Are Your Volunteers Up for Summer?

As summer approached in my youth ministry, I often found myself deceived…and tempted. I was deceived because I convinced myself that summer would be easier than our aggressive school-year ministry tempo. I assumed that summer would bring a more laid-back schedule and time for our team to catch their breath.

I was wrong.

The natural boundaries during the school year allowed our ministry team time to plan and get caught up before we interacted with students in the afternoons and evenings. School nights also preserved more sane hours. In summer, all time and boundaries were up for grabs, with late nights and students everywhere.

A natural response to having more students around is to launch more activities. We add small groups, cookouts, lunches, movie nights, Ultimate Frisbee challenges, and trips (which are hardly vacations, except for the parents who have a week off from their kids!). These are precious times, that come with a price.

When we're deceived into adding just one more summer activity, we're also tempted. We're tempted to enlist more leaders and ask our volunteers to stay connected throughout the summer. This may be a good idea…or is it? Before we move too quickly, it's important to consider a few things.

We're shepherds before we're programmers.
As the youth leader, it's vital that we shepherd our leaders and not simply use them. We must pay attention to their individual and family needs. Some volunteers envision youth ministry as serving over the nine-month school year. Summers are different for them, too. It's fair to look at the rhythms in our volunteers' lives in order to know if we should ask them to work during the summer.

Some simply need a break. Being consistent over the school year is a draining commitment, and a break over the summer might be what keeps volunteers coming back each fall. Some youth workers might push back and say that the summer months are the most important time for leaders to be connected with students, and that the time spent with them in the summer will pay off in the fall.

Our first call is to take care of our volunteers and determine if they're best served by working the summer or taking the time off. If they take the time off, encourage them to do what they can't do during the school year. Some need to slow down. Shepherds give direction in this process, and if we believe that "people are more important than programs," this is one way to prove it.

We're followers before we're leaders.
We all have dreams of what we'd like to do. Questions such as, "What if we did this or that?" are the stuff dreams are made of. The role of the youth leader is to allow these dreams to come out of our times of silence, reflection, and prayer. We don't want to model to our volunteers (or students) that ministry is always about outward activity. Before we add another event to our schedules, let's add one event of silence. This process will slow us down and keep us from getting overscheduled and from overscheduling our ministry and volunteers.

We're proactive before we're reactive.
As shepherds, we need to assess each of our leaders and consider our people resources before we plan a trip or add a small group. If we're asking leaders to volunteer over the summer because "we have needs," we're putting our volunteers on the spot due to our lack of planning. This isn't fair and it isn't wise. Remember that good ideas—if they're really good—will stand the test of time, and can be something we plan for a year from now, rather than next month. Part of any ministry initiative is making sure we have the resources and buy-in to the dream. If it isn't there, the vision isn't ready to launch.

Therefore, as we head into summer, consider:

1. Set up a time to meet with each volunteer. Spend time talking about the past school year and begin to talk about the summer. Create space for honesty and ask God to discern what might be best for your volunteers. Some might need a break. Some might be available. Some might commit to helping out with one trip or event.

2. Think about goals you have for each of your volunteers that go beyond volunteering.
· Is there a book they could read?
· Is there a seminar you'd like to pay for them to attend?
· Is there a future dream you'd like their input on, that they can think about over the next few months?

3. For volunteers who may be available, be clear on what you're expecting of them. Create boundaries rather than have volunteers on call over the whole summer. Instead, consider specific expectations such as:
· Lead a small group.
· Meet with one student who needs extra attention.
· Go on one trip.
· Train students in a skill.
· Host one event.

4. View the summer team as different than the school-year team. Many times you'll have college students returning for the summer. Tap into their availability and your chance to shepherd them in their service. If you go this route:
· Make sure you have a pre-summer volunteer meeting that shares the ministry's vision for the summer.
· Be clear with your summer team about what you hope to accomplish and how it fits into the bigger vision of year-round ministry.

5. Make sure you plan a pre-fall gathering of the school year volunteers. It will be important to get all volunteers, whether they served during the summer or not, on the same page as you all head into the new school year.

Deception and temptation wait around any ministry corner, and especially as you go into summer. Let's be careful to shepherd our volunteers well. Summer comes and goes, but we want our volunteers for the long haul.

Steve Argue (steve@intersectcommunity.com) is co-founder of Intersect, an organization designed to connect and coach emerging leaders. He is also a regular contributor to Group magazine.

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