There is an old saying, "Be careful what you wish for you just might get it." I don't know a better way to say this that that is the most freakin' true thing ever. I have been working on getting the Youth to grow and it has been very slowly building. I was just starting to think that I needed to get a couple of people in training to help with the Youth because we would need it soon at the rate the group has been growing. Basically I figured I had 2-3 months before it became an issue. Tonight proved me wrong. I have been saying that f most of the semi-regulars ever showed up the Youth would be back to what it was when I first took over before some of the fallout from a few events mostly out of my control. That almost happened tonight, but there was also a convergence of visitors resulting in more Youth than we have had since I've been coming. At the same time a couple of my workers weren't there and multiple dramas were unfolding resulting in me having to run around like mad putting out fires everywhere. In my wildest dreams I couldn't have imagined packing the building out like that so quickly. I was almost totally overwhelmed and of course it was on a night that I was talking about sex. I think I could outgrow our building in a couple of months if I plan on talking sex every week. I've only talked sex twice but each time we have multiple visitors. I need to get some helpers and get them now. I don't know how I'm gonna get the people I need and get them trained by next week. In all likely hood the group won't be quite so large next week. This was a confluence of events leading to doubling the size of the group in one week, but I need the people in place for the next time something like this happens. How do you get people involved with service? How do you wish leadership would go about getting you involved with service?
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
4 comments:
Man, I feel your pain! My guess is that leadership will only get involved if and when there's a glaring problem, but I'm sort of jaded that way. I got nothin', but I promise I'll be praying for you today!
I feel your pain as well. Before planting our church, our husband and I led the youth group as volunteers at our former church...after having our second child and being completely overwhelmed with all the stuff we were involved in, we had to bow out. Did ANYONE step up to help? Nope.
But at least there's a happy ending. After a while a new family got involved at that church and took on the youth group and it's at least twice the size it was when we led it. And that is AWESOME.
So after praying about it and presenting your needs to the congregation...it kind of has to go in God's hands to move people...and if you have someone in mind that you think would do a great job...don't be afraid to ask them personally. The worst that can happen is that somebody says no, right?
I personally got involved with music and youth at my church because I took a little card on my table at church and checked little boxes. :)
Follow through, follow through, follow through!!! At our last church I volunteered at VBS. After dressing up as a hippo and doing a ridiculous (yet highly entertaining) skit the children's pastor told me I was great w/ kids and asked me if I would ride the outreach bus and supervise/ entertain the kids on Saturday nights. She told me to think about it and let her know. So I discussed it with my husband and felt like it was a great opportunity for me to volunteer, so I emailed her that I would do it. She never emailed me back, so I thought maybe she didn't get it. I called and left a voicemail. No return phone call, so I stopped by the church and left a note in her office. Nothing. Then a few weeks later during church, they asked specifically for volunteers to ride the outreach bus on Sat. nights. I was pretty hurt by that situation. I talked to a close friend about it. Turns out she'd read that they need medical personnel to help with a clinic and so she'd signed up for it (she's a nurse) and never heard back from anyone so she called and left a voicemail and still never heard back. It actually made me feel better that she had also been shafted. Neither of us go there anymore (though we both moved away so who knows if we'd still be going there or not if we'd stayed in town). At my current church, I filled out a card and checked the "help with the adopt-a-school program" our first month there and the next day someone emailed me and told me where to go and how to help. It was so nice to actually be allowed to volunteer.
So basically I typed this whole novel just to say that if people do offer to help, contact them and let them know how/where/when you need them. And if you don't need them, because fewer kids show up, make sure you still contact them and let them know why you don't need their help anymore.
Hope your youth keep coming and you find wonderful volunteers!
katdish,
I hope that I will get the volunteers I need but hope won't hold much water so I figure I'll have faith which can hold you up on the water instead.
Beth,
Thanks for the encouragement. That is pretty well what my plans are. I have a couple in mind but I'm hoping to give them a bit longer since they just got married.
Luckygirl,
Thanks for the words of caution. I need to make sure that I get any offers for help. We did have a problem with that a few months ago. Someone offered to help pay for something we needed then got mad and left the church when I didn't call him back about it. I found out 2 months later so I called and talked to him about it. The person he told left the church disgruntled so my guess is this person didn't relay the information so we wouldn't be able to make the purchase. I'd like to think that won't happen again, but there is no telling if someone would fail to relay information to me. I'm going to try and get people to come to me directly.
I know that even if I don't need the help immediately I want to train volunteers for the future so I will be ready and also so volunteers can take tome off without feeling guilty.
Post a Comment