Mail Chimp is a great tool for tracking your mass emails to parents and volunteers. I am amazed that they offer so much for the free service. The free service allows you to store up to 500 email addresses (plenty for most churches) as well as send up to 3,000 emails per month. So if you had 500 addresses, you could send 6 mass emails per month free of charge. They also offer a 15% discount to non-profits.

I’m really looking forward to using this in a similar way that Jonathan Cliff does (only I believe he uses Constant Contact-a paid service). Jonathan sends out weekly update and leadership videos to his volunteers. He utilizes Vimeo for this. Mail Chimp will allow you to communicate things like this to your people as well as keep track of who actually has opened the email and who clicked on the links within it.

If you are looking for a good place for form templates, check out Free Church Forms. They have templates for all areas of church ministry. They are initially in PDF form, but the site suggests you go to PDF2Word Online to convert the files to a Word document.

If you only have a few events each year and you want to step up to online registration, you may want to try Sign-Up-Sheet. You could go the absolutely simple route of using a Google form, but Sign-Up-Sheet provides you will the opportunity to build a bit of a community around your event by incorporating details which come later and event discussion by those who register. Check it out, I think it can be a great small church tool!

I’m not big on pulpit pleas, but I do find a good deal of fruit in volunteer recruitment through a sweeping campaign each year. I do not just accept people on the spot (I’m big on interviewing, conducting personal asks, and placing according to passions and gifts). We use this campaign to educate the congregation about upcoming ministries and make sure new people know there is a great opportunity to serve kids. We allow people to show interest in a particular position and then follow up with them with applications, interviews, and orientations. Here’s what I am doing this year. I have packaged it in a generic fashion so that your church can use almost everything I will be using.

“Make a Difference” Recruitment Campaign

• 8.5 x 11 Logo
• 11 x 17 Logo (for wall posters)
• Adjustable Bulletin Insert
• Recruitment Video–Available here on Vimeo for download in HD MPEG (see below)

Scripture

Psalm 78:1-8 (English Standard Version)

Tell the Coming Generation

¹ Give ear, O my people, to my teaching;
incline your ears to the words of my mouth!
² I will open my mouth in a parable;
I will utter dark sayings from of old,
³things that we have heard and known,
that our fathers have told us.
⁴We will not hide them from their children,
but tell to the coming generation
the glorious deeds of the LORD, and his might,
and the wonders that he has done.

⁵He established a testimony in Jacob
and appointed a law in Israel,
which he commanded our fathers
to teach to their children,
⁶that the next generation might know them,
the children yet unborn,
and arise and tell them to their children,
⁷so that they should set their hope in God
and not forget the works of God,
but keep his commandments;
⁸and that they should not be like their fathers,
a stubborn and rebellious generation,
a generation whose heart was not steadfast,
whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Devotion

For this to start off right, you will need to secure for yourself a track and field “baton” or make a flashy looking one out of a paper towel tube and metallic spray paint. Choose eight people to read and assign them one verse of the passage. As they are done, have them pass the baton on to the next person.

The legacy of the church is a little bit like a relay race in track. One runner is responsible for certain periods of the race and when his distance is up, he passes the baton on to the next runner. Relay teammates encourage one another, strengthen each other and help set the pace for future runners. Each generation in the church is responsible for passing the baton of faith on to the next generation. Edith Shaeffer in her book, What is a Family calls this the “perpetual relay of truth.” This involves two main institutions:

1. The Church: the church must work toward unity and be devoted to healthy biblical teaching so the next generation can come to place their faith in Christ and do even bigger things that the generation before.
2. The Family: according to passages like Deuteronomy 6 and Psalm 78, parents are the primary spiritual guide of their children. As those who work with children, this mentality must flow through all of our decisions, planning, and interaction.

Psalm 78 details what can happen when Church and Family work together to successfully pass on the baton of faith. Here’s what happens:

• Kids will grow up knowing God’s statutes (vv. 5-6)
• Children will see the importance of passing the faith along (v. 6)
• The coming generation will put their trust and hope in God (v. 7)
• The coming generation will obey God (v. 7)
• All generations will remember the works of God (v. 7)
• Successive generations will not repeat the sins of the past (v.8)

End with this question and allow for discussion: Based on this passage, what can we now do to foster an atmosphere in our ministry where the baton of faith is passed along to the coming generation?

Scripture

1 Thessalonians 2:2-9 (English Standard Version)

²But though we had already suffered and been shamefully treated at Philippi, as you know, we had boldness in our God to declare to you the gospel of God in the midst of much conflict. ³For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, ⁴but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts. ⁵For we never came with words of flattery, as you know, nor with a pretext for greed—God is witness. ⁶Nor did we seek glory from people, whether from you or from others, though we could have made demands as apostles of Christ. ⁷But we were gentle among you, like a nursing mother taking care of her own children. ⁸So, being affectionately desirous of you, we were ready to share with you not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us.

