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How to Retain Your Youth Ministry Volunteers for Years! · Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Today we're talking about pro tips for how to retain your volunteer team for the long haul.
• 0:16
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry.
• 0:23
  Speaker 1: My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen Laskola, and today we're going to talk about something that youth pastors want to talk about all the time, because it will always be not a challenge, but something that you've never really arrived at and can check off your list is how to retain your volunteers.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: Like you can never say, oh, I've retained them, like I can just let my foot off the gas now.
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: This is like an ongoing thing.
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: As long as you have a team working under you volunteers, leaders, directors, interns, whatever you're calling them, or a mix of all of it you've never arrived at.
• 1:01
  Speaker 1: Well, I retained them.
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: It's like you've got to continue to retain them.
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: You know, it's like that thing of like when people get married and they're like, well, I got you.
• 1:13
  Speaker 1: Now I can just, you know, put my feet up and the relationship kind of unravels.
• 1:16
  Speaker 1: It's like, well, just because someone's on the team and we've successfully recruited them, maybe you even trained them and you're very proud of like equipping them and training them.
• 1:26
  Speaker 1: But how do you keep them on your team?
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: How do you keep them interested?
• 1:30
  Speaker 1: And I talk a lot about this at youth ministry conferences, workshops, whatever it might be, because this is now like we're in it for the long haul now, like you've done the preliminary work and how do I keep you on my team and some of my volunteers?
• 1:49
  Speaker 1: You may have heard me mention on episodes prior.
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: They've been on my team for years years and years and years and years.
• 1:57
  Speaker 1: And so a while ago I started teaching other youth pastors.
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: Well, how do you keep these gems of people engaged in youth ministry that long?
• 2:06
  Speaker 1: And I think my longest volunteer right now is like something like I don't I'm going to get the math wrong, and then someone's going to see me at church and be like, no, it's actually this, so I don't know.
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: But years and years and years and years.
• 2:17
  Speaker 1: So, number one, I think one of the best ways to retain your volunteers.
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: And again, these aren't like manipulative tactics, these are just good, but they can be if you want them to be.
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: We don't want them to be.
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: They're just good habits of relationship that you need to be aware of.
• 2:34
  Speaker 1: And it's to become a pastor to your team.
• 2:37
  Speaker 1: And I want to stop for a second on the word pastor, because people get weird about that word and for a variety of reasons.
• 2:45
  Speaker 1: But here's all pastor really means is shepherd, that's it.
• 2:50
  Speaker 1: Like the word pastor really isn't even found in the Bible.
• 2:53
  Speaker 1: So it's a position that we've created to reflect the work that God asks us to do.
• 2:58
  Speaker 1: What does he ask Peter to do?
• 2:59
  Speaker 1: Feed my sheep, take care of my sheep.
• 3:02
  Speaker 1: And that, I think, kind of birthed this concept of what we call a pastor someone who cares for the flock and the sheep.
• 3:09
  Speaker 1: So we're not getting weird about well, who's a pastor, who's not?
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: Who can have that title, who can't?
• 3:15
  Speaker 1: Like, if you're shepherding and caring for God's people, then that's a pastor.
• 3:21
  Speaker 2: Right, by definition, you're pastoring a flock.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: Exactly so.
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: You know you're looking at your students and you're like that's a pastor by definition.
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: You're pastoring a flock, exactly so.
• 3:32
  Speaker 1: You're looking at your students and you're like that's my flock, but we've talked about before, your leaders are also your flock.
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: So putting on that pastor hat for them as well is really important.
• 3:38
  Speaker 1: And I think why people stay on a team, especially when they're just getting their feet wet and they're like I don't know about this whole youth ministry thing, you, as the ministry lead, have such great power and influence in that.
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: Because I remember when I was starting out in junior high ministry, this super sweet girl named Holly, who's still one of my best best friends, asked me to volunteer with junior hires.
• 4:02
  Speaker 1: I'm like what, I'll go check it out, but I no promises Right, and it took me a while to like, click with the ministry and click with the students and the other leaders.
