Nick Blevins Family Ministry Podcast: Children | Youth | Students | NextGen

In this episode, we hear from Paula Dannielle on the power of creating a strategy for encouraging volunteers and creating space to do this every week. This is the third part of a six-session series from an online event called Volunteer Bootcamp, hosted by Ministry Boost.

Paula Dannielle

Connect with Paula on Instagram, and Twitter.

Volunteer Bootcamp

Get access to the full Volunteer Bootcamp sessions and notes here.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Volunteer Bootcamp Webinar

Ideas for Encouraging Volunteers

Idea One: Make sure they are seen

• Each of them should be known by name
  • This may not be a staff member, but this could be a ministry lead, coach, etc.
• Get personal
  • During huddles, take time to celebrate
  • Acknowledge prayer requests
  • Be sure they are greeted when they arrive and when they leave and at least once during their service hour
• VALUE: People can feel invisible during the week with all the things we have to do; help them feel seen with something they don’t have to do, but they want to do.

Idea Two: Be sure they are known

• Each of your volunteers should be confident that you know they have a life outside of volunteering each weekend
  • Leaders need to know they are connected to the vision of the church, regardless of their circumstances
  • Take into consideration the unique “family makeup” of each volunteer
    • Single parents
    • Parents with multiple kids
    • Parents of kids with special needs
    • Health challenges
• VALUE: When volunteers know they are cared for outside of their time serving, they will feel encouraged and feel like part of a community and a team

Idea Three: Tell them/their Stories

• Tell stories as far back and as recent as possible
• Examples of ways to tell stories:
  • Storytelling wall with volunteers’

In this episode, Kenny Conley dives into three hacks for effectively onboarding volunteers within your family ministry and answers questions about having a successful volunteer orientation. This is the second part of a six-session series from an online event called Volunteer Bootcamp, hosted by Ministry Boost.

Kenny Conley

Connect with Kenny on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

Volunteer Bootcamp

Get access to the full Volunteer Bootcamp sessions and notes here.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Volunteer Bootcamp Webinar

3 Hacks for Volunteer Onboarding

• Hack One: Stop Recruiting
  • If the odds are against you, change the game
  • It’s to easy for someone to tell you “no.” Instead, invite them to an experience where it’s easy to say “yes.”
    • Recruit them to an orientation (it’s easy to say “yes” to come to an orientation – 1-hour time commitment)
    • Create a compelling environment in your orientation where all the benefits of serving far outweigh the negatives

     

• Hack Two: Double Your Potential
  • To double the number of potential volunteers, simply double the number of volunteer orientations
  • Few churches do orientations more than once a month. Here’s the problem with this frequency (infrequency rather)
    • They get sick
    • Their kids get sick
    • They have things come up
    • They forget

     

• Hack Three: Host a Volun-TOUR
  • **The BEST way to engage potential volunteers is to have them GET UP and take a walk.
  • Don’t just talk to potential volunteers. Give them a behind-the-scenes look at one of the most exciting things happening at your church. Why?
    • Tours are personal
    • Everyone loves a tour
    • People learn differently, tours engage everyone differently
    • Tours are really easy to pull off well

     

  • When recruiting someone to serve, they have a lot of questions. But tours help resolve the unknown in two very important ways:
    • Tours give potentials

In this episode, I talk about Nina Schmidgall about volunteer recruitment and she walks us through some best practices for beginning to shape volunteer culture before people even start serving. This is the first part of a six-session series from an online event called Volunteer Bootcamp, hosted by Ministry Boost.

Nina Schmidgall

Connect with Nina on Instagram, and Twitter.

Volunteer Bootcamp

Get access to the full Volunteer Bootcamp sessions and notes here.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Volunteer Bootcamp Webinar

Recruitment 101

• recruit to VISION, not to NEED
  • • tell the stories
    • have an “elevator pitch”
    • give good verbiage to those leading the conversation of recruiting
• direct ask (bold friendliness)
• reduce barriers to serve
• when recruiting, do not leave the ball in their court; always get their email for follow up
• eliminate the word “only” from verbiage (Ex: “it’s only one service”)
• spend time evaluating and determine your “currency”
  • • community
    • investment and leadership
    • fun and celebration

“When you are calling people to something great, it will take a level of investment.”

