Q: Our church has run a program called Pioneer Club for the last 7 years. Children from our church and the surrounding community love to attend this program on Wednesday evenings. It takes about 50 volunteers each week from September to May to work as teachers, aides, helpers, and so on. Unfortunately, our volunteers have been pulled in so many directions that we did not get the staffing required this year, so the Children’s Committee decided not to continue Pioneer Club after the end of this year.

The paid staff wants to be proactive in communicating this decision in a timely and honest manner. Maybe God’s desire is for us to take a year hiatus to refresh and renew. We truly don’t want to lose any children or make them feel less important, but we just couldn’t run the program due to lack of volunteers. How do I best communicate to our congregation the fact that one of our largest outreach ministries is being cancelled?

—Sicklerville, New Jersey

A: What a dilemma! You can’t run quality programs unless you have quality staff. If you don’t have the volunteers, perhaps it’s wise not to continue. I see how frustrating this situation can be, because it does open your church to the community for outreach!

I’m wondering why your volunteers are being “pulled in so many directions.” Is it the old problem of 20% of the people doing 80% of the work? Perhaps your staff and ministry leaders need to examine their recruitment methods so you’re not asking the same people. We burn out volunteers when we abuse their willingness to serve. If this program is going to involve new workers, you’ll need to create recruitment strategies that speak to the mission and value of this ministry. You’ll need to communicate the mission of this ministry as well as the benefits to the volunteer.

You also need to take into account whether people are being recruited based on willingness, or based on giftedness and interest. Turnover is significantly reduced when we take the time to carefully guide people into their best ministry rather than into our most pressing need.

You already mentioned the keys to communicating the decision not to continue: timeliness and honesty. It’s not unusual today for programs to go through some reorganization and retooling. Share your plan to take the year off so you can sit down and re-evaluate the staffing situation. Inform the parents quickly to avoid damaging rumors.

As you reorganize the program, you may get better recruitment results if you shorten the length of service so people don’t have to commit to every week for nine months. Rotation stations may also help you stretch your teaching talent by having a smaller number of teachers (one or two) repeat the lesson to groups that rotate into the Bible center. Parents of the kids in the program could also be involved as helpers. This allows them to see the value of the program and creates potential workers for the next level of commitment.

One church can’t do it all, so don’t feel shamed or guilty if it’s time to give this ministry a rest. It’s better to step out for reorganization while the attendance is good, rather than letting it die a slow death! Set some goals and objectives to be up and running next fall with a stronger program, and make that part of your communication to the families involved. In the meantime, look at the kids who have been attending. If you have families that were involved in Pioneer Club and not participating in your other children’s ministry programs, make the effort to connect them to what you do have, so they don’t go underground or drop off.

Continue to seek God’s direction through prayer, and look for the potential that will come from a stronger team of volunteers!

{Editor’s note: We don’t want The Inside Track to look like a marketing vehicle for Group Publishing products, but we also want to let our members know about resources that might be of help to them. Group’s Faithweaver Friends is a midweek program for children, that many churches are using successfully with fewer volunteers than are required by other programs. It might be possible to keep your midweek children’s outreach going by changing the program you use. See www.fwfriends.com for more information.}

Bob D’Ambrosio has 25 years’ experience with volunteer administration at churches in Michigan, Illinois, and Texas. He now serves as a consultant and trainer with Church Volunteer Central. For help with your volunteer questions, contact Bob by clicking here.

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