Say Goodbye to Normal
Being “normal” is overrated – especially in children’s ministry! There are too many "normal" children’s ministries out there, each vying to get noticed. Breaking through the burden of normality requires being both noticeably different and comfortably familiar.
Just a head’s up, though - being too different is sometimes outside comfort zones of certain team members. However the price of being normal is too high, and could cost you the diversity of attracting volunteers outside of the norm. If you want to have excellent and hard committed volunteers, they must first see a difference in you as a leader from others.
Leaders have to send a clear message to all members that the dead weight of normalcy drags down the …show more content…
People want to know that they are doing something worthwhile, and that they are making progress. Have you ever heard someone complain about getting too much praise, recognition, or positive feedback? I doubt it. That means you must pay attention to details. One challenge and downfall of some leaders is they forget and skip over the “little things”. The scripture says the small foxes destroy the vine (Solomon 2:15). Or as my wife often reminds me, “God is in the details”. Meaning the building usually stands or collapses on strength or weakness of the small intricacies that hold the building up and give it support. If you have a volunteer that calls everyone each week to remind them what they are to do on the program, or someone who makes copies for the teacher’s lessons or who writes thank you notes to the the team for showing up each week; these people need acknowledgement just as your key speakers do for delivering a powerful message. The little deeds that help your engine keep running must be acknowledged. Little accomplishments should be celebrated too. This will go a long way in the eyes of the person who may at times see their contribution as menial. Most of us both need and want to feel appreciated for the work we do. Survey after survey has shown that one failure for most children’s ministry leaders is not giving enough positive feedback to their
Being “normal” is overrated – especially in children’s ministry! There are too many "normal" children’s ministries out there, each vying to get noticed. Breaking through the burden of normality requires being both noticeably different and comfortably familiar.
Just a head’s up, though - being too different is sometimes outside comfort zones of certain team members. However the price of being normal is too high, and could cost you the diversity of attracting volunteers outside of the norm. If you want to have excellent and hard committed volunteers, they must first see a difference in you as a leader from others.
Leaders have to send a clear message to all members that the dead weight of normalcy drags down the …show more content…
People want to know that they are doing something worthwhile, and that they are making progress. Have you ever heard someone complain about getting too much praise, recognition, or positive feedback? I doubt it. That means you must pay attention to details. One challenge and downfall of some leaders is they forget and skip over the “little things”. The scripture says the small foxes destroy the vine (Solomon 2:15). Or as my wife often reminds me, “God is in the details”. Meaning the building usually stands or collapses on strength or weakness of the small intricacies that hold the building up and give it support. If you have a volunteer that calls everyone each week to remind them what they are to do on the program, or someone who makes copies for the teacher’s lessons or who writes thank you notes to the the team for showing up each week; these people need acknowledgement just as your key speakers do for delivering a powerful message. The little deeds that help your engine keep running must be acknowledged. Little accomplishments should be celebrated too. This will go a long way in the eyes of the person who may at times see their contribution as menial. Most of us both need and want to feel appreciated for the work we do. Survey after survey has shown that one failure for most children’s ministry leaders is not giving enough positive feedback to their