 

Action Items

1. Increase commitment
2. Meet with potential volunteers
3. Get Playbook course

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In this episode, Jody Livingston and Chris Trent from the Longer Haul Podcast talk about big ideas that help create an environment for family ministry alignment under different youth ministry models. Also, with decades of combined experience, the three of us discuss what steps leaders can take to produce ministries that cooperate and align teams to partner with parents.

Longer Haul Youth Ministry Podcast

Connect on Facebook and Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

The Longer Haul Website

The Longer Haul Podcast

Topics to consider within youth/family ministry:

• Curriculum scope and sequence
• Weekly programming and service schedule
• Family Ministry model – does it point to longevity?
  • Average tenure for youth ministry leaders is low; two factors:
    • the hiring church is not open about what they really want
    • the person being hired is not open about what they really want
  • “If” we view ministry with a long-term mentality

Notes for the Youth Ministry leader:

• Observe often and see what kids and students are looking for
• Celebrate victories in all family ministry environments, not just youth ministry
• Find a place/church you would attend, even if you are not on staff (don't settle… make sure it's the right fit)
• No church is perfect; you may not always agree on everything
• If you can make it to year 4 or 5 in one place, it gets good

Action Items

1. Evaluate your family ministry
2. Set a meeting with the other part
3. Create a plan to align

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In this episode, Robert Purvey talks about some of the ministries and strategies his church has used to impact youth and their families and schools. One of the immediate action steps he prompts is for churches to be present in the life of their local schools, with no strings attached, and leveraging the influence of students on these campuses.

Robert Purvey

Connect with Yancy on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

NotesWays for students to be influential within weekend services:

• Media
• Worship
• Greeters
• Intercessors (prayer)
• **For 175-200 teens in students services, 4 or 5 adults serve on rotation, with 10 or more students in specific leadership roles

Understanding how to lead your students:

• We must understand their context, culture, background, etc.
• Modify curriculum which reaches multiple demographics and helps bring understanding between different races
• Lead and train adults to be able to talk through topics
• Share with church staff how leaders can best love and lead students where they are

Action Items

1. Connect with a school
2. Connect with another Youth Pastor
3. Have a conversation about race

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In this episode, Yancy gives practical tips and advice from her decades of leading kids worship. Some of these tips could greatly impact the culture of your kid's ministry and help lead the next generation to a lifestyle of worship through creating intentional worship experiences.

Yancy

Connect with Yancy on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

WorshipHouseKids

Yancy's Website

*Key Question: What is the goal of worship in each ministry environment?Helpful hints for Preschool Worship:

• It's important to make time to do worship each and every week
• Remember their attention spans (not super complicated, long or with too many words)
• 2-3 minutes tops per song
• “We sing to Jesus because its a way we can show Jesus we love Him”

Helpful hints for Preteen Worship:

• “Leading worship is more about your leadership ability than your musical ability”
• Needs to bridge the gap between Kids and Students – help them understand WHAT WORSHIP IS and WHY WE DO IT
• Know your blend of kids (grade/developmental levels)

Tips for Volunteers:

• Realize that someone believes in you and has entrusted you to this role
• Spend time preparing each week – there is freedom in preparation
• Smiles and wearing bright/bold colors engage the audience
• If talking is not natural to you, type out your thoughts to intro or transition songs
• Those not on stage… fully engage and be excited about worship even if the kids are not

Action Items

1. Define the win for each age group
2. Refresh your music
3. Check out Heartbeat (curriculum)

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In this episode, Linda Ranson Jacobs shares her experience with serving and ministering to single parents and families of divorce. After experiencing divorce and life as a single parent, Linda has gained both personal and ministerial insight into how the local church can partner with more families.

Linda Ranson Jacobs

Connect with Linda on Facebook and Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

DC4K.org

Linda's Blog

Linda's Book – The Single Parent: Confident and Successful

Questions to ask when there are behavioral challenges:

• Who brought the child into your ministry?
• What mood was the child in when they arrived?
• What caused the altercation that prompted the challenging situation?

