1. RECRUI T F OR T HE T E A M from Doug Fields
FOR STARTERS TRAINING on the GO
Why do you think volunteers The truth about your volunteer team is that the effectiveness of your ministry
is limited to its capacity to care for students. The more people praying, serving,
are valuable in your youth
and cheering your ministry on, the deeper it will be. While all this sounds great,
ministry? it’s not easy.
What role do you play in In order to have enough people to adequately care for students, everyone must
inviting other volunteer leaders get involved in recruiting for your volunteer team (which, by the way, is not the
sole responsibility of the lead youth worker). Everyone should be committed to
to serve in your ministry?
recruiting volunteers. The more people looking for potential leaders the better.
When you consider who would make a good volunteer, I would challenge you
IN T HE TRENCHE S to rethink your ideal candidate. A youth ministry tends to attract students
whom volunteers can care for. For instance, if my adult youth ministry team
One of my all-time favorite youth were filled with ex-athletes, chances are good that the majority of our students
ministry volunteers was a man by would be athletes. But because everyone needs Christ, your volunteer team
the name of Marv, who joined our should reflect what you want to attract. You want variety in your volunteers
volunteer youth ministry team in his to attract a variety of teenagers. Anyone who loves Jesus and students can be
early 70s. He didn’t fit the young a useful player on your team.
youth worker stereotype at all; he
was older than my students’ grand- In my opinion, it’s an unfair stereotype that the best youth leaders are young.
parents. He didn’t have musical Actually, many of the volunteers on my team have children who have already
skills, moved slowly, and was horri- graduated from college. Some of my best volunteers are grandparents
ble at dodgeball. But students loved because they have life experiences helpful for dealing with teenagers and
Marv; to them, he was a caring adult they have more time. They know how to work with parents, and they’ve had
who led them closer to Jesus. more experience with pain. While painful pasts may disqualify many from
When Marv passed away, the people ministry, I believe a painful past actually helps youth leaders. When I know a
who came to his funeral included student is experiencing pain, I want to connect the student with a volunteer
many former students who might who has been delivered and healed from a similar situation, and that is usu-
never have been drawn closer to ally an older adult. My point is that younger is not better. Better is better.
Jesus if we’d settled for the stereo-
At some point, you might assist your lead youth worker by asking people
typical youth volunteers. How can
within your church to join your volunteer team. Be ready and willing to
you help find your ministry’s Marv?
Or how are you the ministry’s Marv? invite some to check out serving in your ministry at any time. You might
be looking for people at a Bible study, a church service, or in line for coffee
after church. The thing to remember about “making the ask” is that every-
one you come in contact with is a potential youth ministry volunteer. When
potential volunteers are personally invited by a church peer (as opposed
to the professional—that is a paid minister), the chance for accepting the
invitation increases. God has the people within a church body to care for
the teenagers. They’re in your church, so you just have to find them. If that
last sentence surprises you, ask yourself who cares about your students
more: you or God? When God gives students to a ministry to care for, it’s
probably safe to assume that God has the caring adults to shepherd those
students. You just need to be willing to help find them.
Caution: When inviting people to join your volunteer team, be sure you’re
aware of the process of becoming a volunteer. You’ll want to tell them what
to do next when you find a person who expresses interest. Healthy churches
have a volunteer process in place to protect students from people with
impure motives. If you’re not sure whether your ministry has a volunteer
application process, ask your lead youth worker.
YOUTH LEADER TRAINING ON THE GO
