Guest post by Ben Lock

Youth Minister

New Heights Christian Church

One of the most difficult parts of a youth worker’s job tends to be recruiting volunteers, but it doesn’t have to be. Something that is required for youth ministries to grow is help. Many of us, myself included, sometimes wish that we could do it ourselves or clone ourselves to be the leaders we need. For better and healthier ministry to happen, we have to have others around the table. I heard it said somewhere that the more of your ministry that you are willing to give away, the more it will continue to grow. To gain people in our ministry, we have to recruit them. In my time as a youth worker, a lot of strategies that I have tried have failed. The one strategy that is successful though, is when I ask others to be involved. If people tell me that they cannot recruit anyone to help in their ministry, my first question I ask is, “Who have you asked to be involved in your youth ministry?” Here are some ways that asking people to be involved in your ministry works.

They see the need.

If you try to announce from the front stage, or through social media that help is needed, people expect that others will sign-up to help. On the other hand, if you go up to them and let them know the kind of help you need, that certain person may be more apt to join the team. In my experience of recruiting volunteers, way more people have said yes to helping than no, when I ask them face-to-face or by messaging them because they see the need. There are so many different options to show that there is a need in your ministry that needs to be filled.

It shows that they are valued.

When you personally ask someone that you would like for them to be involved in the youth ministry, it shows them that they are valued before they even begin. Out of all the people you could choose from, you chose them. They see that and are valued through it. People love to feel valued. Matthew felt valued when Jesus told him to “Follow me and be my disciple,” (Matthew 9:9 NLT). If you ask someone to be your disciple out of everyone in the crowd, it shows that you think they, out of all the people around, can make a difference in students’ lives.

You don’t have to do it alone

We never have to recruit by ourselves. The good news is that you can use the leaders already involved in your youth ministry to help. You can ask which people would be great to have involved, or to go a step further, have those certain leaders ask people to get involved. When I first started in my ministry position, it was like hitting the reset button on the Nintendo. We had to restart the game with our youth ministry. This meant recruiting new leaders for almost every ministry that I oversee. I had to ask a lot of people in the congregation who they see fit to be involved with the youth. I would then try my best to either ask in person, by phone, or text to ask if they would like to help with our youth ministry.

The power of asking others to be involved in your ministry can be a game changer when it comes to recruiting new leaders. It has changed how I recruit volunteers and is just one way to effectively gain new leaders to your respective ministries.