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: But you want to know why I stayed Holly.
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: Every time after youth group she would like pull me aside.
• 4:20
  Speaker 1: How did it go?
• 4:21
  Speaker 1: And how was your small group?
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: And what did you think?
• 4:24
  Speaker 1: And I'd be like I don't know.
• 4:25
  Speaker 1: The kids like weren't really listening.
• 4:27
  Speaker 1: It was kind of tricky.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: Oh man, I know Like, and she would talk me through it and work through it and talk to my small group, or, you know, help coach me, and you know even little things, like every time a holiday popped up, she had a little.
• 4:40
  Speaker 1: I still have these socks.
• 4:42
  Speaker 1: She got me for Valentine's day.
• 4:44
  Speaker 1: You know just these sweet little gestures to say like I see you and she really.
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: You know I was in a dating relationship at the time and she don't be jealous, jeff.
• 4:54
  Speaker 1: I was like 18 years old, okay, um, and she would like.
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: You know I was trying to decide whether I should break up with him break up get rid of that loser?
• 5:06
  Speaker 1: I did and I it was hard.
• 5:09
  Speaker 1: You know I was like I don't know and she's like talking through it with me and you know it was like she cared for me as a person, not just like all right, here's the deal.
• 5:19
  Speaker 1: You need to be here seven to nine pm every tuesday night.
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: Here's your small group room.
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: These are your small group kids.
• 5:24
  Speaker 1: Make sure you take attendance and turn it in at the end of the night, like it wasn't this like procedural type of role.
• 5:30
  Speaker 1: It was like she was inviting me into relationship and modeling that and it gave me the endurance to survive as a young small group leader.
• 5:40
  Speaker 1: I'm like these kids are so disrespectful or like these kids don't listen to me, or it's really hard being a small group leader where I'm like these kids are so disrespectful or like these kids don't listen to me, or it's really hard being a small group leader sometimes.
• 5:48
  Speaker 1: And I have to say, looking back, she's the reason I kept going.
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: And then my motivation slowly changed as I became a better small group leader and better at my job and it got so good that she asked me to be her intern and that's kind of where my ministry career started.
• 6:06
  Speaker 1: Is I just kind of stuck in there.
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: And so I just wonder, on your team, you know, speaking to our listeners, is there someone on your team that has some youth ministry potential?
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: But they need a shepherd to come alongside them and to be that person who cares for them as they start to get their feet wet.
• 6:25
  Speaker 1: You know, not everyone clicks with ministry roles like that.
• 6:29
  Speaker 1: You know some people they just click right in and it's easy.
• 6:32
  Speaker 1: But a lot of people are like trying to get their bearings, and that's where you come in as the ministry lead to, kind of shepherd them and then once and it's not just when they're new, I know that's the context we're talking about right now then it's not just when they're new, I know that's the context we're talking about right now, but it's not just when they're new.
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: This is going to be for the duration that they're with you, you know, caring for them, like we had a fire in our town yesterday, I don't know and where was that.
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: Palma Valley.
• 7:00
  Speaker 1: It was and so we're checking in with the leaders that live there.
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: You know, is everything okay?
• 7:06
  Speaker 1: Are you guys evacuated?
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: Do you need anything like being there for these life things birthdays, graduations, babies, weddings um the highs fires, the highs, the lows, job changes, and just being that constant presence, that constant encourager.
• 7:22
  Speaker 1: I'm so honored.
• 7:23
  Speaker 1: This fall I'm performing a wedding for two of my volunteers that fell in love under my watch and I knew it and I was kind of trying to manipulate the situation.
• 7:34
  Speaker 1: So I'm like, yes, yes, you two together, um, and they dated and fell in love and are engaged now.
• 7:40
  Speaker 1: And they asked me to perform their wedding.
• 7:41
  Speaker 1: And it's so cool because, like, I got to be there for both of them as they were a part of my ministry, they both were leaders and you know, we spent a lot of time together and they said you know, we would love it if you were the one to do the wedding.
