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10 Things Volunteers Need: A Guest Post
God created us to serve and grow within community, and no local church can run without volunteers—that is, members of the body playing their parts. Recruiting and retaining volunteers can be challenging, but it’s possible when people feel connected to the church and to a larger purpose, find value in what they are doing, and feel valued for doing it. Pray for God’s leading as you determine volunteer roles and seek people to fill them. Then, consider things from a volunteer’s perspective: what pulls in a volunteers and keeps him or her thriving? A volunteer needs… 1. A compelling why Are you mainly trying to fill a slot? Why should…
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Megachurch Myths
Denominations. Leadership structures. Worship styles. All are descriptors of local churches meant to help us categorize and identify what that particular church body believes and prioritizes. But size? Does knowing the size of a church really tell you what to expect from that church body? We all know the myths. In small churches everyone is on a first-name basis, the Sunday School teacher is also the janitor and choir director, and the fellowship around the casseroles and Crock-pots is where true community is formed. In megachurches you can expect the skinny jean-wearing worship leader to be a former guitarist for Chris Tomlin, enjoy watching the sermon on your iPad…
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Stay Encouraged…The Next Generation of Christians Needs You!
“…we face a generation of young people who no longer hold to what most evangelicals consider to be the true foundations of the Christian faith: belief in the deity of Christ, the reliability of Scripture, and the bodily resurrection of Jesus.” Josh McDowell and David H. Bellis, The Last Christian Generation (Holiday, FL: Green Key Books), 27. The preceding observation by Josh McDowell and David Bellis is sobering to say the least. The reality is that we are progressively living in a world where the basic tenants of the Christian faith are no longer believed, taught, or consistently championed. Relativism has taken root and has such a stronghold in our…
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Volunteers: The Next Generation
A group of teenage girls from the youth group want to serve in your church nursery. “We love babies.” One of them assures you “and we babysit all the time!” You want to honor their desire to serve, but how can you best implement it wisely? You need to establish (if they are not in place already) a policy and procedure with regards to teenage volunteers. Sit down with your church’s youth pastor and ask for his or her input on which teenagers are most gifted with children. You can then establish limits on how often they volunteer (to encourage them to attend the church service and to have balanced…
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G.R.O.W.ing Volunteers
Now you have volunteers. Great! So how do you keep and maintain them? How do you keep their passion for serving your children’s ministry burning? Make sure you are providing for the four inner needs of volunteers. Feed the volunteers’ needs. Most children’s pastors and nursery directors are incredibly attuned to the needs of their children and the needs of the children’s ministry staff; they may not always take time to consider the needs of the volunteers: Grace, Relationships, Ownership, and Worth or “GROW”. Grace: just as grace has been given to you and to the children in your ministry, grace has also been given to your volunteers. One way…
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How Do You Solve a Problem Like Volunteerism?
Many children’s ministries desire to improve on how they work with their volunteers—how to recruit them, how to retain them, how to train them, how to deal with discipline or personality issues as they arise. Recruitment is probably one of the most common dilemmas. Many churches struggle with having enough volunteers. Some have enticed adults from the church service, begging them to help out in this room or that, others have engaged in accepting more lax screening practices in their desperation, and others may choose to downplay or fail to address common problems in an effort to keep their volunteer numbers up. It can be hard to hear “get someone…
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What’s In The Package? Evaluating and Choosing the Right Curriculum
Several years ago I was on the Weight Watchers diet. During the weekly meetings the leaders would share tips and encouragement to help us tackle the challenging task of losing weight.
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How Well Do You Know…HIM?
How well do you know HIM? He is the resurrection and the reason we have hope of everlasting live. Jesus Christ died on the cross for the forgiveness of our sins and He said it is finished, but on the third day He rose again…Great News for all of mankind…Now He lives in heaven sitting at the right hand of God…As we approach Resurrection Sunday, I would like to encourage those of you who work with children to ask them the following questions…
