Whether your church employs a small army of full time youth workers or you are the lone volunteer co-ordinating the work with teenagers, experience has taught me that volunteers are the lifeblood of any youth ministry.
Having an employed youth worker in your church has a huge number of benefits. However, when it comes to building relationships with young people they can find real inspiration in the fact that the leader isn’t being paid to show an interest but investing out of their own time.
In a youth ministry, the quality of discipleship, attitude towards outreach, potential for growth and much more depends on your volunteers.
So, how do you recruit more? Here are some tips to increase your chances of growing your team.
1. Keep congregations informed.
Research has shown that people need around seven ‘points of contact’ with a product before they decide to purchase it and, ideally, these should be through different mediums. That is why you’ll see adverts for McDonalds on TV, social networking sites, billboards, newspapers, the Internet, app stores and bus stops.
It’s pretty much the same for raising the profile of youth work!
If you need volunteers, find as many ways as you can to tell people, and make the advertising campaign last as long as possible. For example; mention it to individuals over coffee, put it in the notice sheets, mention it from the front in a service, get someone else to mention it from the front in a service, put up a few posters. The best advice I have been given on this subject is that ‘when you’re sick of mentioning it over and over and over again, the people listening will just about be getting the message!’ Too often, we sheepishly mention it once in a church notice and then feel disappointed when no-one comes forward. Be persistent and be varied.
Even if you don’t need any volunteers, keep bombarding the church with info! One of the first stumbling blocks for getting volunteers is that the congregations are distant from the young people’s work. Regular communication which demystifies the youth ministry is key to this. Info on the website, termly newsletters, youth led services, young people’s testimonies and Sunday school open days (where people can come and experience a typical Sunday school session instead of staying in the sermon) can all strengthen each individual’s connection with their church’s youth ministry.
2. Define roles
A common mistake is to think that anyone can be a youth leader.
This isn’t the case.
You need specific people with specific skills to achieve specific tasks. If you were approached by John Lewis and simply asked, ‘Would you like to join the company?’, the chances are you would start asking questions. Which department? Doing what? Sales, marketing, deliveries, CEO, warehouse, finances etc? It is the same if we approach someone and simply ask them, ‘Do you want to be involved in the youth ministry?’
Where do you need more leaders? What sort of things do you need them to do? Do you need someone who can type up contact details onto a database once a term, or someone to lead a Bible study every week? List the qualities the perfect person in this role would have then ask around about who in your church has these skills.
Of these two statements, which do you think is more likely to get a positive response…
‘The youth club is in need of someone who is friendly, reliable and keen to share faith with non-Christian teenagers and I think you fit the bill perfectly. We meet on Friday nights and most volunteers help out fortnightly. Would you like to come and experience a session with a view to longer term involvement?’
Or
‘The youth club needs more leaders, can you come this Friday?’
People will be more likely to accept your offer if they feel that THEY are being asked because THEY have the necessary skills, not because they are going to be an extra body.
Bonus tip – Volunteer agreements can provide a better understanding of the youth ministry and clarify expectations. This significantly increases the chances of a positive response and long-term, fruitful involvement. Read our article on how to create one here.
3. Tap shoulders
In my seven years of church based youth work, I have made numerous requests for help from the front of church, and not once has anyone come and offered me some as a result.
It has only been when I have thoughtfully approached individuals that I have had a positive response.
However, I have not stopped making these public notices as they are a great way of keeping the congregation in the loop (see tip 1).
4. Deploy Scouts
Do all the people you ask to be on the youth ministry team need to work directly with young people?
A great tactic is to employ ‘youth ministry scouts’ in the congregation. Who are the church-members who know everyone? Who is always the last to leave? Who always know what’s going on with others? Who are regulars at midweek groups?
Ask them to ‘scout’ for people who would be good in the youth ministry. Agree a period of time (four weeks or so) for them to get back to you. They may have heard of someone who wants to get stuck in at church but doesn’t know how to.
5) Get substitutes.
It might be the case that you just about have enough people in your team to run a youth club each week, but if any of them are ill, then you potentially can’t run it! Why not get a group of people to be substitutes? They are not expected to turn up for a youth club every week, but if someone pulls out, they are happy to be called in at the last minute if available. In some cases, it may help to reach an agreement for a maximum amount of nights they can be called in for per term.
It is very important to treat these substitutes as equal members of the team. Invite them to team socials and meetings so they can have a say in the future direction of the ministry. Thank them equally always referring to them as part of the team (even if they refute it!). This way, they are appreciated for their contribution and are more likely to join the ‘full time’ team in the long run.
Also, invite people to make one-off contributions. Has someone returned from a mission trip? Invite them to come and speak to your club. Ask the Delia Smith of the church to bake a cake for your youth home group. A one-off invitation for someone to input into your group can result in a long term link between the two parties.
Above all, pray. It works! God gives good gifts to those who want to grow his Kingdom. He can reach people in a way that we can’t, so keep asking him to provide the right people in the right positions at the right time for your youth ministry.
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