boneless chicken ranch

Okay, so here's what happened today.....
I was checking out children's ministry blogs and I stumbled upon "www.thewayweseeitblog.com." As I read through the leadership category I came across one written by Jim Wideman, it's exactly what I have been trying to verbalize for 5 months now! Here's an excerpt from Mr. Wideman's post....

".............Yes today’s The Far Side Comic was Boneless Chicken Ranch. Every time I look at it it reminds me the importance of structure. Without the right structure in place we can’t move our ministries where they need to go. Yes, they have all the chicken parts, and they look like real chickens but they are stuck right where they are. The only hope for a boneless chicken is a bone structure. The only hope for a ministry to grow and go where God wants it to go is to change your old or nonexistent structure and replace it with a growth structure."

I have been wrestling with a coworker regarding the children's ministry at our church. When I took this position I knew there was attention needed, especially in the details! The ministry had all the parts, vision, mission, values, but it was stuck! The (quote, unquote) details were not on anyones radar. My coworker and several parents kept telling me to get new furniture, update the decor, get new games, ministry attire for the volunteers, etc. That sounds great and all, but isn't that just like dressing up a pig?

I decided it would be more beneficial to start with the basics, or backbone! Application to work with children, background checks on all volunteers, secure children's area, volunteer orientation, team gathering to reiterate the vision, mission and values, volunteer name tags, deep cleaning the carpets, floors and classrooms, taking down all the dated and dusty decor. (The cleaning alone created a huge buzz, seriously, no joke!) Because of these small changes, several people decided to not only leave the ministry, but leave the church. I'm not kidding. I started to feel like the plague, but I now know that they were focused on what they were doing, not what God could and would do!

The crazy thing is that after 5 months of small, mostly behind the scenes changes, there is excitement in the children's area, people are calling me to sign up to serve. Yes, you read that right! Volunteers are inviting their friends to serve. Word of mouth is the best PR you can get! I just ordered t-shirts for all the volunteers, something my coworker suggested. If I would have done that 5 months ago they would have ended up in the closet or garage sale, not now, the volunteers are proud to say they serve God by serving His children! I am a very driven person and looking at what has happened in the past 6 months usually isn't my deal, I am focused on what still needs to be done, but after reading about the "boneless chicken ranch" I started praising God for allowing me to see Him at work. He has really done an amazing work, probably because He is an amazing God!

A Children's Ministry Conversation

Check out Craig Jutila's new blog, www.liquidleadership.tv. He just might be coming to your city!

you have been released

Have you ever had to fire a volunteer? I personally consider it "releasing." It just sounds better. I have had the unfortunate task of releasing a volunteer twice in the past 2 years. One just happened yesterday.

Something I assume everyone knows is you only get one chance to make a first impression. First impressions are so important, especially in children's ministry!! As parents, we want to make sure our children are in a clean, safe environment with people who love them. The atmosphere is exciting, volunteers are actually thrilled your child is there! And when you drop your child off at his or her classroom, you are both warmly greeted and your child doesn't even have time to say; "Bye, have fun in big church." (Everything sounded great until that last quote, that just doesn't happen!) Anyway, what do you do when a volunteer has a great heart, is committed, but is so abrasive to parents they don't want to return? To me, it's perfectly clear, you release them.

1 Corinthians 10:32 says it all; "Do not call anyone to stumble, whether Jews, Greeks, or the church of God."

If you have a volunteer who is causing parents to not return, or to stumble, you must release them. I am not saying they can't serve anywhere, they just can't serve in an upfront position. I know it sounds so easy and cut and dry, but truthfully it is a very hard thing to do. Remember, I fired a volunteer who was committed to the vision, who has a heart for Jesus and His children. There were tears shed and feelings were hurt, but when you consider the number of people who might not hear the saving message of Jesus Christ because a volunteer is in the wrong spot, it's worth it.

As children's leaders, we must make sure people are serving in the best location based on their giftedness. We also need to make sure they have the people skills to be in that position. People are wired differently, some have people skills and some do not. If you are not up for releasing volunteers, take the extra time necessary to make sure people skills are on your radar when you look for giftedness.