How do you identify & recruit leaders? (pt 2)

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).