STEVEN KNIGHT

RECRUITHOW TO FIND VOLUNTEERS FOR MINISTRY

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Table of Contents

Introduction: Why We Need to Banish Volunteers…………………………………….2 Section I: Get Ready

Chapter 1: How to Cast Vision……………………………………………….…………6

Chapter 2: How to Identify New Leaders……………………………………….10

Chapter 3: How to Motivate Potential Leaders………………………………16

Chapter 4: How to Prepare to Recruit Leaders………………………………20 Section II: Time to Recruit

Chapter 5: Successful Strategies for Recruiting Leaders……………….25

Chapter 6: How to Assess New Leaders………………………………………….30 Conclusion: Moving Forward…………………………………………………………………….32 About the Author…………………………………………………………………………………….33

More Resources from Steven Knight………………………………………………………34

Copyright © 2018 by Steven Knight

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Introduction: Why We Need to Banish Volunteers

One of the most exciting parts of ministry is volunteer recruitment. Can you relate? Thousands and thousands of ministry leaders wake up every morning and think “I can’t wait to recruit more people for my ministry!” Ok, well, maybe that’s not quite the case for everyone, unfortunately. But why is that? Many ministry leaders don’t like recruiting volunteers because…

1. It’s difficult 2. They hear the word “no” a lot 3. They don’t know where to look for new people 4. They don’t know who to ask to serve 5. They start to lose friends because the friends are nervous about

being recruited, especially for last-minute needs I’m sure there are many other reasons why ministry leaders are hesitant to embrace volunteer recruitment and enjoy the recruiting process. However, this shouldn’t be the case. Why? Volunteer recruitment should be… Fun. Exciting. Life-giving. An incredible opportunity to invest in others. Interested in learning more? I hope so. If volunteer recruitment sounds negative to you, then let’s take a moment to put things in perspective. You’re a ministry leader. What should ministry leaders do? Now, for some of you, you might be called to be a “hands-on leader.” Just get the job done yourself. I’m sure there’s a time and place for

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that, but with a growing church, that won’t last long if you’re doing your job right. Wait, what does it even look like, to do the job right when it comes to volunteer recruitment? Take a look at Ephesians 4. Notice in vs 11-16 that Paul is referring to church leaders and their responsibility to “equip the saints.” So, in your role as a ministry leader, equipping the saints means building up and empowering volunteers for ministry. Before you get to that point… you have to recruit the volunteers first! That’s exactly what this book is about – finding quality volunteers for your ministry. But before we talk about that, I need to share with you something that might scare you. It might be one of the most terrifying things you’ve ever heard in ministry. You might not believe it at first, but if we want to build great ministry teams, then… We need to banish our volunteers. ALL of them. Why in the world would we do that? I’ll tell you why. Churches need people who take ownership of their ministry roles. Yes, they are serving on a volunteer basis, but the term “volunteer” makes it sound like they are just giving some of their free time to help us out. You know, the church people. The staff. The ones who always need help. There was a time when the term “volunteer” had a positive connotation. In some contexts, and within certain groups, it still does. But, increasingly, it has become a way to designate those who help the ones who are really doing ministry. The ministry leaders. The pastors, the ministers, and the directors. If you’re on a church staff, insert your title here. If we look at Scripture, however, we don’t see that definition anywhere. In fact, when Paul describes the Church in 1 Corinthians 12, he points

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out the many different parts of the body and how Christians are each gifted in unique ways to serve the body. This changes everything. We should no longer be looking for volunteers to help us out every once in a while. Unfortunately, among many of the people in our church, that’s what the word “volunteer” now means. Helping out occasionally. Taking on something small in addition to the important things they already do on a weekly basis. So, what should we do now? Instead of looking for volunteers… We should be looking for “leaders” who will step up, use their gifts, and serve the body of Christ. Leaders who will disciple others. Leaders who will share the gospel with others. Leaders who are committed to furthering the mission of the Church by becoming heavily involved in serving in their local church. When you ask someone to be a “leader,” there is no doubt that they are being given a responsibility to lead in a specific area. They are being relied upon for their specific role. That’s why we need leaders, not volunteers, in the 21st century. These leaders will even make a few sacrifices along the way for the sake of the Church. This could play out in a number of different ways in the lives of your leaders. Maybe they would change their weekly schedule to accommodate more ministry. Or, maybe they would do something even more drastic as they seek to further the mission of the Church as described in Matthew 28.

