Over the years, there is one thing I have noticed about the CM ministry…very few want to volunteer in it!
I don’t mean that this is the case at any one church. I mean that people don’t seem to want to volunteer in CM everywhere. But why?
For me, I believe the root cause of this is based on people’s past experiences in CM and also their misunderstanding of the ministry in general. These things begin to shape their view of CM, so much so that they may say stuff to you like…
- “I never wanted to lead that ministry and was ‘guilt tripped’ into it.”
- “I remember being in kid’s church, it wasn’t that fun why would I help now?”
- “I don’t think I have a place or belong in there.”
- “My friend said that she filled in once to help out and they never let her out.”
- “I had nursery duty every Sunday at my old church, I never went to service”
- “I got burned out on kids at my last church and no one cared”
- “My kids are grown what do I care about CM”
- “It’s only childcare…right?”
- “I’m not good with kids so maybe I could do something different”
- “I helped CM when I was younger since no one else would, it’ someone else’s turn.”
Even though we don’t want to admit it, many times CM is viewed as ‘the black hole’ of the church. It’s the place people go to help (they’re made to feel guilty if they don’t) and they NEVER get out of it!
Sadly, in some cases, that may be true. However, if we are doing CM like God has called us to…IT’S NOT AT ALL TRUE! None the less, new people to our church or people that have never seen our church’s CM don’t know that! So, what do we do to ‘help’ or ‘rectify’ the situation…?
- Care for the volunteers you have, they will spread the good news!
- Cast vision like mad (when we feel like we’ve said it 1000 times, people are just starting to get it)
- Constantly tell stories of LIFE change that have happened in CM at your church
- Do not argue or debate how CM really is awesome (they need to see it, not hear it)
- Make it clear that CM has a place for EVERYONE (upon background check approval)
- Give people time off, every week all the time is INSANE!
- Empower and give ownership without burning them out
I’m sure I could go on, but I think you see where I am going. If people do happen to view CM as ‘a black hole’ then nothing we say will change that, but what we do (& time, and God working on their hearts) will.
Be the change you want to see! What are some other ways we can do this? Or what are some stories you might have of situations like this? Share with us!
May 7th, 2008 at 9:38 am
My key is being a ‘Glass Half Full’ person. I’m amazed at how many CM Pastors I know that complain to their volunteers about not having more volunteers. For God’s Sake be POSITIVE! Who wants to jump on a sinking ship?
May 7th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Exactly!
Many times we forget that its not a volunteers job to feel the weight of responsibility (being short on volunteers, etc.) that comes with ministry. Should they feel responsibility, yes…but not what is our responsibility.
It’s also not their job to fix what we probably messed up!
Great thoughts Jonathan!
Thanks!
pudge
May 8th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Very good stuff! When recruiting, I give an option of serving 3, 6 or 12 months and once they are on the schedule, very rarely do I have someone who doesn’t recommit. People don’t want to feel they are there until Jesus returns! Also, we recently made some huge progress and additions to our nursery ministry that made my lead pastor so happy he has been recruiting for me from the pulpit! That sure doesn’t hurt.