No matter how great an individual player you are, a team can make you or break you. I’ve always loved being a part of a team. I love team sports. I love playing in bands. As a children’s pastor I have worked hard assembling and developing my teams. My least favorite times in ministry have been being on staffs at churches that were all doing their own thing and not functioning as a team.

My favorite definition of a team is Together Everyone Achieves More!
It’s plain that a team can accomplish more than an individual. Yet children’s ministers still insist on doing things themselves rather than build a strong team. I believe every children’s pastor or children’s ministry coordinator should see himself or herself as a coach and desire to build a super team. Here are four things a successful coach should instill in his team and expect from each player. #1-BE OWN THE BALL. A team player must be alert of what’s going on and able to assess the situation for themselves and the team. A team player puts the goals, needs and good of the team first, rather than individual goals, wants, and needs. Each member of the team must value the team. Don’t ever think about quitting the team in hard times. Don’t let setbacks stop you. See problems as challenges and situations for your team to excel. Get after it-work it with all your might to make your team Be it’s best. #2- GIVE A LOT! Let your teammates slam-dunk while you take an assist. Rejoice in the abilities and accomplishments of those around you. An excellent team player chooses to prefer others to excel. Their motto is: “It doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” Never complain, but seek opportunities to motivate others. Don’t be negative. You cannot maintain a winning attitude and be negative. Being positive is a choice! A team player complements others and hand out praise. In ministry we can’t control every event, but we can control our response to it Do your best even if you go unnoticed. Always ask, “What’s best for the team?” Never be too busy to help others. The team that gives a lot accomplishes a lot. #3-OVER COMMUNICATE! Let those above you know what’s going on. No surprises ever. Surprises hurt the team. Let those around you know what’s happening and what they should be doing. The military calls this the need to know. Talk with the team; build a relationship with your teammates. Don’t take things personal. A good communicator is a good listener. Determined to learn from everybody, not just your coaches. This includes learning from your own mistakes. #4-DO YOUR JOB! Do what you know to do. A team player understands their role and does it with all their might. A valuable team player must possess knowledge of the game. They are always a student. It’s imperative to know and follow the game plan. Know your job or position. Always be loyal to your coaches.

The best teams in the world review and evaluate constantly. Not just the accomplishments but also the mistakes. Take blame but never assign any. Never talk bad about teammates at anytime. Never talk bad about the coaches or the front office anytime. Desire to share any victories together. Value your team and you’ll enjoy the value of teamwork first hand.

Volunteer appreciation is a term that gets thrown around a lot.  You know you need to appreciate your volunteers, but some children’s leaders forget what it means.  That’s what I want to address today.

Appreciating your volunteers is important, especially in younger generations like mine.  We like to know that we’re really being helpful and doing good.  It’s important to us in any area of life.  There’s an issue though.  In a lot of ministries, “volunteer appreciation” means a sheet of paper that says “You’re a lifesaver!” with a mint in the middle.  The thought is appreciated, but it usually doesn’t mean much.

When was the last time you shot off a phone call or email to a volunteer just to say, “Thanks for changing the life of a child”?   Better yet, when is the last time you took your volunteer to lunch just to say thank you?  Make volunteer appreciation more than a cheesy candy gift.  Make it something real- something a volunteer can walk away from and feel encouraged and cared for.  Make it personal.

We all know that one of the toughest jobs as a children’s pastor is recruiting volunteers. Hardly a week goes by that someone doesn’t ask me for tips on recruiting more help. I don’t know how many times I have told people to buy Jim’s book! I could take this blog post and share ten tips for recruiting volunteers, but I want to give you one thought. It’s this: To get more volunteers in your ministry, make heroes of the ones you’ve already got.

What does this look like for you? Maybe it’s finally starting that volunteer appreciation event you’ve always wanted to do. Maybe it’s sending one card of encouragement every day, like I have done for years. Maybe it’s taking a volunteer to lunch. Here’s my point. Start rolling out the red carpet and you might find a new batch of volunteers raising their hands to help.