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I want these leaders on my team. Hopefully, we want these leaders on all of our ministry teams. Do you want these leaders in your ministry and in your church? Hopefully, you are a ministry leader that wants to see these leaders thrive and the people in their ministry grow significantly as a result. So, yes, we should banish our volunteers. But, in the end, it will be worth it. Every time I’ve done this or encouraged others to do the same, we’ve gained an incredible team of leaders who really take ownership of what they do. It’s time to find leaders for your ministry.

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Chapter 1: How to Cast Vision

Casting vision is an essential component of recruiting leaders for ministry. Here are a few scenarios that help explain why casting vision is so important. Scenario #1 – Kids Ministry Imagine yourself in a room full of kids. The kids are completely full of energy. A few of the kids haven’t stopped moving since they arrived, so you’ve only seen a small blur where you think their face should be. You’re nervous to see what happens next – will a fight break out? Will the kids hate you? Are they preparing to stage a rebellion and fight their way to the main service in the worship center? You probably don’t think this way about kids ministry. But, the people you are recruiting for kids ministry might. If they’ve never served in kids ministry before, then it’s like there is a large curtain dividing them and the kids ministry, and they have NO IDEA what is behind that curtain. There’s lots of noise coming out! It sounds like kids, but no one can be sure, right? Scenario #2 – College Ministry Will there be any food left at all? The thought sends shivers down your spine. Your family typically stocks up food well, and money isn’t tight right now, but you’ve just been asked to host a college small group gathering once a week. College students just want a bunch of free food, right? Plus, they never pick up after themselves, so between your toddlers and these college students, the house will become a disaster zone that will take days to decontaminate.

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The people you are recruiting for hosting a college ministry small group might be having some thoughts like this. They can’t imagine life behind the curtain, other than what their preconceived notions are from watching the news reports about college students spending their spring breaks on the beaches and partying non-stop. Pull Back the Curtain As a ministry leader, it’s your responsibility to “pull back the curtain.” Give potential leaders the opportunity to better understand the potential expectations for them and what type of impact that they can have in your ministry area. Then you “pull back the curtain,” you remove the uncertainty behind what serving in a ministry area could look like. Once the uncertainty has been removed, then people can more clearly identify if they would be a good fit in that ministry area. Do you want to “pull back the curtain?” If so, then you need to become an expert at casting vision. If you’re a little rusty on your vision casting skills, or if you’re just plain in need of some training, let’s start by covering a few of the basics. Tip #1: Invite People to Join the Team People like to be a part of something bigger than themselves. In fact, they were created by God that way – as a small part of His amazing creation, the universe. When you are preparing to cast vision, think about how you can invite people to join a team working towards a common goal. It can be inspiring to work alongside people who are passionate about their mission. Paint that picture for them. Invite them to join a team and

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make an impact. Think about 1 Corinthians 12 and Paul’s illustration of the body with many parts – ultimately, we, the Church, are always better together. Cast that vision and invite people to join the team. Tip #2: Use Plural Pronouns When you cast vision, you need to carefully consider what words you use. Some words have a much more powerful impact than others. Notice the difference here: Singular pronouns • “I want us to make disciples…” • “My vision for this ministry…” • “Help me”

Plural pronouns: • “We want to make disciples…” • “Our vision for this ministry…” • “Help our team”

Too many ministry leaders make the mistake of using singular pronouns. In a way, their vision casting almost sounds selfish. Why would I want to volunteer, just to help reduce your workload? I’m much more inclined to help if my efforts help a team or a ministry, not just one person. Also, while I probably won’t get as excited about one person’s vision, I’m much more likely to get excited about a church’s vision or a team’s vision. Again, people want to be a part of something bigger than just one person.

