The Dream Team

I CHALLENGE YOU TO NAME ONE HISTORICAL FIGURE WHO HAS ACHIEVED ANYTHING SIGNIFICANT ON THEIR OWN

 Hollywood loves to tell us stories of solo heroes, lone wolves who save the world singlehandedly. However, the truth is the exact opposite. Even Jesus chose to use his team of disciples to spread the news of the gospel.

 The same is true of us. As youth workers, we are seeking to make significant and lasting change in the lives of individual young people and the wider community. This is not something we can achieve on our own - so our teams are the most valuable earthly tool in our toolbox. Combined with frequent prayer, it is through effective and empowered teams that impact is made, not through individuals.

BUILDING THE DREAM TEAM

 The reality is that volunteers are often in short supply. Even if we are blessed with a large congregation of supporters, it can still be a challenge to actually convince them to join in. How can we recruit effectively, to ensure we are growing God’s kingdom in the lives of the young people we work with? And how can we manage and input into our teams so they become healthy, effective and kingdom-growing? 

IDENTIFYING YOUR POOL

 The temptation when it comes to recruiting helpers is take anyone who steps forward from it. However, it is imperative that you have a minimum standard for your volunteers. Sometimes it is right to turn down offers of help. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul gives Timothy advice on what qualities he should look out for in his team members, all of which still apply today. If you haven’t already, spend some time wrestling with this passage. Consider what your minimum requirements will be for any youth work volunteer. 

KEEP PEOPLE INFORMED

 Research into the field of marketing and advertisement has shown that consumers need around seven points of contact with a product via varied mediums before they decide to purchase it. In other words, people need reminding a number of times, in a number of ways, before they move to action. That is why you’ll see adverts for the same fast food chain on TV, social networking sites, billboards, newspapers, the internet, app stores and bus stops to name just a few! It’s pretty much the same for raising the profile of youth work.

 If you need volunteers, find as many ways as you can to tell people, and make the advertising campaign last as long as possible. For example - mention it to individuals over coffee, put it in the notice sheets, put up a few posters, mention it from the front in a service (or get someone else to). The best advice I have been given on this subject is that when you’re sick of saying something over and over and over again, the crowd listening will just about be getting the message! Too often, we sheepishly mention it once during the notices and then feel disappointed when no one comes forward. Be persistent and be varied. However, this alone is probably not enough to convince people. To clinch the deal, you need to tap shoulders, asking individuals if they can join your team. The fact that they are already well informed of the need will mean that they are more likely to say yes.

 Even if you don’t need any volunteers, keep bombarding your ‘pools’ with info. One of the first stumbling blocks for getting volunteers is that the congregation is distant from your work with young people. Regular engagement and communication which de-mystifies what you do is key to this. Info on the website, termly newsletters, youth led services, young people’s testimonies and Sunday School open days (where people can come and experience a typical Sunday School session instead of staying in the sermon) can all strengthen each individual’s connection with your youth work. 

SHARE THE VISION

 More than 21 million people in the UK work 9-to-5 office jobs. While many of them will be both noble and enjoyable, the chances are that a large number of these occupations offer minimal fulfillment when it comes to really making a difference in the world. Showing people the bigger picture about youth work, and how what you do makes a real difference in the lives of young people, will go a long way in helping people join your cause. Why do you do what you do? What are the aims of you running a youth club? What does success look like for your Bible study group? Tell stories and encourage young people to share testimonies of how their lives have been impacted by your youth work. Get people to reflect on who the adults were who invested in them as young people. People often want to get involved in something bigger than themselves, in something that will make a lasting difference. Communicate what you are striving to achieve and not only will you get volunteers, but volunteers who will stay the course in the long run. 

DEFINE ROLES

 A common mistake is to think that you just need people as your youth leaders. This isn’t the case. You need specific people with specific skills to achieve specific tasks. If you were approached by John Lewis and simply asked, ‘would you like to join the company?’ the chances are you would start asking questions. Which department? Doing what? Sales, marketing, deliveries, CEO, warehouse, or finances? It’s the same if we approach someone and simply ask them: ‘Do you want to be involved in the youth ministry?’

 Where do you need more leaders? What sort of things do you need them to do? Do you need someone who can type up contact details onto a database once a term, or someone to lead a Bible study every week? List the qualities the perfect person in this role would have, then ask around about who in your church has these skills.

 Of the following two statements, which do you think is more likely to get a positive response?  

 ‘The youth club is in need of someone who is friendly, reliable and keen to share faith with non-Christian teenagers, and I think you fit the bill perfectly. We meet on Friday nights and most volunteers help out fortnightly. Would you like to come and experience a session with a view to longer term involvement?’

Or

‘We need more leaders, can you come this Friday?’

  I know which one I’d respond best to! People will be more likely to accept your offer if they feel that they are being asked specifically because they have the necessary skills - not because they are going to be an extra body.

 Volunteer agreements can provide a better understanding of the youth ministry and clarify expectations. This significantly increases the chances of a positive response and long-term, fruitful involvement. Visit www.youthminstrymanagement.co.uk for examples of agreements. 

