RELEVANT CHILDREN'S MINISTRY

I have an air mattress I use when camping or when we have company and need an extra place for someone to sleep.

The only thing about the mattress I don't like is this - it has a slow leak and over the course of the night it loses about half its air.

I need to take some time to find the hole and fix it.

My air mattress has something in common with people who volunteer in ministry. 

Just as the mattress has a slow leak, volunteers have a slow vision leak.  

Vision cast yesterday that is not refilled today will be forgotten tomorrow. 

Peter knew this and he had a solution that still works today, if you'll follow it.

Check it out...

"I will always be ready to REMIND you of these things, even though you already know them, and have been established in the truth which is present with you."  
2 Peter 1:12

Peter says he will always be ready to remind the believers of the truths He has shared with them. 

Casting vision for your volunteers is not a one and done.   It's an ongoing process.  In fact, it has to be.  Why?  Because our natural tendency is to revert to the "what."   Teaching a lesson.  Greeting a family.  Leading a worship song.  Facilitating a small group.  Setting up crafts.  Checking kids and families in. 

That is "what" volunteers do.  But it must be grounded in the "why."  The why is so families can come to Christ.  The why is so kids can be discipled.  The why is being the arms of Jesus wrapping around families.

And that leaks.  If we don't remind volunteers again and again and again, the why will diminish and you'll end up with volunteers who are just going through the motions without passion and excitement.

If you want the why to be the dominant reason volunteers continue to serve, then do this.

Take people to the "why"  every time you have a volunteer meeting.  Mention it briefly in every email you send out.  Put it on a poster and put it in classrooms and hallways so people see it each week.  Share stories of how people are being reached and discipled. 

Be like the Apostle Peter and always be ready to remind people of the why.

Here's a simple test you can take to see if you're reminding your volunteers sufficiently.   Ask them what the vision statement is for the ministry.  If most of your volunteers can't tell you the answer, then you're not reminding them enough.

Don't fall into the trap of thinking, "I reminded them about the vision a few months ago.  I don't need to remind them again that soon."

I would encourage you to remind volunteers about the vision every single week in some format.  Whether it's in an email, at your pre-service huddle or part of a video, remind them, remind them, remind them. 

You can get more proven insight into building a volunteer team in my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams."  It's available at www.buildingchildrensministry.com.  

Walt's vision for creating Disneyland was at a crossroads.  To move forward, it had to be approved by the board of directors.  Several of the board members were complaining that Disney shouldn’t even enter the amusement park business.  Walt had to convince them that his vision was viable.

"As he stood before the board, he admitted that it was hard for them to envision Disneyland the way he could, but he assured them, ‘there’s nothing like it in the world.  I know because I’ve looked.  That’s why it can be great: because it will be unique.  A new concept in entertainment, and I think...I know...it can be a success.’  When he finished there were tears in his eyes. The members of the board were persuaded.”

Walt knew how to effectively communicate his vision.  Here’s another great example as told by Ken Anderson, one of the animators who worked on the original film Snow White.  He shares how Walt communicated the vision with the animators.

“Walt gave us fifty cents each in the afternoon and he said, ‘Why don’t you go get yourself a dinner and be back here at eight o’clock.  Be back on the soundstage.’  So we went and had this wonderful dinner - you could have a wonderful dinner for thirty-five cents.  And came back to the confines of the studio and he walked in, still not knowing what it was all about, walked into this sound stage that was all dark so we could save money.  So we, about forty of us sat there, and we got all settled and Walt was talking to the guys in the front.  And he came down the front of the thing and said, ‘I’m gonna’ tell you a story.’  He says, ‘Been with me all my life.’  He said, ‘I’ve lived it.’  He started in and told the story of Snow White better than we put it on the screen. 

He spent from 8:00 to 11:30, and he portrayed all the parts.  He had to go forward and back and forward and back and the cutting didn’t matter, in order to tell it all and get it all in.  But he became even the Queen, he became the Huntsman, he became the dwarves, he became Snow White.  And the guy changed.  He sat right in front of our eyes and here comes Walt Disney changing.  Now there’s an enormous talent as an actor; he could really sell things.  And he sold the story to us in such a way that we couldn’t believe our ears."

From this inside look at Walt’s leadership, we learn that when a vision is effectively shared, people will be motivated to help make the vision become a reality.  Communicating your vision is a crucial part of seeing it become a reality.  Without Walt casting the vision, there would have been no Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.  You see, a vision that is not communicated properly will fall.

Let's look at some key elements of effectively communicating a vision.

Communicate the vision with passion.  Great leaders believe in their vision in the depths of their soul and it is obvious when they talk about it.  Did you notice that Walt had tears in his eyes as he shared his vision to build Disneyland?  Have you ever watched the video of Dr. King sharing his vision at the Washington Monument?  The passion for his vision echoed throughout his speech that day.  When president John F. Kennedy stood and uttered the words "so my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you ask what you can do for your country," his passion for the vision was evident.

A new logo.  Several times when we needed a fresh vision for a children’s ministry I had been called to lead, I would create a new logo.  A new logo can be a symbol of a new and exciting vision.  Make sure you have someone professionally create your logo.  A shabby or “I-did-it-myself ” logo will communicate that the vision is shabby.

Make sure new volunteers understand the vision.  This helps them see the “why” of their role and not just the “how” of their role.  A great place to do this is in a new volunteer orientation.

Communicate the vision at the beginning of a new year.  Each January, I take our staff team on a one-day retreat.  During this retreat, I share the vision for the upcoming year.

Keep your vision statement as short as possible.  I sigh when I see a church’s vision statement that is a paragraph or longer.  There is no way people are going to remember something that long.  Our brains are wired to remember about 7 words or less.  That’s why our phone numbers are 7 digits long.  Use this not only to communicate upcoming events or programs, but your vision as well. 

This is an excerpt from the book If Disney Ran Your Children's Ministry.  You can get the book in eBook and hard copy formats at this link.