Face it. We can’t accomplish everything we want to on our own. To maximize our ministry impact, we have to grow the capacity of our teams. That’s why it’s critical for us to do everything we can to develop volunteers into leaders. In today’s post I’ll share four things you can give your volunteers, to help them grow as leaders.

1. Quality Training

How are you investing in your volunteers to help train them to grow in ministry? An intentional training plan can help your volunteers grow in their leadership. When we grow in our knowledge about teaching kids in different life stages, we start to see practical ways to apply what we have learned. Consider hosting a training session for your volunteers, and show them how they can grow as ministry leaders.

2. Quality Time

Serving as a volunteer takes time, meaning that you may have the most prominent ministry voice in the lives of your volunteers. When you slow down to spend quality time with the people you’re serving with, you may inspire them in a way that helps them grow as a leader. People need real relationships, so don’t underestimate how even a small encouragement can positively impact someone.

3. Quality Tasks

Do you allow your volunteers to play a significant role in your ministry, or are you more likely to assign roles that have less responsibility? To help volunteers grow as leaders, we have to be willing to let them serve in leading roles. It can be difficult to hand over responsibility for large pieces of your ministry, but when you do it allows you to become a coach, helping others grow into leadership roles too.

4. Quality Thanks

There are a lot of things that need to get done. If you serve in a ministry role, you get it. But watch out for the pitfall where volunteers can become merely a means to get things done. Stop and say thanks. Appreciate them for who they are, and for what they contribute. Build a culture of encouragement and gratitude. When you do this, everyone will grow more and lead better.

When volunteers grow to be leaders, our capacity gows and we can accomplish more. If we believe that our mission has eternal importance, then we can’t afford to not help our volunteers grow as leaders.

Logan Meek serves on the CentriKid Camps team. Logan began serving with Student Life and LifeWay after spending two years as a Sixth Grade teacher with Teach For America. He believes in the importance of strong kids ministry to help kids build strong spiritual foundations.

It is an honor to work in Kids Ministry. Those of you who devote your lives and careers to it are my heroes. In my church, I am simply a church member, but I want all church members to know how incredible it is to volunteer in the kids ministry. It is an incredible honor to serve the kids in my church on a weekly basis and here are just a few things I have learned as a KidMin volunteer. 

Kids are always listening.

You may think that you aren’t getting through to the kids that you are teaching, but they hear you and they are taking in a lot more than you realize. Maybe they are drawing while you are reading a Bible story or maybe they won’t make eye contact with you as you talk to them. But they are hearing you. Kids don’t miss much—and your words and tone matter. 

Kids love to tell you what is going on in their lives.

I love to ask kids what was their favorite thing that happened in the past week or what they are looking forward to the next week. This helps you get to know what they enjoy and what their lives are like. Kids love it when they find out that you like some of the same things that they like or that you have done some of the same things that they have done. If you haven’t been around kids much you might think that it is hard to connect with them, but get them talking about their favorite book, show, or activity and you can have the most fun conversation. 

Kids will surprise you. 

Every single week I am blown away by the kids in my church. They are so kind and helpful. Some of the kids I teach are learning Latin, some kids are playing sports, but all of them have great ideas and want to learn. One Sunday as I was teaching about Abraham and Sarah the girls in my class asked if they could throw a baby shower for Baby Isaac. We had the most fun creating a fun welcome for Isaac as we talked about God’s promises. Let kids ask questions and throw out suggestions—they will always surprise you. 

Kids want to be loved.

Kids like to play tough sometimes, but they all want to be loved. I teach girls right now, so they love to run up and give me hugs when they see me and I always want them to know how much I care about them. We talk a lot about how much Jesus loves us and wants what is best for us, but even if they haven’t grasped how much Jesus loves them, I can make sure that they know how much I love them.