Articles for tag: Volunteer Recruitment

November 1, 2021

Jim Estep

Doing Ministry During the Holidays

By Jim Estep Christmas is undeniably the most celebrated season of the year. It used to begin with Thanksgiving (the time my wife allows me to set up the tree and decorate the house), but it seems like we begin seeing Christmas items on television and on store shelves earlier and earlier. QVC began having Christmas specials in July! Society may be better prepared for Christmas than the church, although for different reasons. The holiday season, particularly from Thanksgiving to Christmas, offers the church an unprecedented opportunity to minister. However, like most opportunities, we can fail to make the most

May 1, 2020

Christian Standard

Children’s Ministry Reexamined

By Rick Willis “I can’t do that. . . . I’m oriented to leading adults.” The children’s ministry coordinator at Southern Heights Christian Church in Lebanon, Missouri, was recruiting volunteers for a new rotational program on Sunday mornings, and he had challenged me—a man in his 60s—to get involved with the 2- to 5-year-olds. The concept was new to us: one hour of continuous activity broken down into 15-minute segments (or stations), with kids rotating from a lesson, to crafts, to snacks, and to music. Two people would lead the children from room to room, with volunteers at each station

November 2, 2019

Christian Standard

Children’s Ministry Best Practices (Multisite Church): Community Christian Church, Chicagoland

The Team It Takes to Help Families and Kids Find Their Way Back to God   By Kathy Ives The best thing about being part of a multisite kids’ ministry team is the built-in support and fellowship with multiple leaders. Most of our locations have their own kids’ directors, and together we make a fantastic and diverse team. Our directors are fully invested in kids and families, and they understand not only our church dynamics but the complicated nature of kids’ ministry. Together we discuss new creative ideas and solutions at regular meetings. On top of that, our newer directors

January 7, 2016

Christian Standard

New Service Date Has Been Gift

By Jennifer Johnson When Suncrest Christian Church (St. John, IN) began to max out its three Sunday services, the church considered a variety of ways to accommodate more people. “Lots of churches do Saturday night services, and some do Sunday night,” says Greg Lee, lead pastor at Suncrest. “I was intrigued by churches like White River Christian in Noblesville, Indiana, that created a Thursday night service. We are a multisite with some video teaching, so the idea of doing something on Thursday was a great gift””we can record the message and have two days to send it to the other

September 29, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Annual Panic

By Mark A. Taylor Every August and September, I was gripped by panic. As part-time education minister with a smaller church (now it”s mega), I was responsible to recruit Sunday school workers for every age level and to staff a fully graded program on Wednesday nights. When kids choirs took a break on Sunday evenings (we had Sunday-night church back in those days), my job was to create and find workers for kids” classes then too. In a church of a few hundred, that was a lot of volunteers, and we never seemed to have quite enough. We encouraged people

September 8, 2015

Mark A. Taylor

Parenting Predictable, Not Perfect

By Mark A. Taylor Which of these videos reminds you of an awkward moment at your house? Did you ever lose a hamster? Did you ever make yourself sick making your kids happy? Did parenting ever take you out of your comfort zone? Well, take heart. “You don”t have to be perfect to be a perfect parent.” It”s a message as encouraging for biological parents as it is for those who would adopt. And it”s exactly what Jack Holland told us in our August 20 episode of Beyond the Standard. In fact, he says professional literature on successful families uses

April 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Super-size Your Volunteer Base

By Eddie Lowen In August 2014, our church raised up 700-plus brand-new volunteers and commissioned our entire volunteer force for a new era of volunteer ministry. Below are excerpts of the talk I delivered at Volunteer Bootcamp 2014. Readers are welcome to adapt and use it. When Marshall Faulk played college football at San Diego State, he entered training camp as the team”s fifth-string tailback, eventually working his way up to second-string. Early one game, the starting tailback was injured, so the coach gave Faulk the nod. The rest is football history. In the remaining three and one-half quarters, Faulk

August 12, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

Four T”s for Recruiting and Keeping Volunteers

By Mark A. Taylor In many places, the first day of the new school year is on the horizon, if it hasn”t occurred already. And the local church”s Bible-teaching program is ready to gear-up too. A new season of classes, youth groups, children”s choirs, and small groups usually brings a flurry of worker recruitment. Some churches, unfortunately and ineffectively, will post “help-wanted” ads in church newsletters or make impassioned pleas from the pulpit for nursery workers and children”s teachers. But while support from the preacher can be a vital ingredient in worker recruitment, asking everyone is never as effective as

May 26, 2014

Christian Standard

The NFL Draft and Staff Leadership Development

By Mike Faherty One thing I admire about the National Football League is its draft process. The NFL always has a fresh crop of talent flowing into its league. Older players move on and new ones take over. I think the church could learn something from this talent development process. Not too long ago, we had some trouble in church. I couldn”t put my finger on the problem, but things were getting sloppy. Solid departments and initiatives were slowly going downhill, and quality standards were heading in the wrong direction. As the executive pastor, it is my job to make

January 30, 2014

Christian Standard

Getting Involved

By Jennifer Johnson Like many churches, West Side Christian Church (Springfield, IL) constantly needs volunteers. Unlike many churches, West Side recently focused an entire weekend on creatively and intentionally connecting people with ministry opportunities””and today 50 percent of their adults serve at church in some way. “The volunteering emphasis was part of our “˜Cannonball” initiative, which shared our vision for what God”s calling us to as a church and challenged people to go “˜all in” with their faith,” says Melissa Sandel, director of ministries. Sandel and her team focused on removing barriers and making it as easy as possible for

