact on the receiver because of how much we are in-undated […]
The other day I bumped into an old friend at Starbucks. My friend was overseeing the KidMin program at a new church and he asked if I could meet with him. Then he made this statement, “We are burning through a lot of volunteers.” If you are burning through volunteers then it tells you that […]
Not all your volunteers will become leaders. In fact, most volunteers do not want to lead, they just want to follow. Followers are people who want to follow. They don’t want to make decisions. They want someone to tell them what to do and they will do it. Leaders are people who want to lead. […]
We hear a lot of talk today about partnering with parents but how do you do this if you have little exposure in the pulpit? The best way to partner with parents is to get parents involved with the children’s ministry program. In other words, use the kidmin program to disciple the parents. I meet […]