We’ve been talking about how to identify and involve new leaders into the life of the church to further the church’s mission and lead those who serve into a growing relationship with Jesus. Check out the prior posts below to get the whole scoop).

So now that you have the roles you need to fill and names of potential leaders, what do you do?
1. Personal contact is best. We do a vision casting message each year to recruit leaders, but one-on-one discussions tend to reap better results. Sometimes I email someone first and then follow up with a phone call. But the more personal the contact the better.
2. Know what position you want to invite a person to consider, what it entails, and why before making contact.
3. When you call be prepared to have someone say no. Better they don’t commit at all than commit and let you down.
4. Give people space to pray and consider if this is a good fit. You are not “selling via a cold call”.
5. Have a follow up plan for those that say yes. Let them know what the next step and time frame is. Let them know who will be calling them next.
6. Keep records. If you have a place to keep centralized records or conversations, involvement, etc. this can really help in the future.

Don’t forget that it is ultimately Jesus by the power of his Holy Spirit that calls people to faith, indwells them with a desire to be involved, equips them to lead, and brings them to the point of commitment. Therefore, bathe this process in faith, trust, and praying.

Now go have fun involving as many people as possible in the greatest adventure of all time… following Jesus!

If you are just jumping in, we’re in the middle of a series about identifying and involving new leaders. Check out part 1 and part 2 for more background.

It has been my experience in the church that people overwhelmingly want to help, feel good when asked to help, and say “yes” if they can commit. So why do so many in church leadership have a hard time finding enough volunteer leaders?

Many churches struggle to raise up leadership because of systemic issues. Here’s one (certainly not THE) system to begin to identify potential leaders:

First, look for people with growing involvement. Potential volunteer leaders usually are involved in one or more other facets of the life of the organization. Look at these factors:
a) Are they regular attendees in worship?
b) Are their children regularly involved?
c) Are they a part of a community group?
d) Are they giving financially on a regularly or increasing frequency (note I didn’t say anything about an amount)?

Second, keep and use up-to-date, accurate records. You should have some system for tracking group participation, children’s ministry attendance, and financial giving. Compile those records into similarly formatted Excel or Numbers spreadsheets. Come up with a criteria to assess what constitutes regularity (you want to allow guests time to engage and non-Christians or young Christians some time to grow). Then filter and cross reference your lists.

Third, get a second (and third) opinion. Ask another staff person and/ or a couple trusted volunteer leaders to look at your list. Ask for feedback. They may know something that is going on in someone’s life that you don’t, but is a factor. They may also know others that should be on the list that are not on it.

Fourth, divide up the list and begin to make contact. Have staff and trusted leaders call potential leaders to discuss the possibility of becoming a leader. This is also a wonderful way to (re)connect with people in the church, see how life is going, and even share the vision. These calls are part recruiting, part discipleship opportunity, part pastor care, and part vision casting. Remember that you are presenting an opportunity for them to have a front row seat as Jesus changes lives. Don’t be shy!

Check back for part 4 to discuss how to make contact and what to say.

The question that faces many churches is, “How do you find and involve volunteer leaders?” In part 1, we looked at how to identify and ask a leader to serve. But what happens when you’ve exhausted the list of “natural born leaders”?

First, leading is form of discipleship. Those that will be volunteering to lead will grow in their faith as the Holy Spirit uses their preparation and time in their position. Be careful to avoid just asking people to serve because they can do something for you. Serving is a way to help people grow to be with and like Jesus while fulfilling the mission of the church.

Second, assess your current situation. Create a chart in Excel or Numbers, broken out by area, group, and/ or role. Then plug current leaders into that chart. Now you can easily identify immediate needs. But knowing your current situation and where there are holes is only part of the plan.

Third, look down the road six months. Identify and create a chart for what you believe you will need for the next season of ministry. Are you growing? How fast? Do you foresee splitting groups or roles in the near future? Put actual positions (they’ll be blank at this point) into you chart. I like to add my future needed positions to my chart of current leaders. This helps me see it all at once. I just color code or label future needs uniquely.

Forth, evaluate current leadership. This isn’t being mean or judgmental. Take a look at who is serving where and how faith and effective they are. Are they a great fit? Would they be a stronger fit in a different group, role, or even department? I highlight in a specific color those who want or need to move from their current roles.

All of this doesn’t actually get any more leaders into your vacant spots, but at least you have an accurate picture of the current and future situation and needs. Now it’s time to start praying and being a recruiter (as we’ll discuss in the next post- part 3).

One of the questions that I get asked all the time is, “How do you raise up volunteer leaders?” It’s a great question… if we’re all talking about the same thing.

If you just want a warm body in a room of kids to keep them from running off or killing each other, that’s one thing (personally, I’d suggest raising the bar a bit).

A different tactic is needed if you want highly qualified and motivated leaders who will take ownership and really invest in developing relationships with families that will lead them toward a growing relationship with Jesus. This is who we want leading at Access Church. This is who we will focus the next few posts on.

First, leaders are already leading, but maybe not in a formal role in your organization. Look for who is already gathering people together socially, managing projects or people at work, starting a new company or venture, or has unique talents like creativity or detail-orientedness (is that a word?). This requires spending time with and knowing people in your organization.

Second, leaders don’t always volunteer themselves. You may need to build a relationship and then ask them to join the team. Remember that a leader wants to lead and usually leads out of a strong sense of purpose. This means you need to be prepared to articulate a clear mission, purpose, vision, and win so that the leader will be a partner going with you in the same direction. You’ll also need to have a specific role prepared for them.

Don’t forget it means that you’ll need take a risk to trust them to actually lead. It means risking they may fail or they may do things differently than you.

You may also end up surrounded by people who are better than you… how awesome would that be!

Come back for the follow up posts on actual, practical strategies to identify and recruit leaders (we’ll save training them for another discussion).