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Tip #3: Highlight the Impact I can’t stress this point enough. When casting vision, you need to highlight the impact. This isn’t the time to share your war stories of difficult times in this ministry area. It’s time to inspire people with great stories and to point out the impact that they might be able to have in this ministry. People want to know that they can make a difference. It’s up to you to show them the potential life-changing impact that they could have. Tip #4: Practice Sharing the Vision Close your office door. Find a quiet place in the church. Maybe find a mirror to use to watch yourself. Regardless of where you do it, find a private place to practice sharing your vision. If you’re unsure what to say, set aside some time and write it all out. Record yourself sharing the vision, then evaluate yourself and look for ways to improve your presentation. Ultimately, you want to be able to share your ministry’s vision in 30-60 seconds. Think of it as an elevator pitch. You only have someone’s attention for a short time. Make the most of it and inspire them to join your ministry team. Once you’ve practiced enough, then go out and cast vision to people.

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Chapter 2: How to Identify New Leaders We need more leaders! You know there are more people out there who have a pulse and can (probably) serve in some capacity – you can see them filling the worship center every Sunday. But, no matter how hard you try, you can’t get any more people to serve in your ministry. Frustrating, right? The problem, actually, might be with us. Think about it for a moment. It’s kind of like you are in a back room screaming “I need more people!” Except no one hears you. Not a single person. Why? Because if we’re not careful, we default into asking the same people to serve. We don’t ask for referrals. We don’t recruit through our team. We don’t talk to people in-person. Eventually, we keep repeating the need to our family and close friends, but never share the need with anyone else. Does that sound like you? I know I’ve been guilty of this before. It’s like we are standing in the back room, screaming “I need more people!” Except no one hears you. But, on the other side of the door, there’s a large group of people, just waiting to be asked to do something. To lead. To serve. To make an eternal difference in the lives of others. It’s time to bust open that door and let the new leaders in. Are you ready to find new leaders for your ministry? Before you go out and start recruiting, here are a few tips for how to identify potential leaders and how to approach recruiting them:

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The Personal Touch Think for a moment. What was the best invitation that you ever received? Did someone talk to you directly? Did they complement you or encourage you? What did they say? Most of us have experienced a strong “ask.” When it comes to asking people to join your ministry team, always be thinking about how you can make your “ask” more powerful through the personal touch. To do this effectively, we need some ground rules. Never recruit individuals through email. Rarely (if ever) recruit over the phone. Too many ministry leaders hide behind their computers and make big asks. If you want to effectively recruit new leaders and motivate people to serve in a ministry, then build up the courage to talk with them in-person. Over time, these in-person conversations will become more natural to you. Pour your heart into these conversations. Share the vision for the ministry. Personal touch will greatly increase the number of leaders who sign up to serve on your team. The Power of the Ask As a ministry leader, you need to gain a mastery of “the ask.” A good “ask” will be a confident invitation to serve in a ministry. It will challenge someone to use their gifts to make a difference for the kingdom.

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Let’s compare a few examples: Bad example #1: “Hey, we need help in our kids ministry. Can you just show up once a month and sit in a classroom?” Good example #1: “Hey, we have several weekly serving opportunities in our kids ministry classroom. You connect so well with kids and are so friendly and kind towards others. I think you would be a great fit for our kids ministry team. Would you prayerfully consider serving in a kids ministry classroom as a small group leader? Bad example #2: “Hey, so uh, I know you’re pretty busy and have a lot going on. But, I was wondering if you could serve on our hospitality team once a month. I know you have a lot going on, so it’s totally ok if you can’t. I can ask Joey too if you can’t.” Good example #2: “Hey, we have an exciting serving opportunity on our hospitality team and I think that you would be a great fit for the team, because you are such a warm and welcoming person. Could we grab coffee this week and talk further about this serving opportunity?” See what a difference there is between these examples? A strong “ask” is a main reason many people signed up to serve in ministry in the first place. Make a strong “ask” and let people decide by themselves if they are interested in serving on your ministry team. Don’t make excuses for them – encourage them and cast vision for the serving opportunity, then let them have time to pray and consider the opportunity. The Reach of the Team Most likely, your family and friends already know about your ministry serving opportunities (read: open holes that desperately need to be