• 7:56
  Speaker 1: And that just showed me like wow, like the relational equity we have is like it goes beyond the ministry.
• 8:07
  Speaker 1: You know, it's not just like, oh, they're, you know, they work for me or I'm Transactional.
• 8:11
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like we are doing life together.
• 8:13
  Speaker 1: And I will say there's a caveat to that, an asterisk, a parenthesis, whatever.
• 8:17
  Speaker 1: That's hard because I don't know if you guys have experienced this yet or not.
• 8:23
  Speaker 1: Like I feel sometimes so sad because I do get so close to these people and then, all of a sudden, they leave you know, eventually, or they move or get a job somewhere else or decide, you know, while we're having a kid, you know we're going to step down.
• 8:39
  Speaker 1: Or you know, like it's just, we've gone the distance and then all of a sudden they're off your team and it doesn't mean they're out of your life, like it's just we've gone the distance and then all of a sudden they're off your team and it doesn't mean they're out of your life, but it does.
• 8:47
  Speaker 1: It is different, you know, because there's not that consistency all the time and that part is hard.
• 8:52
  Speaker 1: So it's like you, you invest and you love hard, but the cost to you is when people have to eventually leave.
• 9:00
  Speaker 1: But the goal is that you never.
• 9:02
  Speaker 1: You want them to be able to stay on your team as long as possible because they're being cared for, loved, known and seen.
• 9:10
  Speaker 1: Number two a way to retain your volunteers is make sure you're giving them a partner.
• 9:16
  Speaker 1: Very few small group leaders want to be a solo leader.
• 9:19
  Speaker 1: That's really hard to do, to carry all the relational weight in the spiritual weight of a student group, whether it's just like needing someone for discipline, for moral support I mean to be the only adult in the room.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: Maybe some people thrive like that, like get out of my way, I'm ready to lead.
• 9:40
  Speaker 1: I don't want to share leadership with anyone, but the model I've seen work really well is that one week someone is in charge of navigating the discussion and the other person is in charge of like more the logistics, like taking attendance, having new students fill out info cards, the discipline aspect, the crowd control aspect, any order of business that you guys might have.
• 10:07
  Speaker 1: Or you can do a hybrid of that where each leader does like half of the discussion sheet and then they pass the baton on discipline.
• 10:16
  Speaker 1: So, it's like while you're leading the opening questions, I'm getting everyone kind of quiet and dialed in and then I'll lead the Bible questions and then you do kind of the crowd control thing and so we go back and forth.
• 10:29
  Speaker 1: And then when you do events like small group night out or games that involve small groups as teams, it's really great to have another leader there as well.
• 10:39
  Speaker 1: So I believe that contributes to longevity for small group leaders because they don't feel there's less chance of burnout on a lot of levels and it's not as big of a deal when one of them has to take a night off, which inevitably does happen.
• 10:54
  Speaker 1: Just to put it in perspective, I think it's reasonable in a month, for I would love leaders to attend 100% of them, and a lot of them do.
• 11:04
  Speaker 1: But if you have a leader that has a very hectic life attending three out of the four, I think I would let that go as, yeah, I mean you're here the majority of the time.
• 11:15
  Speaker 1: If it starts to turn into 50-50, we probably are going to have a conversation.
• 11:21
  Speaker 1: So anything below 50-50 is like all right, your life is not conducive to this schedule right now.
• 11:27
  Speaker 1: Why don't we revisit this another time, when maybe your schedule changes but I feel like 75% or above is like a good score just for your information.
• 11:38
  Speaker 1: That's kind of what I think, but just my opinion.
• 11:41
  Speaker 1: And when the night is really hard, they have someone to commiserate with.
• 11:45
  Speaker 1: You know, like I just feel like sometimes you have one of those small groups that's like so rough and you feel so alone.
• 11:52
  Speaker 1: If it's just you Like I know, when I used to lead church services by myself I didn't have leaders or volunteers it was just way more exhausting, way more heavy.
