Hello everyone, this is Dick Crider and I am just delighted
that you have chosen to join me today for our webinar called Affirmed
and Encouraged, It's Music to Volunteers' Ears.
You may wonder why I chose this topic with a little sub-topic there
of it's music to volunteers' ears, but you know as I was thinking about this,
music has always been an integral part of a believer's praise to God
and it's one of the ways that we worship him.
Music is really an expression of our gratitude to God for who he is
and all that he's done for us.
And what I know is that sincere expressions of worship, praise and gratitude
are surely encouraging to God.
The Bible tells us that he desires to hear the praises of his people.
Now guess what else the Bible tells us?
It tells us that we are created in God's image and being made in God's image
as people, we have the same need with inside us to know that and hear
that we are appreciated and I know that we're supposed to do everything
that we do as though we were doing it directly for the Lord.
I've also discovered that some people take that first and maybe some
of them are leaders, and they use it as a reason to kind of withhold
affirmation and encouragement from believers and the people that work with them.
And I don't see that any place in God's word.
What I do see is like the Apostle Paul was a tremendous encourager and even
when he wrote letters to some of the early churches having to rebuke them
for some of their sinful behavior, he always sent a word of encouragement as well.
Now, if you don't already know this, let me share it with you.
They are a precious jewel in your ministry.
And I just want to remind you that that's the way we need to look at our volunteers.
They are a precious group of people and without them, none of us could do ministry
in our churches, and I know that serving together is a part of God's plan
for the body of Christ.
The body of Christ is His bride, and we are serving together.
And with that in mind, what happened was I set out several weeks ago
to contact a number of children's pastors and ask them what they do to affirm
and encourage their volunteers.
So I want to share some of their responses along with some of the things
that I've learned over the years working with volunteers.
First thing I discovered is, folks, we're not doing it enough.
We are not affirming and encouraging our people enough.
And I discovered that from season to children's pastors.
When I asked them questions and got the kind of responses I got.
Now, I think a part of that is because of busy schedules and maybe a presumptive
attitude on our part that keeps us as leaders from looking for creative ways
to let our volunteers know how much they are appreciated.
Some children's pastors I contacted indicated that because they serve
in a large church and have many volunteers, it's just too difficult
to contact all of them.
And to me, being in a large church makes it even more important
to elevate affirming to the top of the list.
You know, when it requires more effort to encourage someone,
it really is received with greater appreciation.
So make it one of your highest priorities.
One of my friends in Michigan told me that encouraging her volunteers
is probably her number one priority.
I've been to a church, I've watched her in action, and she does know
how to make people feel very special.
So what does she do?
Here's what she does.
She keeps those cards and letters coming.
I think we know that a handwritten card, a note, or a birthday card says
to a person that you have taken time to think about them and you remind
it how much you appreciate them.
We live in a crazy world that is run by technology where text messages
and tweets and email and all of those things have replaced the old-fashioned
touch that comes from sitting down and handwriting a note.
I know that I still enjoy receiving them.
I recently spoke at a church and shortly afterwards the children's
pastor emailed me to get my home address.
And a few days later, I received a letter from a woman who had attended
the meeting, and in it, she wrote words of encouragement and support to me personally.
You know, I thought she could have sent an email, but she knew that
writing a letter brings a more personal touch.
And by the way, you probably guessed, I still have that letter.
Frankly, I have an entire file cabinet drawer full of letters and cards.
And those are the things I read when I get just a little bit discouraged.
So how do you want to do it?
You want to make it personal.
One of my friends told me that she has this really neat way of making it personal.
She goes from room to room in her church during a kid's session, a ministry
session, and she takes pictures of her volunteers while they're working with the kids.
Then she downloads that picture to her computer and makes a piece of stationery.
And on that stationery, she writes a handwritten note containing a blessing.
Now, back to myself, I do weird things when I teach Sunday school, and one of
the weird things I really enjoy doing is I like dressing up in various costumes.
One morning, another teacher took several photos of me, dressed up, and
put them in a small album.
She sent them to me with a note, and the note said, it's so nice to see a teacher
going the extra mile to bring a lesson to life for the kids.
