Volunteers & Leadership

So I called this volunteer meeting for Thursday night. Had all these grand ideas about team building and vision casting and whatever else leadership books say you're supposed to do. Seven people showed up. Seven. I invited twenty-three volunteers. Got seven. Including Tom who left after twenty minutes

Linda quit today. Just walked into my office and said she was done. No dramatic buildup or anything. Just sat down and dropped the bomb. Been staring at my computer screen for an hour trying to figure out how I let this happen. Linda's the one who makes

So this woman comes up to me after service last week. Nice lady, new to church, wants to get involved. "I'd love to help with children's ministry," she says. "Great!" I say. "We always need people to help with kids."

Been thinking about what makes some volunteers amazing while others just kinda exist. Sarah's been helping two years. Kids love her. Parents trust her. I never worry when she's around. Tom started same time. Shows up but that's about it. Kids barely know his

Been trying figure out how thank volunteers without spending money we don't have. Our budget's basically nothing. Maybe fifty bucks month if we're lucky. Can't do fancy dinners or expensive gifts like big churches. But volunteers work their butts off. Sarah shows

Mark starts helping with our 5th graders last month. Really nice guy wants help. First Sunday hand him this packet. Like fifteen pages. Volunteer handbook safety policies behavior management curriculum overview emergency procedures. Everything. Next week shows up looking like I hit him with truck. Admits didn't read

Cleaning out my phone yesterday and found this text from Jennifer. She used to help with 2nd 3rd graders couple years back. "Hey I don't think I can keep doing this anymore. Just not working out." That was it. Gone. Back then I'm like

Building a Volunteer Team Culture That Lasts So last month I'm sitting in this meeting with other kids ministry leaders and this woman starts talking about her volunteer team. How they hang out outside of church. How they cover for each other without being asked. How new people

So Sarah comes up to me after service Sunday and she's got this look. You know that look when someone's been chewing on something for weeks? "I think I need to take a break." My stomach just drops through the floor. Sarah's