⁹For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.

Devotion

Start out by giving your volunteers each half of this paper. Provide them with 2-3 minutes to fill it out. You do not necessarily have to get them to call out the answers, but ask them what criteria they used to select certain people. Ask them how they would want those people to make decisions in some of the areas.

The point is that God entrusts us to be a part of His ministry, not because we have some inherent goodness (unlike the way they may have selected people for tasks above), but because He is good, loving, and gracious. It is a joy to be a part of His Kingdom building work with kids. Just like you would expect your caretakers above to elicit decision making with a certain type of wisdom, God desires for us to carry out His work with characteristics which honor him. Let’s take a look at some of those characteristics that Paul and his associates exemplified toward the Thessalonian church.

1. Perseverance (v. 2)–Paul ministered in spite of strong opposition. He did not let the dark spiritual acts of Satan get in his way of what God called him to do. Satan can use all kinds of instruments in the church to distract us and his impact on volunteer attrition rates is insane. We need to push ahead and minister to these sweet children no matter what comes in our way.
2. Be on mission (vv. 3-4)–Do you see your work with children as a mission from God. Every second of your life, God has a purpose for you to impact His Kingdom in some way. God has entrusted you, like Paul, with a sacred task–the task of placing the gospel into people’s lives. In that, your duty is not to please your co-teacher, your pastor, or the children, but to please God with the way you fulfill His mission.
3. Have a humble character (vv 5-7)–Humble people do not seek their own glory, but seek to be praised by God for their faithfulness. Humble volunteers have children and their spiritual nurture as their number one priority.
4. Dedicated (vv. 8-9)–Paul understood that the Christian life was not lived in a vacuum and the act of evangelism was not isolated from relationship. Are Sunday mornings all you commit to or are you actively seeking to pour your life into these kids and families as part of your calling for ministry?

Admit it. You have a volunteer or two in your ministry who is just not working out. You are thinking you may need to fire this volunteer. Perhaps their personality does not match the ministry. Perhaps they have some spiritual issues to work on. Perhaps they smell. Or perhaps they have issues with authority. Regardless, if someone is not a good fit, you are only bringing your ministry down by letting them stay involved.

Jim Collins, in his book Good to Great, talks about getting the right people on the bus. You have to get the right people in the right positions in your ministry. The right people will help you further your vision, the wrong people will stifle it. Roger Fields really challenged me a few months ago when he told me that if I really believed in what I was doing, if I really believed that it meant something, then I would take steps to remove those who got in the way of the ministry. Unfortunately, I’ve had to fire a few volunteers (and paid staff in my secular work) and wanted to share a few things I’ve learned along the way.

Before you even think about firing someone, you need to ask yourself these questions. If you can’t answer them with the volunteer’s best interests in mind, then you need to take some steps to give the volunteer a fair shake.

• Did the volunteer have adequate guidance to do their position (i.e. job description, proper training, right supplies)?
• Did you pray over this person for several weeks to a month first?
• Did you extend grace first, overlooking smaller offenses?
• Did you approach this person with necessary feedback when they did something out of line?
• How did this person respond to your feedback?

Finally, if after adequately answering the questions above, you feel that firing is the best thing for everyone, think through these tips before handing them the pink slip:

1. Arrange your thoughts–Make sure you plan out what you are going to say and provide appropriate examples which guided your decision. Discuss this with other leaders who can help you shape how you need to say things.
2. Get some support–Be sure your supervisor knows and supports exactly what you are doing.
3. Be positive–I often overlook this one. Everyone has something you can praise. However, don’t go overboard. Don’t give them mixed signals. Praise them for something, but explain that the areas they are failing in are too damaging to the vision of the ministry.
4. Set up a quick meeting–Don’t give them a week to try to figure out what you are meeting about. I have found it best to try to set up a time within 3-5 hours of first calling them to let them know you need to meet. A long amount of time between communicating about the meeting and actually having the meeting can breed much gossip and dissension. However, don’t just pull them aside in the hallway on a Sunday morning. Be thoughtful about when to meet.
5. Have someone with you–Be sure you have a witness who can document what you say. Another staff member is appropriate or an unbiased friend of the volunteer who can back you up.
6. Be steadfast–Don’t take the attitude that this is a discussion. Allow questions and feedback, but if you go into a meeting like this, then your mind should already be made up.
7. Establish clear goals–Give them a few articles that may help them. Point them to some proven books. Give them 3-4 clear and measurable objectives to work on and let them know you are here to help them on their journey.
8. Be even keeled–Many volunteers are going to get mad. If they are doing poorly enough to get fired, they are most likely not going to expect to get fired. They may yell, they may bring it back on your faults, they may shoot a smoke screen. Regardless, do not let them get to you and keep the attitude of Christ.
9. Set a time line–Put the ball in their court to come back to you in a period of time to get their job back. Let them know you will be praying for them and will have an open door to them during this time. One year is a generally good time for someone to step back and allow the Lord to change them. Major spiritual or leadership growth does not just happen in a matter of weeks. Some volunteers, however, may not be fit for the ministry and if so, you may not want to give these folks a time line. That’s up to your discretion.
10. Write a report–Do not wait too long on this one. Write up what was said in a straight forward fashion and submit this documentation to your supervisor. Be unbiased and unemotional. Just report the facts.
11. Follow up–If you really care, you’ll touch base with this person to find out how the Lord is working in their life. A simple letter or hallway conversation every couple of months will suffice.

