Most youth ministry workers don’t talk about it but they walk around with a tangible tension with certain members of their volunteer team.

Paul & Nick tackle the issue of conflict with your volunteer teams including some tips of how to avoid potential conflict and dealing with conflict you might already have.

We’re taking your questions on this subject & any others:

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Make sure you check out Paul’s Review of To Save a Life

Last night I had the privilege of watching an advanced screening of the movie “To Save a Life” and interviewing the writer of the movie Jim Britts who isn’t corporate Christian filmmaker, but a youth pastor who’s still in the trenches.

You can check out the website:

ToSaveaLifeLeaders.com

Jim also mentioned an “intense” curriculum that was designed for the movie which is available at:

http://www.tosavealifeleaders.com/resources/youthworkers/

Have a listen:

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In the last 2 G-140 Podcasts, we’ve been discussing working with volunteers.

In this weeks show, I talked about the importance of helping volunteers understand their commitment and getting their signoff on those very things.

The majority of youth workers don’t have a formal process of this and it causes tons of problems down the road:

• The volunteer doesn’t know what the vision is.
• The volunteer knows what you’ve said the vision is, but they’re not 100% committed to it though they are committed in some form to ministry.
• The volunteer doesn’t know what your expectations are of them.
• You have no way, as a leader, to be able to discuss shortcomings because you haven’t laid out the expecations.
• The volunteer doesn’t know what a win is and what the youth ministry values most.

And here’s a BIGGIE:

If you don’t have these things ironed out, there WILL be conflict.  What the volunteer sees as being important and what you see as important may be entirely different things.

And conflict should be expected if the volunteer cares about what your doing.  If a volunteer doesn’t know what’s expected and doesn’t quite get the vision but they just come in week in and week out then I’d have to question their overall heart commitment to what’s being done.

As promised on the Podcast, I’m including a simple “Commitments of  a Youth Leader” document that we actually used with our leadership.  Please keep in mind that I thoroughly gave a talk on vision, values, and philosophy of ministry so they knew what they were getting into, and THEN I went over specific expectations before asking them to sign on the dotted line.

A number of things are bulleted so feel free to comment or ask me any questions to bring clarity.

COMMITMENTS OF A YOUTH LEADER > [PDF]

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This week is part 2 of Paul & Nick’s thoughts on volunteers.

• What makes volunteers stick around for the long haul?
• The importance of giving ownership
• What about volunteers who don’t get it?
• Tips on how you can set your team up for success when they begin with you
• Volunteers who aren’t working out
• Evaluating volunteers
• Importance of feedback & celebration
• Eliminating your frustration with volunteers

& more…

Also check the blog because we will be adding some examples of volunteer commitment documents that we’ve used in the past.

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Volunteer turnover is a huge problem in youth ministry. What can you do to:

• Create a sense of loyalty
• Make people feel satisfied about their role
• Stay in  for the LONG haul?

Paul & Nick will discuss these things & more AND will take your questions!

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In Part 1 of the G-140 Podcast focusing on volunteers, Paul & Nick discussed the importance of vision and calling people into something rather than desperate pleas to serve. It was mentioned that Paul shared his passion and a snapshot of the point of youth ministry to the adult congregation at his church. Less than 10 days later, his youth ministry had 200 volunteers.

Here is an archive of that live talk from 2006:

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Paul & Nick discuss recruiting volunteers including:

• Desperation recruiting vs. Vision-based recruiting
• Recruiting strategically for position
• Placing people to serve based on gifting
• Balancing young & mature volunteers

Also, as promised, Paul’s live talk to his church in Orlando that preceded an influx of 200 volunteers. Get it>

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I know in our denominational region in South Florida, youth pastors lasted about 10 months.

Youth ministry is tough – arguably the toughest job in the church.

And a lot of youth workers are getting eaten up.

I find youth pastors to be some of the most passionate people on the planet.  And, as is the case with passion, those same people feel the hurt the most sometimes.

Over the next few weeks, I want to be able to speak to you – youth pastor to youth pastor, friend to friend.  If you were here in Ocean Beach/San Diego, we’d go hang out at the Living Room.  I’d order a Vietnamese coffee (a heart attack in a glass), and I’d plan on staying up all night to listen.

Since we probably won’t get that chance, I want to reach out to you before you give up; before you quit.  OR I want to help head off some things that you’re headed for that can wreck you.  And I’m not talking about sin issues.  I’m talking about the bumps and bruises you’re taking and how God wants you to be whole.

So lay some questions or your stories on me, to help as a guide as we talk about “Triage while you’re still in the Trenches.”

Look for the first episode of this series this weekend.

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Paul & Nick discuss:

• Less is more.
• Simplifying & maximizing events.
• If you had 140 characters, could you drive home a message?
• Tips on successfully promoting events.

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For the next G-140 Podcast, Paul is joined by PreteenMinistry.net’s Nick Diliberto to discuss Re-Thinking  Big Events Pt. 2. Nick is a longtime megachurch children’s/middle school pastor who has an amazing track record with attraction events.

More about Paul’s experience at: http://www.pauldabdoub.com/bio.html

We’ll be taking all questions related to this topic, as well as any questions that are on your mind.

We’ll be recording the Podcast on Saturday, October 17th, so we need your questions by Friday at Midnight.

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