Recruiting

We can all agree that volunteer recruitment is an essential part of our roles as kidmin leaders. Let’s face it: we could not do what we do in ministry without a healthy and expanding volunteer team. But how do we grow our volunteer base to manage large events like VBS, fall festivals, Easter, and Christmas when we often struggle to secure enough volunteers to staff our ongoing weekly programs?

Let’s face it. There are times in ministry when managing volunteers feels like your full-time job. Recruiting, training, retaining — it is NOT easy, but it has to be done. Out of desperation, ministry leaders can fall into the trap of “filing the slot.”

Like many children’s ministers, I joined the ranks by being an over-eager volunteer turned employee. When I was in the basement volunteering, only 1% of our volunteers were men. I didn’t have a male Sunday School teacher until I was 16 years old. It seems an unspoken rule that children’s ministry leaders are female.