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filled). Who else knows? Hopefully your team knows. The funny thing is, most people don’t become recruiters unless you ask them to. So, while your team might understand that you need more leaders to start serving ASAP, they won’t go out and recruit unless you ask them to. Your team is your best recruiting tool. Your team knows more people combined than you ever will. Your team also has stronger relationships than you with many people in your church. They can use those relationships to encourage others to begin serving. The best part is, hopefully, your team already loves serving in your ministry. Assuming that’s the case, asking them to recruit more leaders won’t be hard at all. You just need to help them learn how to encourage others and cast the vision to them. Once you’ve mastered how to cast vision, then start passing it on to your team. You’ll find that their ability to cast the vision with excellence and inspire people to serve can potentially multiply the size of your team. The Need for Awareness People don’t know what they don’t know. It sounds silly, right? It’s not. One of our main responsibilities as ministry leaders is to communicate the needs of our ministry to the church. If people don’t know that there are needs, then how are they supposed to respond? Be careful to not make assumptions here. Just because you sent one recruitment email doesn’t mean that everyone read it. Or, maybe you even did a Sunday announcement during the worship service. Great job! Just don’t forget, everyone who missed going to church that Sunday still has no idea that you have ministry needs.

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Let’s say that you have worked hard and communicated the needs to everyone in the church. That’s a great start, but your work is not yet done. Why? The average person needs to hear a message a number of times before they will take action. Think about commercials for a moment. Why do these large companies pay for so many ads? If the ads were effective the first time they were played, you would buy the products and they would never have to advertise again. But they keep advertising repeatedly because they need to convince you to take action. I can’t tell you how many people I’ve talked to who are now faithfully serving in ministry, but it took a lot of “asks” in order to get them on the team. I once talked with a woman who was passionate about working with kids. She had extensive childcare ministry experience too. She wanted to serve somewhere in the church. But, it still took three different invites to get her to join the kids ministry team. Why did it take three times? Because it took three times for her to be motivated to respond and step up. She wasn’t sitting around thinking about it. She forgot about it twice. She need some encouragement and several reminders to take action. After the third “ask,” she finally reached out and decided to join the team. Some people also wait to be asked personally. You could send them 20 emails in order to raise awareness (I don’t recommend this), but they might respond right away when you make “the ask” to them in-person.

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Raising awareness through other avenues can help prepare them for being recruited in-person as well. Take the time to raise the awareness and your recruiting efforts will begin to become much more effective. The Motivation of a Powerful Vision Nothing encourages people to join a ministry team more than to be motivated by a powerful vision. To be a part of something bigger than themselves. To join a team and make a significant difference in the world. A powerful vision can lead people to do amazing things for God. You have a powerful vision to share. Use it to multiply the leaders on your team and make a significant impact in the lives of the people you lead. Identify the New Leaders Using the different methods described above, you can greatly increase your ability to identify new leaders for your ministry. With a little practice and increased effort, you can greatly improve as a ministry recruiter and begin to find more people to join your ministry team.

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Chapter 3: How to Motivate Potential Leaders I’ve recruited countless leaders for ministry. Inevitably, during the recruiting process, you’ll find some people who are interested in serving but they have some reservations. Their excuses might sound like this: • “I’m too busy” • “I’m too old” • “I’m too young” • “I’m too inexperienced”

Have you heard any of those phrases before? I have. I don’t believe that any of them are legitimate. Here’s why: “I’m too busy” Most people consider themselves to be busy people. But when it comes to serving in ministry, busyness isn’t holding them back. Their priorities are. For some people, it might take a serious look at their calendar for them to begin determining a way to realign their calendar with their priorities. If we aren’t careful, our lives will often get filled up with things that are important but are not as important as our main priorities as followers of Christ. We have to carefully weigh our priorities then adjust our schedules accordingly. If we don’t, then we’ll just live our lives like everyone else around us does – and chances are, your non-Christian friends most likely aren’t prioritizing church involvement.

