Once you identify who might be your volunteers, what’s your process look like? Do you interview volunteers? Do you hand them a small group and say good luck? If you don’t have any type of process, here’s a sample one that’s helped me onboard volunteers to the ministry and have them be ready to go when they show up to youth group for the first time.

First, you gotta pray. Let’s make sure we start there. It’s always good to pray before the process and with your potential volunteer. You want to know that you’re both following God’s will in this process.

Get Their Testimony and Sign on Church Beliefs

It’s rare, but there are situations where someone can be really involved in church life, but not love Jesus. Church might just be the culture of their family or the place where they grew up. And then they just end up wanting to hang at church because it’s what they do.

When you ask a volunteer for their testimony, you’re asking them to explain to you how they first knew they believed in Jesus and what keeps them following Him today. It’s a great place to start.

What is also really helpful is having a document your church puts out that lines out what the church believes. The line I used with volunteers I was hiring was “You don’t have to 100% agree with everything here, but you do have to agree not to teach something different than this”.

Getting them to sign that statement and the beliefs of the church can save you a lot of heartache later if a volunteer goes rouge.

Have them Watch Youth Ministry 101

DYM University has some great videos on introducing volunteers to youth minsitry. If they’ve never been in a youth group or it’s been a long time, then this approach helps them remember what they’re going to be doing and why it matters.

It also gives you some really helpful shared language when it comes to volunteers leading in ministry. You have a great chance to help potential volunteers to understand what youth ministry looks like before they step into it.

Plus, if they can’t give you an hour of watching some really great youth ministry content in order to be in the youth group, do you really want them volunteering?

Hand them a Job Description

Having a written down list of expectations will be really valuable to both your potential leaders and to you as a the youth pastor.

Clarity is kindness.

You want volunteers to know exactly what you’re asking them to do and you want to know that you clearly communicated everything that you need to share with them on the front end.

I always put things like “Show up at this time” and “Serve for the current school year”. You may want to put some additional things like church expectations and any safety standards that your church has in place.

These all make things really simple to reference back to at any other point, but it also makes sure your potential volunteer knows exactly what they’re signing up for.

Anything else you’d add to the interview process? I’d love to know!

When you’re teaching your students, you want to have a great opener and do some good Bible study. You may want to have some great illustrations, graphics, and questions.

But what about what you want students to take away from the teaching time? I’ve had students tell me they remember the story I told or the joke I butchered. But what I really want them to do is have their lives changed.

So what about the application?

Actionable

The first thing we need to do is make sure that students can actually take action on what we’re teaching them. If we’re doing a lesson on faith and we tell students to have more faith, what do we want them to do? It’s hard to measure if someone had more faith this week than they did the week before.

Something that is actionable is something that a student can do. When you’re planning your application section, ask yourself if a student could know with certainty that they had tried to put the lesson to the test.

For example, if your lesson is on prayer, then you could ask students to pray one time a day. You don’t have to tell them to pray for a certain amount of time or about a certain topic, but if they spend any amount of their day praying every day for a week, they’ll know that they put your lesson to the test.

Memorable

The second thing you want to do is make sure that students can remember to do what you’ve asked them to do. There are different ways you could do this. You could send them a text later on and ask them how they’re doing with the application. You could have them write it down on an index card and tape it to their bathroom mirror. You could give them something that you want them to carry around for a week that will remind them of the application.

Whatever it is, make sure students can remember the application. Whether you give them something, ask them to write it down, or send them a text, make sure the application is memorable!

Check in next week

The biggest part of all this is checking in with them a week after you teach. I know most of the time we think that the lesson is over, so we’re done and can move on to next week. But what if we spent some of our teaching time checking in on how things went the week before?

This might actually be a great time to involve small group leaders so that they can follow up with students as well. This is a great check on your application. If a small group leader asked a student whether or not they put your lesson to work, would the student know for sure whether or not they did?

We want to be creative in our teaching and have students study the Bible! We know that the Holy Spirit is involved and active in changing their lives. But when it comes to application, we want to help students as best we can. And the best way we can do that is to make sure the application we challenge them with is actionable, memorable, and something we can check in with them on.

Is there anything that I missed? I’d love to know!

Only once in my 16 years of Youth Ministry have I heard a youth pastor say they had enough volunteers. The cohort we were running roasted him for it. Who says they have enough volunteers?

Most youth ministries are craving people to help out. But how do you get volunteers to show up and be vital members of the Youth Ministry?

Know what you’re asking them to do

If you asked me to help you move, there’s a pretty good chance I’ll say no. Am I going to pack boxes? Do you need me to move furniture? Is it going to be all day long? Do I need to bring my truck? Do you plan on feeding me lunch? These are all important conversations and questions!