Helpful hints when working with children in divorced/single-parent homes:

• Let kids talk about their blended family at church
• Ask about both parents
• Let them know you see their situation and they are not alone
• Help them know that divorce is not their fault
• Create a safe space – tell them “You are safe here.”

What are some things church leaders should know about partnering with parents in a unique way?

• Pastors need to be aware that not all families are not nuclear families
• Pray hard, especially when you hear about a potential divorce
• Go to the parent and ask how you can help (offer to go to games together, or attend concerts at school)
• Offer to babysit
• Take the family out for a meal

Action Items

1. Turn blog into training
2. Her book for single parents
3. Check out DC4K.org

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In this episode, Dr. Kara Powell gives some insights into the rising conversation about parents growing with their teenagers in regard to their faith. Through her experience at the Fuller Youth Institute, many years in local church ministry, and personally as a parent of teenagers, Kara shares both strategic and practical ways to begin partnering with parents of the next generation.

Dr. Kara Powell

Connect with Kara on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Fuller Youth Institute

Growing Young book

Growing Young assessment

Growing With book

Three Age Categories for Teenagers/Young Adults (but hold them loosely)

• Learners – 13-18-year-olds
  • Experiencing rapid growth in numerous areas and newness in relationships and faith
• Explorers – 18-23-year-olds
  • Excited about the future but unsure about themselves
• Focusers – 23-29-year-olds
  • Adopting a clearer sense of self

Three Parenting Stages for these Categories

• Learner – needs a parent who is a TEACHER
  • Hands-on parenting focused on self-reflection, self-discipline, and collaboration
• Explorer – parent transitions from a teacher to a GUIDE
  • Figuring out when your teenager needs guidance and when “they've got it”
• Focuser – parents become RESOUCERS

Growing With VERBS

1. • WITHing – parents are urged to be “a wall” that kids can return to when they are ready (swimming analogy)
   • FAITHing – owning and embodying our journeys with God as we encounter new experiences and information
   • ADULTing – our child's growth in agency as they embrace opportunities to shape the world around them

Action Items

1. Read Growing With
2. Resources from Growing Wit

In this episode, Tony Kummer shares the findings from a unique survey of Christian volunteers and leaders within the church about the faith of the next generation. This survey focused on how they came to faith, the key factors of their faith development and how the church can help the faith stick.

Tony Kummer

Connect with Tony on Twitter

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Ministry-to-children.com

5 Key Findings from the Survey

1. Childhood is when most people find Jesus
2. Parents had the most overwhelming impact in regard to their faith
3. Children’s ministry is still important (camp, VBS, etc.)
4. The reason people are doing kids ministry is the Jesus loved kids
5. We need one another

What makes faith sticky?

1. • Weekly Bible reading
   • Participation in service projects or missions trips
   • Sharing faith with unbelievers
   • Parents asking for forgiveness
   • Encouraging a child’s unique talents
   • Families taking annual family vacations together
   • Attending a church that emphasizes Bible teaching
   • Families that actively tithed

Action Items

1. See the survey results
2. Remind your team of 4/14
3. Survey parents of your kids/students

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In this episode, David Maddron walks us through the difficult journey of losing a child. I also ask David about the steps he now takes to help those around him within the church and community that have experienced similar loses.

David Maddron

Connect with David on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram

Ministry Boost

Check out our courses and register now at MinistryBoost.org.

Links Mentioned in this Episode

Asher's Rainbow Site

David's Website

Made Known Resource

How can a church help during a crisis or loss?

1. Ministry leaders – be prepared when someone under your care goes through the loss of a child; some people may not know what to say.
   • Unintentionally hurtful things
   • False empathy
2. Be aware during “earmark” events that would have happened in the life of that child and family.
   • Bring other families alongside them during these seasons, especially those who have experienced the same type of loss
3. Train people to be really good listeners.
   • Help the families going through this tragedy and the phases of grief that their feelings are valid (anger, depression, etc.)
   • Grief Share is a great program for people to join
   • Made Known Event
4. Don't overuse your voice or your influence.
   • Be sensitive
   • Give families space
   • Help them grieve and mend in a healthy manner

Action Items

1. Train people what to say
2. Find people who have been there
3. Check out Made Known

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