I think of them as "Velcro volunteers."
They're the volunteers who offer to help out in children's church, and they just stick. Instead of helping for six months, they stay two years…five years…ten years…or more. I've got some volunteers who have been with the church for more than sixteen years.
Even after their own kids graduated to youth group, they’re still plugging away in children's ministry, giving us the benefit of their experience. They get better and better at working with kids.
They're the volunteers I usually end up promoting because they're serving with dedication, passion, and creativity. They become children's ministry leaders who direct other volunteers.
Velcro volunteers help out at VBS registration, and pretty soon they're staffing the Sunday morning registration booth. A year later they're running the registration booth and great things are happening.
I want volunteers like that. Don’t you?
Now, at my church we've got plenty of volunteer positions that don't require someone with years of experience. I have hundreds of volunteers who give me six months or a year and then move on. That's a fact of life, and I value those volunteers, too. God bless them.
But there are positions where experience matters, and that's where I want people who'll stick through thick and thin. Who'll hang in there through tough times of transition, reorganization, and growth.
I'm always on the lookout for Velcro volunteers, and here's the good news: You can set up your program so you have more and more of them working with you. I'll show you how to find, hang on to, and celebrate those great people in my children's ministry leadership book.