You can feel like that in Youth Ministry.

When we ask people to volunteer in the Youth Ministry but don’t have a specific task in mind, it can be daunting for people who don’t know what they’re signing up for!

Make sure you have a specific task in mind when you are recruiting someone for your Youth Ministry.

Seventh-grade boys Small Group player.
Worship band rehearsal lead.
Head snack hander-outer.

You get the idea.

Have a specific period of time in mind

Sometimes people can feel overwhelmed when you ask them to volunteer. They’re not sure if they’re signing up for a week or a lifetime. And if you don’t communicate it to them, honestly, that’s on you.

Make sure you have a timeframe in mind. Whether it’s for a semester, a school year, or all six to seven years a student is in the youth group, say that up front. You want a potential volunteer to know what they’re getting into.

A second side benefit of asking someone to volunteer for a set period of time is, if it isn’t working out like you had hoped, you can say, “Thanks for serving!” at the end of their time and not ask them to volunteer for a second round.

Hey, you’re going to have to fire a volunteer eventually. This is just the easiest way to do it.

Make a list of everyone who could volunteer

I know often youth pastors say they just don’t have anyone who can volunteer. I want to push back on that!

If you take a moment and write down every single adult who could possibly be a Youth Ministry volunteer, you’d have a great pool of people to start reaching out to.

Think of the parents of your teenagers. You probably won’t have them being their son’s or daughter’s Small Group leader, but that doesn’t mean they can’t volunteer in the Youth Ministry at all.

And what about grandparents? They have a vested interest in these teenagers as well.

Then think about students who have graduated out of Youth Ministry but have already done a year or two of college. If they’re still around, they likely care a whole lot about the Youth Ministry as well.

See? Now you’ve got a big list of people you could ask for volunteers. And don’t play the Holy Spirit for anybody. Give them the choice to say no. Don’t say no for them!

That’s how I’d go about recruiting volunteers. Anything you’d add? Let me know!

I was getting coffee with a friend the other day and they talked about teaching their employees to “lock-through.” I’m a millennial with Gen Z and Gen Alpha kids, so I know what “Lock In” means. 

This was a new one for me so I asked him to explain it.

Channel Locks Control Water Heights

He told me that boats need to go from one body of water to the next where the water is at different heights. Instead of going on a wild theme park ride, ships need to go through a complicated process of entering into a hold, having two big gates close behind and in front of the boat. Then the water either rises or lowers to match the desired water level where they want to go. It’s actually a lengthy process to make sure the boat doesn’t get overwhelmed, the water stays calm, and the boat goes to where it needs to go safely.

Lock the doors behind you

When you go home, do you have a habit of taking work with you? Do you answer every text, work on your youth group lesson, and skip dinner to head to a student’s basketball game?

Ministry CAN be all encompassing if you let it. THere will be times when special events and emergencies happen, but if those occur all the time, they’re no longer emergencies or special. They’re just all the time.

When you leave or sign off for the day, lock the doors behind you. Let work stay at work. Do whatever you need to remind yourself that you’re “off the clock” and are heading home. Maybe it’s turning on “do no disturb” or just saying “Whatever is on my to-do list I can do tomorrow” over and over until you remember it.

Take the time to reset

Doug Fields talked about going from work to a local fast food restaurant to drink a soda and read the newspaper for about half an hour before heading home. 

What could that look like for you? Maybe it’s heading out a little early to stop by a local coffee shop and get a drink. Or run by the grocery store to pick up something you need for dinner. Whatever it is, take the intentional time to reset.

I used to live 25 minutes from the church I worked at. I’d listen to an audiobook or podcast that didn’t have anything to do with work. It was a great chance to reset. When I moved only 5 minutes away from church, it was a lot more difficult for me to transition. I learned that I needed some time! Don’t rush. Make sure you can take the time to go from one space to the next in your head and your heart.

Be completely “there”

If the channel locks ever broke, there’d be a rush of water from one side to the next and a lot of chaos. The doors are locked on purpose!

When you’re home, be all there. Put your phone on a charger. Ask your spouse how THEIR day was. Get involved in your kid’s homework. Do the dishes. Whatever it takes to be fully home, commit yourself to it.

Don’t let the role invade your space. Be present with your family and your spouse. If you’re single, it’s just as important to not bring work home. Spend time with friends. Get involved in a hobby. Let your mind and heart be present where you are.

These things will help you last for the long haul in ministry. What can you start putting into practice to help yourself “lock-through” in the future?