We are in the middle of an amazing season of growth here at Grace Community Church. With growth comes natural demand on our infrastructure. We decided to add a 3rd service to our Sunday morning environments a while back and guess what…that extra service is growing. With growth comes the need to find new leaders to join our team. I use the term leader and volunteer almost interchangeably because that is what our volunteers are…they are leaders doing ministry every week. Leadership is service and if that is true than then role of the volunteers is the ultimate leadership role we have! We are wrestling through the process of adding new leaders to our team, training those volunteers, and continuing to strive for excellence while still needing more volunteers. Can it be done is the wrong question, IT HAS TO BE DONE! You may be in a strong position right now with your volunteer team but if you church has a heart to reach your city you will soon be in need of new leadership. Here are some principles that are guiding us as add leaders to our volunteer teams.
- Recruit to a mission >> people follow vision and they want to know what your area is about. When we recruit we are not filling holes, we are asking people to join our mission of partnering with the family! We are shaping the next generation one kid and one family at a time. That is a mission worth joining!
- Dedicate time to recruiting >> People are not going to fly out of the sky to join your team and volunteer…you have to block time out to spend on meeting with, emailing, and calling possible leaders for your team. Schedule it and make it happen all year!
- Raise the bar >> make sure you let the people you are recruiting know what your expectations are. Be clear about what volunteering looks like for your team.
- Make the BIG ASK >> do not be afraid to ask people top join your team! When it comes to investing into families we need the best and the brightest in our churches. Go ahead and invite high impact leaders in your church to jump on your team!
- Pray >> how much time have you really spend talking with God about volunteer needs. He knows who you need and you will only gain God’s perspective on recruiting volunteers when you make prayer a huge part of your effort to build your team.