How about you? What would you add to the process?

Do you have parents who wait until 3 days before VBS starts to register? Or perhaps like my church, they wait until the opening assembly has already started!

I sent out an email to our entire church body to grab their attention and get them to register. Feel free to adapt it and use it in an email, Facebook page, blog, tweet them individually, or whatever. Hope it helps.

Top ten reasons you haven’t registered your child for VBS:

10. The dog ate your computer.

9. You thought it stood for Vulcan Bake Sale.

8. You’re lazy.

7. You aren’t concerned about your child hearing the gospel.

6. The spirit of “weirdness” told you not to.

5. You’re still waiting to see the dinner menu.

4. Your overly American schedule has kept you too busy to think about it.

3. You know that it takes around 7 reminders for people to respond to something and you’ve only counted 6.

2. One word: YouTube

1. People say your kid would have too much fun—and fun is not what you’re about.

I love VBS (that’s Vacation Bible School for the scarf with t-shirt wearing crowd of Children’s Ministers!). I love it because when it is done well and creatively, children learn foundational truths about Jesus, kids get saved, parents get plugged into church, and momentum is built to further the overall vision and work of one’s children’s ministry. My VBS is in 2 weeks and I’m extremely excited for what God has in store this year! Below are some creative ideas you can incorporate into your VBS to make it the best one ever!

Fun for Kids

• Mascot Hunt: Figure out a good mascot for your VBS and try to find a stuffed animal that looks like it. Hide the animal each day and challenge the kids to find it as they are walking around. If they find it, reward their class with a bag of candy and a special flag they can carry around the next day. This is so popular at my church, I have to do two, one for Pre-K and one for elementary.
• Surprise Character: Have someone dress up as a character who matches the theme. Have them bust into the classrooms during teaching time, interrupting the teacher and getting the whole lesson for the day wrong. Alert the teachers ahead of time so they can interact with the character and “set them straight” on the meaning of the lesson.
• Incentives: Offer an incentive for non-church kids to attend or for your own church kids to invite their friends. Last year, I gave away a Wii. It was our largest VBS in church history. This year, I’m giving a $5 gift card to Toys R Us to any non-church kid who attends at least 4 nights of VBS. I’m already WAY above the average mark for this point in our registration process and many of them are guests.
• Involve Kids in Follow Up: Have children in your ministry take the contact info for a guest that was in their class. Instruct them on how to follow up via a phone call or note in the mail. Have them to invite the kids back to church the next week and start a friendship with them.

Fun for Parents

• Send them home in style: If you have a car pick up line (which I recommend to reduce the amount of people who come into your building), then I recommend that you greet parents with a smile, open the door for kids, help them get their seat belt on, and say something positive about the kids. This can really have a huge impact on the ride home.
• Parenting Skills: Offer a parenting skills class during your VBS time. Have some snacks, foster community, and/or bring in a well known presenter to help them grow as a parent (Frankly, I’d love to do it!). You may start this off one year by just doing a one or two night thing. That way you could advertise it well during drop off and pick up prior to it occurring.

Fun for Volunteers

• Late Week Break: Have a variety of drinks and special snacks available on day 3 or 4 of your week for volunteers. Stand by the cooler and personally thank each one who gets a drink.
• Perpetuate the Memories: Set up a Facebook page or blog where VBS leaders can share memorable experiences after VBS is over. Use these quotes in recruitment the next year.
• Make Them Feel Good: Be sure to recognize them in a creative way if you do some sort of kick off or celebration night. Have them run out through a kid “tunnel.” Do a creative video highlighting the lead teachers. Pick a “Leader of the Day” to recognize outstanding work.

What creative idea do you have for VBS?

Simply Youth Ministry, a dynamic student ministry company, has a lot of freebies on their site. Many of them can be used in CM. Have fun!