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“I’m too old” I’m pretty sure the apostle Paul would disagree with this statement (see 2 Timothy 4). You’re never too old to serve in ministry. You may need to selectively serve where you are physically capable of serving, but there is always a place for everyone to use their gifts in ministry. “I’m too young” Sometimes we make excuses for kids and teenagers, that they are just too young to truly serve the church. There is no age requirement to serve in ministry. I’ve seen 4-year olds sharing the gospel with kids in the nursery. I’ve seen teenagers leading massive church-wide events that reach hundreds of people. If this idea seems foreign to you, visit some other churches and see how they involve teenagers and kids in their ministries. “I’m too inexperienced” This excuse is easy to refute. At some point, we all did something for the first time in ministry. For many roles in the church, no experience is required. Look for people who are F.A.T. (faithful, available, teachable) and spend time investing in them and their leadership growth. If You Hear an Excuse So, you’ve got the picture. But, what should you say if you hear one of these excuses? If someone comes to you with one of these four excuses, the best response is to share personal stories of how people have stepped up and served. Brag on them. If you don’t have personal stories, find stories about other people who have stepped up in the past. Chances are your church wouldn’t exist except for people who consistently stepped up and served faithfully.

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Lift these leaders up as examples and inspire potential leaders to follow their examples. The best-case scenario is that your potential leaders will consistently figure out a way to begin serving in your ministry. This happens every day with thousands of people around the globe. It’s truly amazing to think about how many people are stepping up and serving in the global Church every single day. The worst-case scenario is that people have a legitimate reason for not serving, or maybe they are not spiritually mature enough yet to step up. That’s ok – just because they said “no” now doesn’t mean that they’ll continue to say “no” down the road. We’ll come back to them at a later time and recruit them again. Inspire and Motivate People often need to be inspired and motivated to serve. How can ministry leaders do this with excellence? Start with stories. Stories are powerful and have a way of inspiring us to do something bigger and better than we’ve ever done before. When we see what other people have done and they impact they have made, then we begin to envision what it would be like to do the same thing ourselves. If you need more stories, spend time with your current leaders and ask them for stories of life change. Share the testimonies. If you know people whose lives have been personally changed through your ministry, then find these people and encourage them to share their testimonies. Perhaps you can even provide a way for people to share their testimonies with the church and encourage large groups of people to consider getting involved in ministry.

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“The ask.” People are inspired and motivated when you make a good strong “ask” for them to get involved in your ministry. When making the ask, use encouragement. If you don’t know the person well, find someone else who knows them better and ask what their gifts are. Then, encourage that person by saying something like: “Hey Joe, I heard from a few other people that you are a very friendly person and great at asking good questions. I’d love to talk to you about becoming a small group leader.” When making “the ask,” use discernment. What could be this person’s best fit in your ministry? You don’t want to just find people with a pulse and throw them in. Discover their gifts and help identify the best place for them to start serving. There’s need to be an asterisk for making “the ask” to high-level leaders that aren’t serving in a ministry yet. These people often have worked hard and achieved great success outside of the church. When approaching them with a serving opportunity, don’t downplay their commitment level. Often, high-level leaders want to be heavily involved in everything they do – it’s a part of their wiring. Make a strong ask and invite them to become a significant part of your ministry. Most likely, you’ll find their responses to be very encouraging. Motivating Potential Leaders With time, you’ll get a better feel for the common excuses people share about why they aren’t serving in ministry. Hopefully, you will also get the opportunity to share with them about how they can make an impact in your ministry, and perhaps they will be moved to consider serving on your ministry team.

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Chapter 4: How to Prepare to Recruit Leaders In the next chapter, we’ll take a look at successful strategies for recruiting leaders. Before you start recruiting, however, it’s essential that you are prepared to recruit and that your ministry is ready for more leaders. List of Serving Opportunities Start by writing out a list of serving opportunities. Dream big. If you could fill any positions you wanted in the next 3-5 years with the perfect leaders, what would those positions be? Write them out. When I practice this exercise, I try to set aside time to get away and think about this list. Try going to your local coffee shop or the park. If you need a whiteboard, find one and go to a different room in your church. Get yourself out of your normal work areas and try to use the new environment to help spur creativity as you brainstorm these serving opportunities in your ministry area. Next, select the roles that you believe are important to recruit in the next year. Pick the essential ones to help lead your ministry to the next stage of growth. These positions will probably include your most urgent needs and a few serving opportunities that will help begin to implement more leadership roles in your team. If you’re not sure how to begin approaching the process of creating leadership roles in your team, run an internet search for the phrase “leadership pipeline in the church” to learn more about how to get started.

