Monthly youth leaders column

Where do we get the staff from? — I’m always short of volunteers!

This is surely the cry of the hard pressed youth minister as we enter another new year of ministry. You may have all the best ideas, the best material on the market and the most fantastic premises to work in but if you don’t have the staff to run a group with a good ratio of leaders to young people you may well struggle to make an impact. If we are to engage with young people we need the people to make that connection.

Recruiting staff has always been a tricky problem, but I wonder if we have lowered the bar a bit too much. When 1 Thessalonians talks about ‘sharing not only the gospel of God but also our own selves, because you had become very dear to us’ (2.7) it is not speaking about a superficial relationship. When 1 Peter talks about ‘shepherding the flock’ (5.2), it is implying that the shepherd is committed to the welfare of his flock. How do you reconcile that with the fact that so many of our helpers are having to work harder in their secular employment and the demands of the economic situation means that less time can be given to Christian service? Increasingly, the answer seems to be rotas with different people turning up each week and the acceptance of a once a month ‘spare pair of hands’ as being the norm. So often I hear the complaint that staff cannot be found and you have to do what you can with what you’ve got.

Recruiting procedure

Should we lower our ideal standard even though we don’t appear to have the staff? I want to ask a different question. How do we recruit in the first place? Do we simply ask people to come and give us a hand with youth work? The role is not specific and the time commitment is not made clear. Have we set out the aims and purposes of our youth ministry and, if we haven’t, are people reluctant to commit? Perhaps the process should be:

* Prepare a simple document which sets out simple aims and purposes of the group, when the group meets and what the real time commitment will be with a list of published dates of all your leaders meetings.
* Having made the initial approach to your recruit, take time to have a one-to-one to explain what you do and why you need extra staff (i.e. him or her).
* If all is well, appoint for a trial period of a month, explaining that they will always be under supervision.
* Get CRB clearance.
* Appoint them with a written invitation which sets out what you’ve already discussed.
* Make sure you speak to them regularly about how they’re doing.

Clear vision

In my experience, where there is clarity about what is expected and where there is a well stated vision, people are more likely to commit and not want to be just a spare pair of hands, but want to be more involved because they are excited about the vision the team shares and want to be part of it.

Our ability to be so laid back about our purposes could well be the reason why people are reluctant to commit — they haven’t a clue what they’re letting themselves in for. Perhaps we could make it a little easier for them.

Staffing - rota or regular?

Recruiting procedure

Clear vision

Dave Fenton

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