DEPLOY SCOUTS

 A great tactic is to employ ‘youth ministry scouts’ in your pool. Who are the community members who know everyone else? Who is always the last to leave? Who always knows what’s going on with others? Who are regulars at midweek groups?

 Ask them to ‘scout’ for people who would be good in the youth ministry. Agree a period of time (four weeks or so) for them to get back to you. They may have heard of someone with the right skills, or someone who wants to get stuck in at church but doesn’t know how.

PRAY

 Above all, pray. It works! Ask God to provide you with the right people you need to grow his kingdom - and he will! Or in other words, ask the Lord of the Harvest to send out workers (Luke 10:2)

MAINTAINING THE DREAM TEAM

 A pitfall in our thinking is that once we have leaders recruited, we no longer need to worry. We can sometimes forget that our innate passion for young people isn’t always as securely instilled in the spirits of our teams. Great leaders intentionally invest in and strengthen their teams in order to make a difference in the lives of others. One useful approach for working out how to manage volunteers is the ‘thermometer’ technique.

 I believe there are three types of volunteers in your youth ministry. In fact, wherever you find teams of volunteers they will all fall into one of three categories – Cold Blue, Warm Yellow or Fiery Red. How you lead and manage these volunteers will all depend on what category they are in. 

Volunteers in this category are those who are no longer passionate about working with young people. They may turn up on an evening, but their mind, heart and goals are in a different place to where you want them to be. Therefore, they are called the ‘elsewheres’, as deep down, they would rather be anywhere else than in the youth ministry.

 They are the ones who will make negative comments about the direction of the youth ministry, they will roll their eyes when delegated to, they will reminisce about the ‘good old days’ of the youth group, but do very little to improve its current state. You may even question whether they actually believe there is a God.

 The best thing you can do with an ‘elsewhere’ is make time to talk with them, one-to-one, and be as honest as possible. Give them the choice and responsibility of deciding whether to continue being involved or not. If their response is an agreement to step down, then this is a win, as it reduces the negative tones that can sweep through your youth ministry. If, however, they come back and say they want to stay on, it’s vital that you then support them to reflect on their attitude. Say to them: ‘I’m really glad you’re committing to this, but what I don’t understand is that your behaviour gave me the impression you wanted to step down.’ Introduce a volunteer agreement to let them know that continued negative attitudes will result in them being asked to withdraw from the team. 

The ‘Loyals’ cover a wide spectrum of volunteers and form the majority of youth ministry teams. These guys love God and want to see young people know him better. Without them, running a youth ministry would be a very difficult and lonely task. They are faithful, happy to help and reliable. If asked, they will offer to staff your events, to bake for your socials, to accompany you on trips, to lead a Bible study, or to have a film night for teenagers in their home. This is all great…but this is where it ends. 

 They rarely take the initiative on things, maybe citing the excuse of being too busy and not having enough time. They believe that, if the church employs a youth worker, it is his or her job to do the youth work and it is a ‘loyals’ role to simply follow their lead. They are like wake boarders, being towed by the boat ahead, riding the waves it creates. They are happy continuing to serve in their section of the youth ministry, but can sometimes forget that its other areas need attention and input too.

 Don’t get me wrong: these warm yellow loyals are a vital part of youth ministry. A youth club with one leader and six yellow loyals can form a great team. However, when that leader heads up five separate teams of different loyals, they will start to become stretched, drained and burn out (which is no good for any of their groups!). 

 These are the people who make things happen. These are the volunteers who grasp a vision, and then work to make it a reality. They take charge and responsibility. They get frustrated at those who can’t picture what the team is working towards. They are the ones who inspire you and the rest of your team to do better.

 To have a youth ministry you need Yellow Loyals. To grow a youth ministry you need Red Instigators. Typically, church employed youth workers are Red Instigators, but if you can identify the volunteers in this category and utilise their passion, you can achieve real growth in your youth ministry.

 As soon as possible, it is vital you identify the fired-up Red Instigators of your team, meet with them, and find ways to develop their leadership skills. Find a way for them to be more involved in leading your youth ministry area, inspiring other volunteers and – in time – freeing you up to concentrate on other areas of your youth ministry which need attention.

IT'S A THERMOMETER 

 Don’t be fooled into thinking these three categories are separate boxes in which to permanently put people. Every one of your volunteers is on a sliding scale of which category they belong to, a thermometer if you will. With bad management, a Fired-up Red can easily become a Warm Yellow who can easily become a Cold Blue. Similarly, with time and good management, it can work the other way too.

 Move Blues to Yellows by working on their attitude, by showing them teenagers who have met God and benefitted through the work of the youth ministry. Move Yellows to Reds by giving them trust and authority, by making big asks of them and showing how they can make a difference. And keep Reds hot by giving them free reign within the youth ministry using their gifts and passions accordingly, while regularly meeting to review their progress.

Although we may not have chosen youth ministry in order to work with adults, our success with young people will largely depend on how skilled we are as team leaders. Never stop finding ways to sharpen your ability to achieve more through groups of others, as it is through strong teams and frequent prayer that we will see significant and durable change in the lives of teens around us.