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Position Profiles Once you have nailed down what serving opportunities you want to find leaders for in the next year, then take time to create a position profile for each one. These position profiles are essentially job descriptions for non-paid leaders in the church. For the position profiles, make sure the expectations are clear. Include elements like: • Purpose of Position – how does this position fit within the mission

and vision of the church? • Number of Hours Per Week – how many hours are expected from

this position? How often would they serve? (ex: twice a week, weekly, every other week, etc)

• Reports To – who will oversee them? • Oversees – will they oversee anyone themselves? • Relates Closely With – who will they work alongside? • Primary Responsibilities – what are the key aspects of their

position? • Character – what character qualities are you looking for in a

leader who is serving in this position? • Skills – what skills should a person have in this position?

Once you’ve created the position profiles, consider how you can prepare to cast vision for these positions and the impact that they can have in your church.

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Assessment Time Before you start recruiting more leaders, consider the health of your ministry. Here are a few questions to get you started: • Is your ministry at a healthy place? • Are ministries in your church working collaboratively or

competing? • Do people have opportunities to grow spiritually, in addition to

having opportunities to serve? • How often are you asking people to serve? • Which serving opportunities are relational? • Which serving opportunities are behind the scenes? • Are your current leaders making it to a church service regularly?

Make It Irresistible Is your ministry area attractive to others? While it certainly won’t attract everyone, you want your ministry team to be a place where people want to be. If your team enjoys what they do and who they do it with, then you’ve taken some huge steps towards making your ministry team irresistible. What would make a ministry team irresistible? Think about what your leaders want. They want…

1. To serve: They want to roll up their sleeves and get to work. They don’t show up to be underutilized – they’re ready to go.

2. To connect: Your leaders want to connect with the people that

they are serving. For relational serving opportunities, this is extremely important. Sometimes we schedule everything in a way

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that leaders cannot actually connect with the people that they are serving. Find ways to encourage these connections.

3. To enjoy their role: Leaders want to enjoy what they do. If the

serving opportunity is a good fit for them and they love who they are working with and serving, then they will most likely find enjoyment in their role.

4. To be in community: Your leaders want to be in community with

one another. If they don’t have time to connect with other leaders, try to find ways or create events that provide avenues for them to connect with one another and be in community with one another. Just by serving on the same team, they will already have something in common!

5. To make an impact: People like to make an impact with the work

they do. They like making a difference. Create serving opportunities that allow people to make an impact, then regularly highlight “the win’s” in your ministry that show what an impact your ministry team is making.

6. To be appreciated: Your leaders want to be appreciated. Verbal

encouragement and recognition goes a long way, both through giving praise to them individually and in group settings. If your ministry budget allows for it, consider giving annual thank-you gifts as well. Written thank you notes are also a powerful way to show appreciation.

Creating End Dates As you consider ways to make your ministry more irresistible, consider creating serving opportunities with end dates on them. That way, people can sign up for shorter periods of time (3 months, 9 months,

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1 year, etc) then re-up their commitment or move to another area that they are more passionate about. This also ensures that you have leaders on your team who love what they do and aren’t begrudgingly doing it because they don’t see a way out. Prepare Well With prayer and a little hard work, you can prepare well to recruit leaders for your ministry team.