This week on the blog, we’re all writing about our favorite resource for summer events.  Mine is a little bit of a “different” resource to consider.

This evening I was reading through my devotional book I read every night, Extreme Devotion.  (It’s really great, and you can check it out by clicking its picture to the left.)  Today’s devotion was about a missionary who went to Korea in the 1800s with a Korean Bible in tow.  The missionary was killed before he ever spoke to a single Korean.  However, his Bible is still read today by Christians in the restricted nation of North Korea.  Over 150 years later, his action and subsequent death are still a testimony to Korean Christians.

You know what’s so cool about that?  He had nothing to do with the growth but planting the seed.  It’s kind of like he planted a garden then had to move away, so someone else started tending it.  That’s where the parallel comes in.

Sometimes (no, most of the time) we have trouble letting go of our “gardens”.  You know them: the ministries, events, duties, etc. that you’ve always done.  It might be camp, VBS, summer outreaches, or whatever you may do.  It’s your baby and you don’t want to let it go.  The thing is, sometimes in order for it to really grow, you need to let go of it.

The death of any great ministry can be a leader who won’t let go.  It’s just like a parent who won’t let go of their child once they’re out on their own.  God has put volunteers in your church specifically so you can let go.  I appreciate being able to serve under a children’s pastor like Ryan, who’s willing to let go of these projects when he can.  For instance, a good portion of our VBS planning has been handed off to one of our best volunteers, Carol, for several years now.  There was an opportunity to let go, and he took it.  It’s helped both Ryan and our VBS in the long run having someone with the resources necessary to really invest in the ministry.  He recognized that a volunteer was put in his path to be a great resource for him.

So what this summer could you hand off to one of your “resources?”  Look at the things you refuse to let go of, but could really use someone else to tend to them who has the time and know-how.  Use the amazing volunteers God has blessed you with to their fullest!  It is called “summer break” after all.

OK, so it doesn’t even have to be VBS.  It could be camp, craft fairs, sports events, or just about whatever you do during the summer.  I’ve got a unique perspective on this, because I’m still a volunteer!  So what are a couple of ways you can keep your summer volunteers vivacious?

1. Ask for the right volunteers.
   I know you’ve probably heard this a kajillion times, but don’t beg for volunteers.  Instead, start your summer volunteer search with an intimate time with God, asking Him to provide the volunteers you need.  I love the way the Message puts this passage from Matthew 9: “So confused and aimless they were, like sheep with no shepherd. “What a huge harvest!” he said to his disciples. ‘How few workers! On your knees and pray for harvest hands!’”  When you involve God from the very beginning, things change.  He’ll bring the volunteers you need.  That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t ask for volunteers.  Just involve God.
2. Remind them that what they’re doing is important.
   Something that has always helped me as a volunteer to keep from being burnt out is remembering how important what I’m doing is.  I’m helping to show children that a really cool, amazing God loves them and has a plan for them.  I’m helping their families grow together.  I’m helping the children’s pastor to not lose his/her mind.  (Most of the time.)  Make sure your volunteers aren’t serving out of obligation, but because their actions matter.  It may just be one or two weeks a summer, but their volunteering still matters.  It’ll make all the difference in keeping them interested.
3. Treat them well.
   Even though I’m a volunteer, I still enjoy treating the other volunteers.  Every summer, I try to bring homemade cookies and coffee (good stuff, not the Sam’s Club brand junk) to share with the other volunteers at our events.  It’s always appreciated.  (Or so they tell me.)  Care for your volunteers.  You’re not the queen of a beehive in charge of hundreds of worker bees who are in charge of the children.  You’re in charge of people.  Treat them right!  They’ll respect you more, and they’ll have a better attitude too.  I speak from experience, amigos.

How do you keep your volunteers around?  How do you get them?  Let us know in the comments!