• 12:01
  Speaker 1: I used to come home and collapse and now like I'm a good tired but I'm not like depleted on every level, and that's what we want to prevent from happening to our leaders just not being depleted on every level.
• 12:16
  Speaker 1: I had to lead a discussion.
• 12:17
  Speaker 1: Then I had to.
• 12:18
  Speaker 1: This kid was crying and so I needed to pull them aside.
• 12:21
  Speaker 1: And then these girls are fighting and so I had to do that, and then I couldn't find this kid.
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Where did he go?
• 12:25
  Speaker 1: Like you know, you just need help.
• 12:28
  Speaker 1: And the number three, I think, is special perks.
• 12:32
  Speaker 1: I think if you make your team like leadership is special and it should feel that way Not that we're privileged in some way Leaders are servants, we know that.
• 12:41
  Speaker 1: But because these people put in so much time for free which blows my mind that they're like ready to serve every single week I think you need to maybe spoil them once in a while or pull out some special perks or stops for them.
• 12:57
  Speaker 1: Spoil them once in a while, or pull out some special perks or stops for them, whether that's just great like leader only events.
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: Maybe you have a game night and dinner at your house.
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: Maybe it's one of the leader's birthdays and you throw a party for them in their small group.
• 13:09
  Speaker 1: Maybe a leader has a late morning class and has time in the morning and you treat them to breakfast and just ask them about their semester at college.
• 13:20
  Speaker 1: You know, whatever it might be, I think you just need to make sure you're constantly letting them know how much you appreciate, especially if they've gone above and beyond in some area.
• 13:31
  Speaker 1: You know, if someone does a special project for me, that was really hard and I'm so appreciative.
• 13:36
  Speaker 1: It appreciative.
• 13:37
  Speaker 1: It's like, hey, pick a restaurant, any restaurant in our town, I'll pick up dinner for you and I'll bring it.
• 13:42
  Speaker 1: Try to do that.
• 13:44
  Speaker 1: My old uh campus fester used to call it surprise and delight.
• 13:48
  Speaker 1: You know, just that extra little like oh, that was a little yeah perk in my you remember that stuff more than anything else.
• 13:55
  Speaker 1: I still have the socks from holly and like she would do the cutest things, like on valentine's day, we all got a rose, and candy and then, like she would just always acknowledge us in some kind of sweet gesture that I was like that's so sweet, or you know, leaders always eat last and it's always like they're at the end of the line, letting the kids go once in a while.
• 14:14
  Speaker 1: Flip that you know like.
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: Let always eat last and it's always like they're at the end of the line, letting the kids go Once in a while.
• 14:19
  Speaker 1: Flip that you know like.
• 14:20
  Speaker 1: Let the leaders go first.
• 14:21
  Speaker 1: They do that sometimes, like at our whitewater camp they flip the line so all the kids are like lined up and so excited to eat and they're like all right, well, the Bible says the last shall be first and the first shall be last.
• 14:34
  Speaker 1: So then they make the whole line rotate and everyone who was first I think you could do that with leaders of like hey, leaders, no ifs, ands or buts, get up here.
• 14:43
  Speaker 1: You guys are eating first, before it's been contaminated and while there's still fresh things available.
• 14:48
  Speaker 1: So just make life good for a leader.
• 14:53
  Speaker 1: Sometimes, when we do the battle, which is a extra chaotic, crazy event, I have a whole like green room set up for them like hey, at any moment, it's getting too loud, too crazy, too hot, come back here cold drinks, sorry, just spit at you there it is there, it is, it's gonna stay there.
• 15:13
  Speaker 1: uh, cold drinks, snackies, candy, whatever.
• 15:17
  Speaker 1: And snackies, snackies, candy whatever, snackies, snackies.
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: They don't like the healthy snacks.
• 15:22
  Speaker 1: I did realize that.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: I tried to like oh like we're going to be working hard.
• 15:25
  Speaker 1: Maybe they want some hummus and vegetables.
• 15:27
  Speaker 1: No, they want Dr Pepper and M&M's.