January 17, 2011

Christian Standard

Revitalizing Your Children”s Ministry

By Karen Wingate “Growing, dynamic churches are rooted in a powerful philosophy that recognizes kids matter to God,” says Rick Chromey, author of Energizing Children”s Ministry in the Smaller Church. Those are discouraging words to a church that sees the population of its children”s department slipping into oblivion. Struggling churches know that without the next generation, their congregation”s future is in jeopardy. Is it possible to revitalize a dying children”s ministry? “Yes,” says Teri Lewis, director of the Son Harbor children”s ministry program at Plymouth Avenue Christian Church, a congregation of 250 in Deland, Florida. In 2003, a “good” Sunday

January 14, 2011

Christian Standard

What College Didn”t Teach Me About Children”s Ministry

An Interview with Ryan Frank Ryan Frank, creator of KidzMatter Inc. (www.kidzmatter.com), is the publisher of The Kitchen children”s church curriculum and K!Magazine. He is a children”s minister in Indiana. His latest book, 9 Things They Didn”t Teach Me in College about Children”s Ministry, has just been released by Standard Publishing. We asked Ryan a few questions about his experience in children”s ministry and his advice for children”s ministers today. How did you get interested in children”s ministry? I was only 16 years old. My minister approached me and said, “We need someone to teach Junior Church. Will you try

January 12, 2011

Christian Standard

Making a Difference

By Joni Sullivan Baker Christmas decorations are down, second semester is underway, and snow is on the ground. It”s January. For those involved in children”s ministry that means only one thing””it”s time to start planning Vacation Bible School. Every summer, Standard Publishing puts its brand-new, unpublished VBS curriculum to the test by asking a local church to actually try it. Christ”s Church at Mason (Ohio) tested the new VBS last June. VBS 2011 is called “Inside Out & Upside Down on Main Street: Where Jesus Makes a Difference Every Day!” The children in the field test learned about five of

November 24, 2010

Christian Standard

Teaching People to Pray One at a Time

By Paul Covert In July of 2003, I nervously made a call to Cal Jernigan, the senior pastor at Central Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona. I had known Cal for 25 years and had always respected him. I hoped he could point me to a church that might have some interest in my passion for prayer. Thirty days later I was leading the prayer ministry at Central. When I called Cal, I didn”t know Central had just gone through an extensive season of developing their core values. One of them was, “As a community of believers, we seek God”s guidance

May 17, 2009

Christian Standard

Dispelling the Myths

  By Bill Tennison   Want to be effective in your ministry with adults over 50? Then get rid of these commonly held myths about older adults.       Seniors think they have “done their time” and don”t want to participate in the life of the church.    “It”s a myth that senior adults no longer want to contribute,” wrote David P. Gallagher in Senior Adult Ministry in the 21st Century: Step-By-Step Strategies for Reaching People Over 50. “It”s equally untrue that senior adults don”t want to be actively involved. Senior adults do want to be involved.” In a

January 11, 2009

Christian Standard

VBS: The Big Thing

by Ryan Frank God has given me the privilege of connecting with thousands of children”s pastors and ministry workers. Through the ministry of KidzMatter and K! Magazine, I interact with new people in children”s ministry almost every day. One thing I”ve learned is this: everyone in children”s ministry desires to reach children for the Lord Jesus Christ. Is there anything greater one can do than to reach boys and girls for our Savior? One of the greatest ways to reach children in your church and community each summer is with Vacation Bible School. It”s the biggest thing we do at my

October 14, 2007

Christian Standard

TRIED & TRUE: Vacation Bible School

By Bob Boswell We love Vacation Bible School at Plainfield Christian Church! Above all other annual activities, I must say this particular summer event is the “most wonderful time of the year” for us. It reaches about 1,000 of our area children, taps into the creative juices of around 265 volunteers, and our entire church staff is heavily involved in all aspects. It”s just a thrilling week! Nothing else on our calendar reflects such a churchwide effort with focus and intent. Those who witnessed our Friday morning closing session this summer will never forget the impact of 2007″s VBS. This

April 25, 2007

Christian Standard

In Case You”ve Missed Our Blogs

By Mark A. Taylor Some of the best writing for CHRISTIAN STANDARD never appears in the magazine! I’m talking about our three bloggers, whose regular posts can be found at our Web site, www.christianstandard.com. Read these three snippets, and then log on to discover what you’ve been missing. From Jennifer Taylor’s blog, “Write About Now,” February 23: Leaders clutch dog eared copies of Good to Great but are unable to practice one of its major points: all the great companies (and their level 5 leaders) could “confront the most brutal facts of current reality.” They wait for situations or people

March 19, 2006

Christian Standard

The Times They Are A-Changin’

By Phil LeMaster The familiar title of the 1964 Bob Dylan song come to mind as I look back over more than 35 years in the located ministry. Beyond the obvious clich̩ that the years have flown by, the most pervasive truth as I reminisce is the many transformations I have seen in the local church in the past generation. The times are indeed changing! Some of these changes are innocuous enough to be ignored, but many are weightier and significantly alter the job description of the 21st-century preacher. Consider some of the more evident ones with me Ң The

August 28, 2005

Steve Bond

Building a New Facility

Building a New Facility

Summit Christian Church grew fast—and learned hard-earned lessons while building and expanding. Steve Bond shares practical guidance on timelines, staffing volunteers, budgeting priorities, capital campaigns, prayer, and keeping the mission of changed lives first.

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