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Chapter 5: Successful Strategies for Recruiting Leaders Are you ready? It’s time to start recruiting new leaders! If you’re not sure where to start, or if you’re looking for new recruitment ideas, then take a look at these tried-and-true successful strategies for recruiting leaders. Make the Individual Ask As the ministry leader, you are responsible to lead the charge and make “the ask” to potential new leaders on an ongoing basis. If this isn’t a part of your DNA yet, or if asking people to serve is something you’re terrified by, then take time to practice making “the ask.” Practice on your friends and family. Ask other staff members to evaluate your “ask.” Then, once you’re ready, start connecting with people. Over time, making “the ask” to individuals will slowly become a part of your DNA as a ministry leader. Comfortability with “the ask” will come with time, practice, and intentionality. Make the Group Ask Most people need to hear “the ask” multiple times before they start serving. If you can vary how they hear about serving opportunities, then you’ll find that your success rate will go up over time. Here are a few strategies to try out for the group ask: Email: Consider writing an email to your ministry to share about your serving opportunities. Include a short posting in your church’s weekly email blast with several serving opportunities, a 1-2 sentence

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description for the serving opportunity, and an email address for the ministry staff they can connect with if interested. Worship Services: Imagine if, a few times each year, the different ministries in the church had an opportunity to highlight testimonies of people who have been impacted by the ministries. Imagine if some of the most faithful leaders in your ministries could share about what it has been like to serve in their ministry roles. Stories like these can inspire people and motivate them to begin serving in their area of gifting. Then, after these stories are shared, provide a list or a summary of the serving opportunities in the church along with a way for them to connect with the ministry staff responsible for each area. Ministry Areas: Depending on your serving opportunities, you can sometimes target specific ministries and recruit leaders from those ministries. For example, you could reach out to the men’s ministry, women’s ministry, and senior adults ministry individually in order to recruit leaders from those ministries, assuming they have a number of people who aren’t serving in the church yet. The Team Ask Are you the only person recruiting for your ministry? I hope not – that can be difficult, and unless you work in a small church setting, there’s no way that you’ll know everyone in your church and be able to connect with all of them. Your current team of leaders, if they are enjoying their roles, can be the most effective recruiting method you have. Teach them how to make the ask then encourage them to recruit other leaders for you! Check in with them occasionally and see if they know of anyone who might be interested in serving in that ministry. You might be surprised

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to find that your best leaders will be some of your best recruiters as well! Create Opportunities for a First Experience It doesn’t matter how well you prepare. It doesn’t matter how many times you’ve communicated your serving opportunities to the church. Regardless of how hard you try, there will still be people who are fearful of taking the step to serve in a ministry. They are scared. They don’t want to commit to anything. They can’t see behind the curtain yet, so they are afraid to get involved in something that they don’t fully understand. That’s why it’s important for every ministry to create opportunities for a first experience. Think about your ministry calendar throughout the year. Do you have any special events planned? These special events are great opportunities to create first experiences for people to see what a ministry is like. Invite people to experience a ministry and serve once. When they experience an exciting part of the ministry, spend some time talking about it. Observe them while they are serving for the first time. After they serve once, ask for their feedback. What do they think about the ministry? Share a story or two with them about life change that takes place here. Once you’ve done that, stop. Don’t ask them for help. Resist the urge. They’re not ready yet. Instead, invite them to help with a second experience.

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It’s kind of like dating. After a first date, no one is ready to commit. Did they say “yes” to the second date? If so, things are looking good. During their second experience, observe them again. After they are done serving a second time, that’s the perfect time to ask for their help. By this time, they have a good idea of the ministry they would be getting involved in. They’ve had a taste – now present your need. People like to be asked to help. Cast vision. Encourage them. Point out why you think they would be a great fit for a specific role, then share with them about that role. Don’t minimize the commitment, but take the time to highlight the impact that they could make. If they say “yes,” then great! It’s time to train them and prepare them for their role. If they say “no,” then remember, “no” doesn’t always mean “no.” It might mean “not yet.” It rarely means “never.” If life is too busy for them, find out when life will slow down a little more. Try to discern if you can make “the ask” again at a later time, such as 3 months, 6 months, 1 year, 2 years, etc. Then, write that down and set a reminder for yourself to reach back out to them at that time. When trying out this “first experience” method, don’t forget that most ministries will require a background check and possibly an interview before someone can get involved in a ministry, even for a first experience. It’s always a smart decision to take the necessary steps first, even when it might seem inconvenient, to verify a person’s eligibility for serving in a ministry.