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: That's it so even the leaders.
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: We're not talking about longevity.
• 15:34
  Speaker 2: We're talking about get me through the night, give me that sugar boost.
• 15:36
  Speaker 1: We're talking about longevity.
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: We're talking about get me through the night.
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Give me that sugar boost.
• 15:42
  Speaker 2: Well, I'm like a lot of you are like adults.
• 15:44
  Speaker 2: I thought adults liked more.
• 15:45
  Speaker 1: Yeah, it's like treat yourself.
• 15:46
  Speaker 1: I think it was because I'm like why is all this stuff still left?
• 15:50
  Speaker 1: So, yeah, give them lots of goodies, just like you would with the kids on those events that require more from them.
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: You sometimes will do like leader only merch drops oh yeah, I forgot about that which is, like you know, when you do like a regular merch, the kids obviously are buying that, and so you're recouping and probably making a good amount of money from that.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: But the leader ones?
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: That's totally out of budget.
• 16:12
  Speaker 2: You're not charging them obviously for it and just so you're giving them a shirt, a sweatshirt, a hat, you know, whatever it might be.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a lot of fun.
• 16:19
  Speaker 1: It's like leader additions only.
• 16:21
  Speaker 1: And you know, as I'm talking about it, I'm thinking like we're so good at well, I hope we're so good at doing our youth ministry calendar for the year.
• 16:29
  Speaker 1: Here's my camps, here's my events, here's, you know, our service projects, whatever it might be.
• 16:34
  Speaker 1: Think our service projects, whatever it might be.
• 16:39
  Speaker 1: Think of that with your leaders as well.
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: What's my leader calendar?
• 16:40
  Speaker 1: All right, we have a retreat in November and then we do a beach day here, and then we do dinner at my house here, then we do a volleyball tournament there.
• 16:47
  Speaker 1: So it's almost like you're running these simultaneous teams of like the youth ministry and then the people who run the youth ministry.
• 16:56
  Speaker 1: It's like, you know, you have to be cognizant of both of them, because if they're not getting those times to just be leaders, I think people kind of burn out.
• 17:08
  Speaker 1: I think a lot of times people join a team for the team not necessarily for the task.
• 17:14
  Speaker 1: Yeah, they joined the team for the team, not the task.
• 17:16
  Speaker 1: I like that.
• 17:17
  Speaker 1: Or the task yeah, they joined the team for the team, not the task.
• 17:18
  Speaker 1: I like that, Okay, and kind of what goes into that.
• 17:21
  Speaker 1: I'm not going to make number four a whole thing, but it's like they have to have fun with each other.
• 17:29
  Speaker 1: That's kind of wrapped up into the perks of are you planning specific times for them to have fun with each other, enjoy each other again, because they're joining and staying for the team, for the people and I remember when this clicked for me, I thought students leave always 100% of the time your students will leave.
• 17:45
  Speaker 1: However, I hope the team doesn't rotate at the same rate that the students do, you know.
• 17:51
  Speaker 1: So you're losing a class every year, like every 12 months, you're losing one class.
• 17:58
  Speaker 1: And so all this investment, maybe they come back and they're leaders at some point, which is very, very often in our ministry but I want the leaders to have a far longer trajectory here than oh well, I was just here for my class and now I'm gone, so you've got to give them something to miss you know, because the students, their students, are going to leave.
• 18:22
  Speaker 1: That's going to be hard enough, but it's like, oh, at least I have the team at least and I've heard leaders say that so many times like I stayed at chaos this long because of the team.
• 18:29
  Speaker 1: I love the team.
• 18:30
  Speaker 1: I love the people.
• 18:31
  Speaker 1: I love the friends that I work with.
• 18:33
  Speaker 1: They've become my friends, like this is so fun.
• 18:36
  Speaker 1: So you, as the ministry lead, need to give them opportunities to have those relationships, those fun times.
• 18:45
  Speaker 1: You know you're going to be the architect of that.
