Stop Whining, Start Watching

Stop Whining, Start Watching

I’m always watching. Great volunteers are found and developed, very rarely do they simply raise their hand and volunteer. One of my greatest joys is seeing something in someone that they have yet to see and pointing it out. I sat in our Easter service yesterday and I’m quite sure I discovered my next actor for our family experience…he just doesn’t know it yet.

My very best team members, my very best volunteers, have come from me observing. There is nothing more fun than going up to an unsuspecting adult and saying “I think I’ve got a place for you in children’s ministry.” Yes, I know children’s pastors and children’s ministries are given a bad rap for sucking people in, sucking them dry and then leaving them withering. Oh how I love changing how we’re perceived. I don’t invite people to volunteer for a ministry, I invite them to find their niche, their passion, and use it to change kids’ lives. I’m not always right, there have been a few people I have been dead wrong about. Qualities that I thought would transfer well into kid’s ministry were more suited for senior adult ministry, cookie ministry or youth ministry. Willing to admit when I’m wrong, I moved them onward and pointed them in the right direction with a blessing and a thank you. The important thing is, I tried. I tried in a way that left them feeling proud of who they are, singled out in a good way, and willing to try another ministry. All because I watch.

I think we’re guilty of sitting on our butts too often and whining about how we can’t get volunteers. Instead of whining we need to be watching, praying, seeking. And then we need to get off our hineys and start inviting people to join something bigger than themselves. Frame it well and you can literally revolutionize people’s lives…I’ve seen it happen.

I’m passionate about volunteers and recruiting them. Much more on that to come…
In the meantime, stop whining and start watching.

This article originally appeared here.