Recruiting volunteers for children’s ministry is always a daunting task. Here’s 10 tips to make it easier.

1. Develop friendships. It’s easier to recruit somebody who believes you care about him or her more than you care about what he can do for you.

2. Keep the children before the congregation. Children who are never seen will be forgotten. Find ways to keep children’s ministry in front of the congregation. Give testimonies. Give children a part to play in the adult service. Have children’s choirs and dramas. Find creative ways to remind your congregation how important children’s ministry is.

3. Give regular updates about the good things going on in children’s ministry. People are more willing to volunteer for a ministry if there are exciting things going on.

4. Have your pastor talk about the children’s ministry. If people know children’s ministry is on the pastor’s heart, they will be more likely to volunteer.

5. Have a recruiting drive one month a year. Let the congregation know this is the time to sign up. Give them the option of making a commitment for a certain period of time so they don’t feel like they will be trapped forever in kidmin.

6. Ask for temporary workers. Let the volunteer get his feet wet without having to commit to anything.

7. Ask. Some people will never take the initiative. They’re waiting to be asked.

8. Have job descriptions in writing. Let them know what their responsibilities will be.

9. Have teacher training in place. Don’t use the method of throwing a worker in a room with a teacher manual. Only a few will last past the first month.

10. Have a list of requirements,  and do screening. Let your volunteers know you don’t accept just anyone. Those being recruited want to make a difference. They don’t want to feel like you’ll take any warm body.

Teacher Training for new teachers has run the gambit from very rigid to none at all.

Some churches hand the wide-eyed new recruit the Sunday School quarterly and point to a classroom of twenty-eight year olds. One month later that teacher’s eyes are wide for another reason and, as she mumbles to herself, she hands the quarterly back to the children’s pastor telling him this isn’t her calling. This leaves the children’s pastor scrambling for another victim.  

In other churches, strict training chases away busy recruits who would be great with children. The recruit is told he must attend twelve weeks of training and take a test in order to teach. The recruit explains he works on Saturdays, the day of the training, or that is his family day. Also he’s not good with tests. He sweats profusely and has panic attacks when he tries to take them. The children’s pastor is adamant. Unless he goes through this rigorous training, he can’t be a teacher. The recruit reluctantly declines.

Things are not like they used to be. People’s lives are busier than ever with various activities making teacher training meetings difficult. On the other hand, without training, the teachers are unprepared for what awaits them. But there are many other training methods a church can use.

Mentoring: Some children’s pastors use this method as their primary method of teacher training. Once they find a recruit, they put her in a classroom with a seasoned teacher for anywhere to four to twelve weeks. The trainee, at first, observes the teacher. Then the teacher will give the trainee different parts of the lesson to teach. Finally the trainee demonstrates she’s ready by preparing and teaching the whole lesson. This is, by far, the best method. Its one drawback is you have to have seasoned teacher to place the recruit under. If you don’t have good teachers, this method will fail.

Training Sessions: Some children’s pastors use training sessions effectively. They will have one long session on a Saturday or allow the recruit to attend a couple of sessions at night. With this method, you must plan so that you can impart all the information needed in these limited sessions. The drawback to this method is that, although the recruit is armed with information on how to teach, he has no experience before starting. Still, if your church doesn’t have experienced teachers, it is a good alternative.

At Home Study: Recruits take home booklets, DVD’s, or CD’s to train on their own. This method is effective in churches where it is almost impossible to get workers to come to any training sessions, and the church doesn’t have effective teachers to mentor under. It’s not the best method to use, but it can work in those situations. One caution I would recommend is to have the worker give you a summary of what she has learned before starting. This will eliminate recruits throwing the materials on the kitchen counter and never looking at them again.

Teacher training has always been frustrating. But it can be effective if you find the model that works for your church and follow through on it.

I used this teacher training and thought I would pass it on. Even though it’s common sense, sometimes volunteers need to be reminded.

 Be Ready

• One of the most important things that will happen in your class is what happens before you ever get there.
• Prepare your lesson.
• Prepare spiritually.

Start Out With a Good Impression

• If you come to class 10 minutes late and unprepared, the class will take over during the free time.
• Parents, especially new parents will feel uncomfortable leaving their children in a class with a teacher who is late.
• Be ready to greet the children and their parents.

 Don’t Play the “Where Are You?” Game

• Do not release children without their parents.
• Do not release children to people you don’t know.
• Do not release your class to another classroom teacher.
• Do not release children to teenagers or other children.
• Be with your children at all times.
• If a child has to go to the restroom, have someone either take them or watch for them.
• Don’t draw children out of other classrooms to help you. Then their teacher won’t know where they are.
• If you must allow an older child to go to the restroom alone, use the buddy system.

 Can You Be Trusted?

• Can you be trusted to model a lifestyle to the children that their parents would want them to imitate?
• Can parents trust you to be loving and respectful to their children?
• Will you safeguard children’s safety when they are in your care?
• Can children trust you to be faithful to be there on time for them or to make arrangements when you can’t be there?