• 18:47
  Speaker 1: Sometimes they get so good they'll plan it on their own and they will invite you you know or not, or not, or you know like they develop friendships within themselves, which is.
• 19:02
  Speaker 2: Or get married.
• 19:03
  Speaker 1: You better not leave.
• 19:04
  Speaker 1: Now that you're married, or almost you know who you are, no leaving, all right, I love them too much.
• 19:11
  Speaker 1: And then, lastly, this is kind of more on the logistical side is set them up for success for their job what you're asking them to do, so that's on you to be organized and ready to give them what they need to do the job at hand.
• 19:25
  Speaker 1: So giving them a quiet small group room to meet in.
• 19:28
  Speaker 1: You know, there's nothing more frustrating than junior hires especially are already so distracted.
• 19:35
  Speaker 1: If they're in a room where they can see every single person that walks by or hear every conversation, it's not going to work.
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: Like they have to be isolated from other groups to have a time where they can focus.
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: And like I have a group that has to be out in the hallway because we're running out of space and every time someone walks by to the drinking fountain it's like well, we've lost them.
• 19:56
  Speaker 1: And then the person walking by has to do a little something to get your attention.
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: And then I needed another drink and I didn't have to get your attention again and it's like, ah, we need more room.
• 20:08
  Speaker 1: So I feel your pain.
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: If you're in one of those churches that's like where do we put all these people?
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: You have to get so creative with your space.
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: We are having groups actually meet outside in our parking lot now.
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: Luckily there's like a nice outdoor venue tent, but it's like we're running out of room.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: I've had to use offices.
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: I mean, I've used everything except for the bathrooms and the janitor closet for small group rooms, which I'm not opposed to actually, what if someone I think one time someone met in the leader's van, like at our old property.
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: We were even smaller and one of the leaders had like a bigger van, not a minivan and they all just kind of sat in there and did small group.
• 20:51
  Speaker 2: I was like whatever, um, yeah, it works.
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: The best small group I ever had as a small group leader was out on a grass field at night at camp, because something about it being dark yeah the kids, like everyone cried at least once and was like sharing.
• 21:06
  Speaker 1: Like so vulnerably I'm like it's magical in the dark here, like you guys are just feeling like every wall is coming down.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: So don't be if your weather, if you I know not everyone lives in great weather, but if you do go outside it could be a summer thing we got some space heaters, too.
• 21:23
  Speaker 1: That did help, because even though we're in san diego, it still gets cold.
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean 50 degrees.
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: People bring your cats and dogs inside.
• 21:33
  Speaker 2: Yes, it's crazy out there sometimes bundle up.
• 21:38
  Speaker 1: It's gonna be 50, get those mittens out, um, and then make sure they have the discussion sheet ahead of time.
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: So whatever questions they're going to be going over, I like to give it to them the week before, if I can, at least a couple days before you know, so that they can take a look at it yeah.
• 21:55
  Speaker 1: No, I don't give it to them the week before I give it to them on the early of the week of yes, yes, Thank you, but you have it done the week before.
• 22:04
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I try to have it.
• 22:05
  Speaker 1: It's hard because I'm not always the one who writes it, so then I always have to wait for the person who wrote it to send it to me so that I can send it out.
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: So sometimes it gets backlogged, but I always do it by Monday for a Tuesday youth group which is cutting it close, so I would recommend earlier than that.
• 22:24
  Speaker 2: I always thought you did it the Thursday before.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: That's when I was the only teacher, but now I have to wait for everybody.
• 22:31
  Speaker 1: So, no blame, no blame, no blame, just saying.
• 22:34
  Speaker 1: And then thoroughly communicate all your camps and retreats ahead of time, you know, especially if it's something that leaders are going to have a role in.
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: But, like, if you know your camp dates, what's the harm in just keeping it as a constant on your leader communication, like upcoming retreats and events, copy paste they see it every single week and then teach them how to lead their small groups or help them in areas that they might need it.
• 23:00
  Speaker 1: I've done like a coaching kind of thing with some of my small group leaders before where I've been.