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Use These Strategies By using these different strategies over time, you will be able to find more leaders for your ministry who are gifted and passionate about your specific area.

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Chapter 6: How to Assess New Leaders Success! You’ve started to find new leaders who are interested in serving in your ministry. What should you do now? Celebrate Together Take a few moments to praise God and celebrate with your team. God is faithful! It is exciting to see how He is at work in the lives of the people in your church, motivating them towards serving in your church. Get to Know Them Set up a time to get to know each potential new leader. Get to know them personally. Ask them to share their story and their testimony. Try to identify what their strengths are. Once you’ve interviewed them, asked them questions, and learned about them, briefly share about yourself and your role, then begin to cast vision for this serving opportunity and your ministry. Throughout this conversation, if you haven’t already, try to discern what this person’s best fit might be in your ministry. Do Your Research After your interview with them, try to see what else you can find out about them. Depending on the serving opportunity, you may want to consider asking for 2-3 references for them. If they are considering a role with a high relational impact on others, references can be very

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important as a way to determine their fit with your team and their capability to serve in that role. Consider asking other staff members what they think about this potential new leader. Maybe ask their small group leader if they are involved in a small group. For most ministry positions, you will want to run a background check on everyone before they start serving. I highly recommend background checks for anyone who would be working with minors, who would be in a high-level leadership position, or who would have oversight of a significant responsibility (ex: someone who is counting the weekly offering). It’s Worth the Time Take a few moments to get to know your potential new leaders. Assess them and determine the right fit for them. In the long run, it will be worth it to make sure you know your team and have them plugged into the right ministry role that fits their gifting and passion.

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Conclusion: Moving Forward

Finding and recruiting new leaders for ministry takes time and intentionality. At the end of the day, it’s the responsibility of ministry leaders in the church to recruit people and equip them to serve in a ministry role. Remember, practice makes perfect. You won’t be the world’s best ministry recruiter by next week. But, over time, recruiting new leaders will become a part of your ministry DNA. You’ll find true enjoyment in connecting with people, helping them find a ministry role, and seeing them thrive in it. That’s something to get excited about!

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About the Author

Steven Knight is the Family Life Pastor at Fellowship Bible Church in Waco, TX, and has over 13 years of ministry experience. Steven holds a ThM in Family Ministry from Dallas Theological Seminary and a BA in Children’s Ministry from Moody Bible Institute. He is a speaker and consultant in the areas of family ministries, leadership development, and church strategy.

Steven is the founder of KidminTools.com, which equips and empowers leaders in children’s and family ministry. He regularly contributes to Kidzmatter Magazine and has authored or contributed to five ministry books and several family devotionals.

Steven is married to his wife Katie, and they have two sons, Samuel and Joseph. Steven enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading books, playing guitar and basketball, and sipping a cup of quality coffee.

You can connect with Steven via:

• Social media – his username is @StevenKnight09 • Website – KidminTools.com • Email – steven@kidmintools.com

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More Resources from Steven Knight Author

Children’s Games from Around the World Children’s Games from around the world is full of creative game ideas that originate from different countries around the world. In addition to the game instructions, fun facts for each country are also included. Available from KidminTools.com Learn more

General Editor

Bright Ideas for Children’s Ministry: Volume 1 Bright Ideas is packed full of creative ideas from over 20 different Kidmin Experts that you can use immediately in your ministry. There are fantastic ideas for object lessons, missions, worship, crafts, teaching ideas, technology, games, and more. Available from Kidology.org Learn more

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Contributing Author:

Home Grown: How to Equip Parents for Spiritual Leadership Home Grown has many different chapters that provide plenty of practical ideas for how to equip parents in spiritual leadership. In my chapter of this book, I focus on practical ways that church leaders can equip parents for family discipleship throughout the week. Available from Kidmin Nation via Amazon Learn more

Pulse: Pumping Life into Your Kid’s Ministry Pulse has 35 Chapters from the best leaders in Kids Ministry. It’s a great resource that covers a variety of topics, and it’s written by a number of excellent authors. Sharpen your kidmin skills with this great resource. Available from Kidzmatter Publishing

Learn more