Just this last week, I’ve been busy with the tedious project of converting old VHS video to digital video for archiving purposes. It was fun watching videos of me speaking as a 22 year old Children’s Pastor or briefly speaking at my High School graduation. Thankfully, I’ve come a long way. I’m a little embarrassed by how “green” I was. I fumbled over my words and lacked the skills that would come with years and years of experience.

Watching these videos reinforced something I believe with all my heart. The level of your leadership will be determined by your ability to communicate. Yes, there are other skills that are critical to effective leadership, but communication really is the cornerstone. Here are five reason why you must prioritize your communication skills:

Communicating Truth to Kids

I realize that some kidmin leaders don’t speak often because you’re focused more on leading leaders. That’s good, but I’ve found that most communicate fairly regularly. 

Anytime you step on a stage to communicate truth to kids, your ability to communicate well matters more than you know. Sure, God will use whatever method necessary to reach people, but it’s not an excuse to not be the best we can be.

Recruiting Volunteers

There are few tasks more important than recruiting volunteers for your ministry. Your ability to recruit will determine much of the success of you ministry. 

Being able to clearly communicate a few simple reasons why serving in your ministry in a exciting and compelling way is critical. Most people are looking for reasons not to serve and you have to “sell” them on investing in a group of kids. Recruiting well is an art and it hinges on communication.

Leading Leaders and Volunteers

How well you lead leaders and volunteers will significantly affect your recruiting efforts. Keeping your volunteers for the long haul is huge. So much work goes into recruiting and training, we want to get the most out of them.

Effective communication is critical to leading your volunteers and leaders well. Are you frequently encouraging and inspiring your teams? Do they know why they do what they do and buy into the vision and mission of your ministry. People need to be reminded of these things… often. 

Influencing Parents

Your ability to lead parents may be the most important thing you do in your ministry. Since they’re the most influential voices in the lives of the kids, it’s important that we partner with them well.

We have the challenging task of both encouraging parents while challenging them to be more intentional with their kids spiritually. We have to inspire parents to do things that are hard, things that don’t seem to come natural.   

Influencing Fellow Staff

Your ministry is just one of several at your church. More often than not, these ministries are led by great people who firmly believe that the ministry they lead is the most critical ministry in the church.

One of the most challenging aspects of your role will be to convince other staff to work with you. It’s not your job to convince them that your ministry is more important, but it is essential that you convince them that working together is way better than working independently. 

Your ability to cast vision for collaboration and unity won’t be easy and requires savvy communication skills.

There are so many reasons why effective communication matters. Even if you rarely step on a stage to speak, your ability to communicate well matters more than just about any other skill.

Prioritize it. Develop it. Practice it.