• 23:06
  Speaker 1: Like, hey, I'd love to visit your group just to see what it's like, sit down with them, Do you have anything you want me to help you with?
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: And they'll say, oh yeah, there's this kid who always dominates the conversation.
• 23:17
  Speaker 1: I'll say, well, do you want me to lead and you watch me, or do you want me to give you tips?
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: Like just being available to coach them as they're going through?
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: Like have a particularly difficult kid, or some groups in general are tough.
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: Like nobody talks, oh, really, okay.
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: Well, here's some ideas you might want to try.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: So just never leave them hanging.
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: Like you come alongside and coach them and help them and like how can we make your small group better together?
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: And that's the goal that you always like?
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: I was teaching a zoom thing this week and we were talking about knowing the condition of your flock how it says that in Proverbs and like what is the condition of each small group?
• 23:56
  Speaker 1: You're not in there, so make sure you're asking your leaders good questions and helping them troubleshoot.
• 24:01
  Speaker 1: Well, gosh, this kid is constantly a distraction.
• 24:05
  Speaker 1: Give them ideas for how.
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: Like you're, you're the professional, you're the one in charge.
• 24:10
  Speaker 1: Like the condition of the flock is directly related to you.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Like you got this.
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: And then this one's tough, depending on your context, but making sure groups aren't too big.
• 24:23
  Speaker 1: So that can really suck the life out of a small group leader.
• 24:26
  Speaker 1: If their group is so big that not everyone can talk, it's out of control, it's just like we can't get anything done.
• 24:35
  Speaker 1: It's so hard.
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: That's another reason that I love having two small group leaders in each group, because then if the group starts to grow to 12, 14, 16 kids, then you can split it and give half of it.
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: And it's never an easy split.
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: I'm not saying that it's always hard.
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: They always are going to complain, but they'll get over it, they'll get used to it.
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: You might have to shuffle around a little bit but give half to one leader, half to another and then find new leaders for those people, and then it just keeps multiplying, and multiplying, and multiplying.
• 25:05
  Speaker 1: But I've noticed that leaders get so overwhelmed and discouraged when their groups are too big because they cannot lead an effective small group time, so they leave every week almost like out of breath, like I don't know.
• 25:18
  Speaker 1: That was a blur.
• 25:19
  Speaker 2: Like.
• 25:20
  Speaker 1: I mean, they were just talking over each other and it's hard for them to get control at a larger size.
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: So be very careful of that.
• 25:28
  Speaker 1: My feeling is, once you start to get over 10 kids per small group, you need to watch it.
• 25:35
  Speaker 1: You know, I've let it go longer than that if the group is healthy, but it rarely is healthy when we start to move into 12, 14, 16 and beyond.
• 25:46
  Speaker 1: So, hey friend, I just want to interrupt this episode for a second to let you know about an awesome opportunity for you and your youth ministry.
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: So last year we launched our course and coaching program called Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator and the response has been amazing.
• 26:02
  Speaker 1: So we've helped tons of youth pastors grow the size and health of their youth ministry and we want to invite you to be a part of that as well, because maybe you're just sort of feeling stuck in a rut, Maybe you don't know what to do next, Maybe you just have a vague plan in your mind of what you're doing and you want some real help to get you from where you are to where you want to go.
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: So if that sounds like something you've been looking for, go to growyouryouthministrycom and check it out for more details.
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: All right, let's get back to the episode.
• 26:33
  Speaker 2: Would you say that you determine how many leaders?
• 26:36
  Speaker 2: I know you always say like you can never have too many leaders, but do you say on average you look at how many small groups do we potentially have?
• 26:44
  Speaker 2: And that's kind of how I should base how many?
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: Leaders I should have.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Yeah.
• 26:48
  Speaker 2: So if it was a perfect world and you had an even split let's say 10 boys, 10 girls, and you would then be looking at at least four leaders two girl leaders.
• 26:58
  Speaker 1: two boy leaders yes, and that would be the perfect number.
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: However, if I were that pastor, I'd be constantly looking for the next, because I'm like the second.
