recruiting the right youth leaders

I recently helped out with some recruiting efforts at my church for youth ministry.  I assist in Family Ministries there and recently just did a three-week push for children’s ministry recruitment and received a total of 17 new volunteers in one recruitment effort (email me here if you want to know how it happened!).  During the effort, we were able to explain exactly what areas of ministry we needed assistance with and prepared position descriptions to let people know exactly what the volunteer position entailed.  All the position descriptions were custom made to supply our children’s ministry with what we currently need to achieve more maximization of our vision and serve our children and their families well (and better in some circumstances).  For a sample of our children’s ministry position descriptions, shoot me an email and I can send you a few.  Coming in March, we will be launching our Examples Family website which will have a section dedicated to Children’s Ministry and items like this for you to download freely and use for your ministry. 

Anyway, as the e-mails began to fly around preparing for this next attempt to recruit for youth ministry, I began to wonder about youth ministry positions - are our current positions tailor made for our ministry and what we needed?  It reminded me of a question a Youth Ministry Director sent me a few weeks ago after reading an article on our site called “Relational Youth Ministry – Leader Communication with Parents.”    See the question below:

I would like to hear some more suggestions related to this article. We have horrible troubles with communicating to parents even though we do all of the things suggested above. We’ve tried mailing letters, and they say they never get them. We try e-mailing multiple times about everything we do, but parents still act oblivious to what’s happening in the youth group. I really don’t have time to call each parent in the youth group individually for every event. We’re just not sure what to do about this problem.

Well, the problem she describes is definitely not uncommon when working in youth ministry.  A couple of things come to mind when I consider her issue:

1. She may need another hand or two to help out in her youth ministry…or at minimum have her current leaders, if she has the luxury of having leaders on her team, take on additional responsibility to assist her.

2. Maybe creating a position called “Parent Connections Coordinator” could help in directing a new or current volunteer on this specific need and how to go about meeting it.  Just think about it – having one person dedicated to building relationships between the parent and the youth ministry…especially in a smaller church (1 – 500 members is what I’m thinking) – this could potentially go a long way and be very effective.

The volunteer positions that you create don’t have to be ones that are common to other youth ministries.  Drama Coordinator, Small Groups Leader, Jr. High Coordinator, Game Room Supervisor, Alter Worker, etc…all of these are definitely positions that volunteers can fill.  But when you have a specific need, and no extra hands to help meet it, then recruiting may be in order…and having a description to explain your specific need can help you find just the right volunteer match as well as let them know exactly what they are committing to.

Here is a sample position description template for you to use for reference when creating yours.  This is a position we created specifically for what we need here at XYM.  If you have any other questions regarding developing position descriptions and recruting, feel free to comment below!

Position Description – Entertainment/Youth Culture Researcher

 

great tragedy leads to great love

Close to 200,000 people are dead, more than a million are homeless and the injured include hundreds of thousands. Whether anyone has a connection to Haiti or not, the aftermath is seen through the same lens – a horrific one that reflects the likes of an apocalyptic film. But it is usually in the midst of great tragedy, where many of us show our extension of God’s love towards strangers. This disaster is no different.

“Love is patient and kind (I Cor 13:4).” Many generously wanted to send food, clothes and blankets. However, the best tool Haiti could ever acquire for the massive earthquake cleanup would be the funds to keep the rescue efforts coming. And many responded accordingly. U.S. Magazine reported that celebrities helped raise $9 million in one night on Larry King Live. And this does not include donations the average household contributed to the American Red Cross and other charities. Even the young generation broke media relief records by texting contributions through cell phones and chalking up a $10 charge on next month’s bill. 

 “Love never gives up, never loses faith… (I Cor 13:7).”Aid organization Doctors Without Borders had five supply planes diverted from their rescue mission. But it didn’t stop the organization from using quick thinking to do their absolute all in saving lives. Renzo Fricke, the group’s chief in Haiti, told CNN that in order to make life-saving operations: “This morning we had to buy a saw in the market, in the city … for our surgeons to do amputations,” he said, “the medical equipment is not coming as it should arrive.”

Everyone can do something to make a difference in some way.  No matter your age or your financial position or where you live, we call can do something to help in the relief efforts in Haiti.

1. Give, give, give.  The relief effort in Haiti is not going away any time soon.  There are months of work ahead for the Haitian people to rebuild and financial support will need to keep coming.  Find a local charity (or maybe your local church has something going there) to give financially to as often as you or as God leads.  Examples supports Compassion International, a Christian child advocacy ministry that releases children from spiritual, economic, social and physical poverty and enables them to become responsible, fulfilled Christian adults.  http://www.compassion.com  You can make a donation directly to their Haiti relief effort by clicking the below:

https://www.compassion.com/contribution/default.htm

2. Pray, pray, pray.  We should all pray frequently regarding the recovery of Haiti.  Prayer for the families that lost loved ones, for children who lost parents and siblings, for families that lost homes, for individuals that lost everything, for the government to rebuild and strengthen.  There is so much to pray for and God will hear you and answer.

3. Mission Trips.  If the opportunity presents itself, consider taking a missions trip to Haiti to help in the relief efforts and serve the Haitian people with God’s love.  Northwest Haiti Christian Mission is just one organization that is offering opportunities to travel to Haiti to minister to their people.  http://www.nwhcm.org  Your local church may also be planning trips for you and your family to get involved in. 

We all are able to do at least one of the above items in order to help this country.  If you know of other ways for people to get involved with Haiti relief, please let us know by posting a comment or contacting us at contact@examplesyouth.org.  We will review and post for others to read about.

family entertainment – “Alice in Wonderland” in 3D

I’m late, I’m late, I’m late for a very important date.  No time to say “Hello”, “Goodbye” I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.

These are some of the most memorable lines in “Alice and Wonderland”.  Do you remember…?  The White Rabbit of course!  This begins Alice’s journey as she follows the White Rabbit down the rabbit hole into Wonderland. 

This was one of my favorite movies growing up as a child.  I remember watching it constantly with my two cousins.  Alice adventure ran her into some interesting characters such as the Cheshire Cat, the March Hare, the Red Queen and who could forget the Mad Hatter.

Well guess what….Alice has returned to Wonderland!  That’s right…Disney has made a 3-D sequel scheduled for release March 5th.  In the sequel Alice is now 19 and attends a party at a Victorian estate shortly after the death of her father. The party is a surprise engagement party for Alice planned by her mother and sister. Just as the arrogant and dull Hamish Ascot proposes to Alice under a gazebo and under the eyes of hundreds of snooty society-types, Alice spots a white rabbit wearing a waistcoat and pocket watch. In shock and confusion, she runs off into a maze and follows the White Rabbit through it, only to later tumble down a rabbit hole into Wonderland, a place she has visited ten years before, yet doesn’t remember. In Wonderland, she reunites with her childhood friends, including the Mad Hatter, who explains to Alice that they need her help in over-throwing the Red Queen, who has assumed control of all Wonderland. Alice then embarks — assuming both large and small sizes — on an adventure of self discovery and to save Wonderland and her Wonderland friends from both the Jabberwocky and the Red Queen’s reign of terror.

 The movie is not currently rated but should prove to be a good family flick.  Go check it out and let us know what you think!

Watch the movie trailer here.

By Valerie Kennedy (adapted from Wikipedia)
XYM Entertainment Researcher