In all my years in family ministry, I have yet to meet a ministry leader who could single-handedly pull off all that is necessary for successful Sunday programming. (I would describe a successful Sunday in kids ministry as one where (1) every child goes home, uninjured with the correct parents (2) a relevant message about Jesus was taught and explained in an age-appropriate way (3) fun was had by all.
Whether you lead a guest service team, parking team, family ministry team, or otherwise; volunteers are necessary for success. And a healthy volunteer culture is one in which you have a consistently growing, engaged team. If you have been in ministry, or leading ANY team, for any length of time, the chances are that at some point you have experienced (or heard stories about) an unhealthy, or ‘dimming’ team culture. Some of the team is hanging on, but you can feel the healthy culture, slowly exiting the building with each passing Sunday.
Signs of an unhealthy team culture:
If you have observed any of the following, consider it a warning sign, that your team may be headed towards an unhealthy culture.
- Team members who once arrived on time – don’t any more.
- Saturday night is riddled with ‘call-outs’, and not for explainable reasons (sickness, family emergency, etc).
- Text messages, emails, voicemails; basic team communication, get little, if any reply or engagement.
- A typical response to ‘How was everything today?’ Is “ummmm, it was O.K. I guess” with a ‘sad’ or seemingly annoyed demeanor. (OR you can’t even ask them how it was because they rattle off a list of everything single thing that was negative from their time serving.)
- NO SHOWS. (You thought they were coming. You just can’t SEE them. Perhaps they sent their invisible twin?)
The good news? You CAN improve your team culture BY next Sunday!
Here are 3 EASY and FREE things you implement THIS week that will begin to have a positive impact on your team culture by next Sunday.
- Personal Contact. Early this week – reach out to each individual on your team. Make it personal. Check on their family, ask about work, see what they’ve been up to on social media, ask about that, etc. And: ASK how you can pray for them! This will communicate to them that they matter to you, their leader, as a person, not just because they check off a need on your ‘list’ of spots to fill.
- FOLLOW-Up, Encourage, Say THANK YOU. Within a few days, reach back out. Let the individual know that you ACTUALLY did pray for them and share a verse to encourage them. For example: “Hello Jenny. Wanted to let you know I prayed for you today. Thank you for the way you use the gifts God gave you, every Sunday when you show up to engage our elementary students. You are such a valuable part of the team.” (takes 1 minute or less!)
- Share a story. Keep the ‘WHY‘ in front of them. There are ‘wins’ every single Sunday in your ministry area. The WINS are ‘why‘ showing up to serve on your team, each week, matters. Share a win via team email, whatever group texting app you use or however else you blast out information. Here’s a few ideas…
- If a preschooler has cried and refused to participate, for the last 5 weeks and last week was the first time he participated = WIN.
- If a mom mentioned to you that her son asked every day this week, when he got to go back to church = WIN.
- If visitors from last week, returned AGAIN for the 2nd week in a row = WIN.
- If a child asks questions in small group about having a personal relationship with Jesus = WIN.
When we communicate to our team that they matter to us and their investment is having an impact, we begin to see team culture start to shift.
For large teams, take advantage of the leadership structure you have in place. You pour into your highest level leaders and then equip them to pour into those that they lead. If it feels overwhelming, just start some where.