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: We have to split, we're up a creek, right, Right.
• 27:14
  Speaker 1: So I would always be looking and recruiting, Even if I didn't need that leader.
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: I never.
• 27:20
  Speaker 1: I hate being in the position of I need you and I don't have you.
• 27:23
  Speaker 1: I'd rather have some people kind of waiting in the wings.
• 27:26
  Speaker 1: So like hey, would you like to come and observe or would you like to do something else, you know, just getting them involved in the ministry.
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: But yeah, you're right, Two leaders per group and I think those are great ratios, as long as your small groups aren't like 20 kids you know and make sure you guys check out the episode we did a while back.
• 27:46
  Speaker 2: It was how to recruit the right volunteers for your youth ministry, so we'll link that below.
• 27:50
  Speaker 2: All right, this is the community comment of the day.
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: This comes from Yvonne Berko, who says thank you so much.
• 27:55
  Speaker 2: I never miss your videos and it's always very helpful.
• 27:57
  Speaker 2: We are doing our first Glow in the Dark games tomorrow.
• 28:00
  Speaker 2: Thanks to y'all, I got good ideas.
• 28:02
  Speaker 2: Thanks, yay.
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: Well, we hope it went well, because that was actually a while ago.
• 28:06
  Speaker 2: That's an older comment, but we do appreciate you letting us know.
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: Update us below if it went well and if the ideas worked.
• 28:13
  Speaker 1: We'd love to know.
• 28:14
  Speaker 2: And also we didn't mention sorry we were not here last week.
• 28:23
  Speaker 2: We were in turkey.
• 28:24
  Speaker 2: Well, we weren't in turkey last week, but we were.
• 28:26
  Speaker 2: We usually record a week prior and it obviously it didn't work out.
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: We couldn't record or publish because we were in turkey on a new testament tour highly recommend.
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: We got to go to some incredible places and learn so much more about the Bible.
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: We were in Ephesus, laodicea, thyatira Myrna.
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: No, we're inside Theropolis.
• 28:48
  Speaker 2: Heropolis.
• 28:50
  Speaker 1: Metropolis.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: It was so cool.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: A lot of opuluses.
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: But yeah, I had been to Israel years ago and seen all of that and it was mind blowing.
• 29:02
  Speaker 1: Jeff didn't get to go this time, rub it in.
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: He went to Turkey and it was this whole like Paul's missionary journeys and wow.
• 29:11
  Speaker 1: If you are looking to see the Bible in a completely new way and connect dots for your teaching or your vocation, definitely recommend turkey yeah, swimming in the gnc yes, and shout out to gti tours and that's who we went with.
• 29:28
  Speaker 1: They are not sponsoring this video, they are just the people that we went with through our company.
• 29:33
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, great job.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: Good food in turkey, beautiful country and you get nikes really cheap too.
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: I got nikes for 35 bucks I thought they were even cheaper than that.
• 29:45
  Speaker 2: Oh, you got hosed on that deal my friend, they were gonna give them to me for 20 and I just thought I can't pack them you don't remember that?
• 29:51
  Speaker 2: No yeah, not those ones, different ones, and I was like I've got no more room in my luggage, but yeah so cheap nikes and great new testament locations and also jet lag is the real deal.
• 30:03
  Speaker 2: Like holy cow that knocked me out for four or five years Ten hours ahead.
• 30:07
  Speaker 1: So it was a little rough.
• 30:08
  Speaker 2: All right guys.
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: Thanks so much for watching and listening.
• 30:10
  Speaker 1: And we'll see you next time.
• 30:12
  Speaker 1: Today, we're talking about five things to help, or no?
• 30:15
  Speaker 2: Welcome to the Ministry Coach podcast.
• 30:17
  Speaker 2: This nope, why are you extra loud?
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: I don't know.
• 30:22
  Speaker 1: Do numbers really matter in youth ministry?
• 30:23
  Speaker 1: They do, but maybe not in the way you're thinking.
• 30:26
  Speaker 1: Stick around word up.