Earlier this week I spoke on the Ave Maria Press Webinar “Rebuilding Youth Ministry In Your Parish“. What I loved about the webinar were the amount of questions that I received from listeners.
Courtesy of Tracy Hunter/Creative Commons License
While there were several questions that caught my attention, one stood out above the rest. The question was:
What’s the best way to get volunteers for you ministry?
It’s a question I think we all ask at some point. And it’s a question I think we all know the answer to. The problem is we don’t like the answer because while it’s simple it’s not easy to pull off.
The best way to get volunteers is simply by:
That’s really it. You just need to ask. You can ask God to send you the right people, you can sit in front of your email waiting for someone to reach out and say, “Hey I would like to get involved.” But at some point you are going to need to ask.
You might wonder, “Why is it so difficult to ask?” It’s because:
The reason you ask people to get involved is so that others can help you improve your program. If you need help ask someone to help you out. If you want to improve your program you need to get the right people on board.
“No” is a powerful word. It’s a word that stops us from doing what we or others desires. It can also feel like rejection and that hurts. The truth is that the word “No” in this context is an indicator to move on.
When you hear, “No” it’s time to ask someone else. Now, there are a few tips to asking someone to get involved with ministry. If you really want volunteers to join first ask them to:
Asking someone to get involved in something they’ve never seen or experienced is overwhelming. It’s like asking someone to marry you that’s never met you. Let them:
After they’ve checked it out then you can:
If they need a second look give it to them. Or, you can invite them to sit down one on one to further discuss the commitment. But, during that time ask them questions and get to know them. The more you invest in them the more likely they’ll want to invest in you or your ministry.
Getting people involved in your ministry is not rocket science. It’s hard but it’s rather simple. You just need to ask.
[reminder] What other strategies do you have for inviting people to serve in youth ministry? [/reminder]
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