Same action brings same results… I’ve found out these past 53 years on the earth you can’t keep doing things the same way you have always done them and get different results. For the last 12+ years I have been teaching a monthly audio leadership lesson that I call the children’s ministers leadership club or theClub for short. Every workshop, book chapter, magazine article and blog post I do has come from a club lesson. TheClub has been a blessing to me and the lifeblood of income and support for JWM. They have also blessed a lot of leaders. In January I made the Young Guns Program available to CM Leaders under 30 so they could get theClub lessons free. I’ve had a great response. But I feel led to do something crazy over the next 3 months I’m going to give my June, July, and August club lessons away free to anyone of any age who signs up for my newsletter on jimwideman.com. Call me crazy, call me generous, call me a nice middle age gentleman who looks a little like the guy on the chicken bucket. Hurry and sign up before June 15th so you won’t miss a single lesson. I’m excited to see the growth that will happen when you dare to expand how you think about leadership.

Now…”that’s the way I see it!”

You. You know who you are. The person who sits in coach class and puts your seat allllllll the way back. Hence, the person behind you sits cramped and uncomfortable while you lay in comfort. Yep, you’re a layer-backer.

No one likes the person who puts their seat back like that. Unfortunately, I spent three hours on a plane from Dallas to San Diego this week with a person like that in front of me. That person was more concerned with his comfort than the comfort of those around him.

If, in all your days of reading this blog you haven’t noticed that I like to use random things to make ministry analogies, this is going to be one of those posts. So what does it have to do with children’s ministry? Simple. Many times we, as humans, choose to ignore the comfort of others in favor of what makes us feel better. We come up with this “cool” idea that we are totally sold out to, but our volunteers aren’t. We just insist on pushing through with it, because we’re convinced it’s what we need to do. In the process, we totally alienate all of those around us and end up trying to run our ministries all by ourselves.

Sometimes you just need to take a step back. Let go of your emotional attachment to something and simply look at it through the eyes of another person. There may be this sudden realization that what you are convinced is good, is not really that good.

That’s not to say that you should ignore God’s will for the favor of man. That’s also a dangerous place to be. If you are sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt that what you are doing is right, do it. God will help you with that.

Let people know you really care about what they have to say. Accept input from others. It’ll really help for you to communicate with those you serve and that help you to serve.

16. Care enough to confront. I realized as a parent I confront my kids because I love them, so if I love my volunteers I’ll confront them when their actions need to change or improve. Confront in kindness always.

17. Ask for ideas and opinions when appropriate. You can give out solutions all by yourself or involve others in the solution process. It’s still your decision but volunteers stay put when they are listened to.

18. Promote and entrust. Turn over more to those with ability. People stay put when you recognize their abilities. Continue reading ‘Volunteers that stick…part 6′

11. Set goals for growth. Don’t allow people or ministries to stay stagnant or stuck. Help volunteers come up with goals to improve and grow. If you aim at nothing, you’ll hit it every time. Goals are a good thing but you’ll never know where you are toward reaching them without constant evaluation. Evaluation is usually the missing link and should go hand in hand with goal setting.

12. Communicate on a regular basis. No relationship can exist without communication. Communicate with more than meetings. Use every method possible. Let your workers know what they need to know to excel and they will. Continue reading ‘Volunteers that stick…part 5′

6. Invest your time in others. The time you spend in others is never wasted. You cannot develop leaders without investing your time in them. Discipleship is taking someone who is Christ like in an area and let their Christ-likeness rub off on others.

7. Believe in them. Give them a chance to do ministry. Let them learn by doing. But Jim, they’re not as good as me, there was a day you were not as good as you but you learned by doing, now it’s time to return the favor.

8 Encourage others. Everyone I know could use a little encouragement. They not only respond well to it but they flourish. Here’s a great habit to develop, catch people doing things right! In fact have your key staff write three thank you notes each week this practice will change your ministry.

9. Be a coach. Coaches motivate, they teach, make corrections, they maintain team spirit, and they point their team to the next level both corporately and individually. Even the greatest athletes in the world have a coach.

10. Ask for commitment. The greater the commitment the sweeter the victory. Every time I’ve asked volunteers for a greater commitment those who rallied and said yes were the best volunteers I ever had. Rotating workers might be a quick fix but it doesn’t produce long time volunteers.