I stop reading American children's ministry blogs around August, as they are full of energy and excitement in recruiting volunteers, while I'm still spending more time calling subs every week for our non-existent summer team and praying for fall to come so we can go back to normal. September comes and I'm chasing people who didn't respond to voicemails, have my inbox full of "sorry I didn't reply to this email LAST month, but..." and am scrambling to put together teams for our children's ministry when it seems like everyone else passed this hurdle two months ago.
I sit around the table with my fellow children's ministers in my hometown of Winnipeg and wonder if my excuses are just that... excuses. Until one person sighs. And then another. One confesses they don't even start children's programming until mid-October. "There's no point," she says, "Everyone's at the lake until then."
Another is like me: the kids are back, but leaders are all still away (how does that happen?) They're dealing with 60 kids and 2 leaders... just for another week or two until the weather turns.
Another is harnessing the power of young adult students, who have to be back for the start of university... but had forgotten the fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants lifestyle that often accompanies that age group and is wondering if he's made a mistake.
In the end we realize: this is what ministry looks like in our setting. It's not that we are worse at children's ministry than our American brothers and sisters... it's that our culture is seasonally driven and we have to figure it out. So what happens when you're not off to a strong start? What does your church do to gain momentum, protect the kids and recruit volunteers? Here's some of what we came up with:
1. Target a volunteer audience.
Parents, young adults, teenagers, grandparents... rather than throwing out a "we need volunteers" missive, go after a certain demographic. You will get a better response and your team can grow as you reach out to a new group of people.2. Delay your start.
If you can't start strong in September, don't. Wait a month. It may not be intuitive, but it's better to have a strong start later on than limp through and not gain momentum at all.3. Enforce your child protection policy.
If your policy states that you need a 4:1 ratio, and you only have 2 leaders, you only take 8 kids and turn the 9th kid away. This is for the children's protection as well as for legal and insurance reasons. Don't fudge on this. If it causes outrage, that's okay - when people realize there is a real need for help (not just children's programs constant begging for more) they are more likely to respond.4. Simplify.
If you can't do it all, don't. Use video training for a season rather than a live storyteller. Use a one-room approach where two or three strong leaders can manage a larger group together. Ditch the craft. Figure out where you can cut corners - temporarily - and still deliver quality programming safely.5. Over-communicate.
The stereotypical volunteer campaign consists of an on-stage announcement and a bulletin insert. Ironically, people are LEAST likely to respond to these invitations over almost any other kind (email, phone call, personal conversation). Make it personal! Pick up the phone and call people. Stop people in church. Become brazen at asking. The number of people who are now serving in our children's minsitry who tell me they started now (instead of years ago) because "no one asked" drives me CRAZY! I ASK! I ASK ALL THE TIME!! But until they had a personal invitation, it was meaningless to them. So I make sure that I invite. A lot.Some of these our church already does - but I've never thought of targeting a demographic. And to be honest, we could use some grey hair in our children's ministry. I've got a grandma in mind as I type this. And I think I just might give her a call.
What do you do to help your children's ministry through a slow season?
