Tag Archives: Subs
Subs in your Children’s Ministry
Posted on 30. Jan, 2011 by Kenny.
Substitutes. Subs. We’ve all got them. However, how you view them and utilize them makes all the difference in the world. I’d venture to bet that subs in most kidmin situations looks pretty similar. It’s that place where volunteers go when we don’t really know what to do with them anymore. We have ideal and ideals of what a sub list really could be, but often times, it’s not really like that at all.
In my experience, the sublist is usually where people go when they quit volunteering. They usually get to the sub list by one of two methods.
- The volunteer tells you that they can’t really commit anymore and they’d prefer to be on some kind of sub list.
- The volunteer tells you that they want to quit and in an effort to keep them, we ask them if we can put them on the sub list and they almost always say, “sure.”
But we know what the sub list is really, don’t we? It’s a place where volunteers go to die (figuratively speaking). You know what, it doesn’t have to be that at all. Really, it just takes a little initiative and ownership.
First of all, when dealing with volunteers who feel like they need to take a break it is important to actually be direct with them. Don’t let the sub list be a way to be passive. They’re saying they want a sub list, but they really don’t have any intention to serve anymore. Don’t let it become that. Describe to them what the sub list is and that they’ll be contacted on a regular basis to come in and serve and if they don’t respond, then you’ll need to follow up with them about the expectations of being a part of the ministry. In many ways, you’re recruiting them to the sub list, not letting them default to it.
Second of all, you need to change your perspective of what the sub list is. I like to call it the farm team. I’m not a fan of baseball, but work with me here. The farm team (the minor leagues) is simply a temporary place where the intended output is to put players back in the major league. So, your sub list might be where a volunteer needs to play for a little while because life got crazy. It might be a place where a new recruit goes because they simply can’t meet the requirements of being a full-fledged volunteer, but they’re working towards that. If you create a vision around your sub list, you’ll have a backup team of people who can dependably fill it and even be developed to be future volunteers.
Last of all, this means your sub list needs to be tended to. Too often the sub list is “out of sight, out of mind.” Maybe you have a volunteer leader who tends to the people on the list, keeps in touch with them and invites them to serve and fill in on a regular basis. Whatever you do, make them feel valuable and keep asking them about being involved and stepping up.
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Volunteers: When you don’t have enough (Part 2)
Posted on 29. Oct, 2008 by Kenny.
I was hoping to get a little more feedback from my previous post about how you fill the gaps. If you didn’t read it or didn’t have a chance to post, I’d still like to hear some more ideas. You can post your comments with this post or the original one.
So, if you’re recruiting or you need to recruit to fill some holes, what do you do in the mean time?
Last year at the Orange Conference I heard Craig Jutila talk about this. He said, whatever you do, don’t fill the spot yourself. You’ll get stuck and if you’re the leader, how can you lead when you’re stuck in a spot that should be filled by someone you’re leading. It’s a very good point and I do the very best I can to plan for that. I’ve found that in the few times that’ I’ve gotten sucked into a spot, it was because of a no show or unexpected emergency. Otherwise, I try to follow this advise fully.
I combine if necessary. I launched small groups on Sunday mornings in elementary in September. I started with a few open spots that need to be filled. I have two groups that I had to combine. 4th and 5th grade girls during one service and 4th and 5th grade boys at the other. They were combined for about 7 weeks. Another group I utilized one volunteer who could only serve every other week. He’s leading on his schedule and I have another leader who is pulling a double shift and serving on the weeks the other leader can’t be there. Not ideal, but it’s holding those spots until I find the right person.
Utilizing subs. If found that subs are better than once a month workers. Once a month workers seem to never remember when they are supposed to work. So, when I’m calling and recruiting and someone says no, they can’t do the job, I ask them if they’d at least be willing to serve. In mos cases, they say yes. I assure them that they won’t be called to work more than once a month. Then, when I have my subs, I call them when I know I’ll be short and they jump right in. I also have a few spots that I’ve used subs to fill. Unfortunately, when I use my subs to fill an empty spot, I don’t have my sub when a volunteer calls in sick the morning of. Then I have to combine or something. Not ideal, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Work the phones and emails. I always take care of my open spots before Sunday. I’ve had staff who would pull people on Sunday. I told them to stop it. Why? It was usually the same people every week. If we have a healthy sub list then I can work that list and get my people in place before Sunday. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t know that I could sleep if I didn’t have all the spots filled before I went to bed on Saturday night.
Trained monkeys. Always my last resort, but I haven’t had to use them yet!
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