Impulsive Joy

I’ve worn a lot of hats in Children’s Ministry.  Well, let’s face it, if you are in Children’s Ministry — you probably wear a lot of hats too.

Contrary to what you may have been taught growing up, you are not being successful if you are doing it all yourself.  The key to longevity in ministry is to give away as much as you can to empower volunteers to do the work of the ministry so that you can focus on building into people.   One of my favorite ministry opportunities is called “Ministry in a Box” (MIB).

• Find a small storage container to hold the material.
• Place in the container the following items:
  • Create an Instruction Sheet with directions of what you need your accomplished.  (Can this be prepped on-site at the church, at home?)
  • Contact name and number for questions
  • Due Date for the material
  • Material needed for the task
  • 1 Example of the item you need prepared
• Include a small “check out” card on the outside of the storage container for the volunteer to leave behind with their name and number (so you know who took the MIB).
• Identify an accessible “self serve” location.  Volunteers will need to be able to pick up and drop off an MIB when their schedule allows

Sundays are not always the ideal time to serve depending on your stage of life.  Our Ministry in a Box team was incredibly reliable and would check out the material, prep it at home, and return it by the needed due date.  They felt a sense of ownership in the ministry and loved to see the work of their hands walking around on Sunday morning with all the kids.

What do you do to empower others to join you in the journey outside of Sundays?  Do you have a favorite mid-week volunteer position?

(Special kudos to the amazingly organized Sara Scott at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship for launching this ministry!)
Photo originally uploaded to Flickr by kurves