You know I was encouraged.
Well, what else can we do to affirm and encourage small gifts?
Giving a small gift to a volunteer personally, looking in the eyes and saying,
saying, thank you to them, goes a long way, does not have to be expensive.
One person told me that they give a piece of candy with a note.
You know, I learned that one of my volunteers absolutely loves chocolate.
Who doesn't?
She loved chocolate, so I purchased one of those huge Hershey candy bars, and
I gave it to her one Sunday morning.
And as I did, I told her how much I appreciated her.
Well, I reaped a huge smile in return for several weeks.
By the way, when she went home, she ate all of it.
And when I asked her if she shared it with anyone else, she looked at me and said,
are you crazy?
No way.
Small gifts, they are appreciated.
But I also know that unexpected is powerful, encouraging someone when they
least expect it, is really powerful.
You know, for several weeks, I spent Mondays at my church repainting the
hallway doors.
Frankly, I got to tell you, I got really tired of the job, and I almost regret it
that I had volunteered to do it.
It took about, about 10 times as much time as I thought it was supposed to take.
So I wanted to get out of this job.
I wanted to get it done.
And then one Sunday morning, this beaming face approached me and the lady said,
I want to tell you what a blessing you are to this church.
Those hallway doors are beautiful.
And I know it was a lot of unappreciated work, but I want you to know.
Here's what she said.
She says, I want you to know.
How much I appreciate that God brought you and your family to this church.
That was a blessing to me.
And all of a sudden, all the hard work was worth every minute.
Sneak up on someone and affirm him, affirm her unexpectedly.
They'll remember it for weeks.
I'm going to pause here because I just had a message on my
screen that said the audio was not working.
And so if you cannot hear me, I apologize.
I hope it's back in line like it should be.
Well, let's keep going.
They need to know they are not alone.
One children's pastor told me that this is really great.
She has started going into each classroom before Sunday and praying for the
teachers and the students that will be coming into that classroom.
And then she writes a note on the whiteboard telling the volunteers that
she has been praying for them and exactly what she prayed for.
Boy, that is another powerful way to encourage and affirm while saying at
the same time, you're not alone in your ministry.
I know you're in this room.
What a great idea.
Well, the next idea is called a praying pastor, a praying pastor.
If your senior pastor is available, ask him to begin stopping by a couple
of the classrooms each week and pray for the volunteers.
This is a great way for them to know they are appreciated.
Not long ago, my senior pastor was a pastor.
Pulled into the parking lot and he gets a really early, so I was curious why
he was coming in a little later, but he pulled in the parking lot.
He jumped out of his car and I saw that he had a box of donuts and I walked
in and said something to him.
What I discovered was he had gone out and purchased donuts to bring to the
guys that work in the sound booth.
He brought these in about a half hour ago.
Because these guys get to church really early on Sunday mornings for
rehearsals and making sure that everything is working.
And as I looked into these guys' faces to see the senior pastor come up
to the sound booth and give them donuts and tell them how much he
appreciated them was worth a million bucks to these guys.
I really encourage you to get your pass.
You're involved to go in and pray for people in the classrooms.
It takes just a couple of minutes and it was really, really appreciated.
Well, this is a strange one.
Christmas nibbles.
My friend Bonnie does an open house one December Sunday morning each year
in cold Michigan.
Volunteers and their families come into a very nicely decorated room to
enjoy festive finger foods as she calls it and hot drinks.
They get to sit a while and visit with other families.
Christmas carols are playing and they just relax and they visit before
the day begins for them.
The tables also include centerpieces acknowledging their service and
giving thanks for them.
By the way, Bonnie told me that she also finds small gifts for her
teachers at a website that is called ctainkinc.com.
That is charliethomappleinc.com and CTA stands for Christian Tools
of Affirmation.
You might want to check that out.
Next idea that someone shared with me, he called it Serve Alongside
Them.
My friend Terry is a children's pastor at a pretty good size church.
They run over a thousand kids every week.
Now, I got to tell you, that's someone who really has to be intentional
about affirmation and encouragement.
So what does Terry do?
He's very careful to serve in children's ministry right alongside
his volunteers.
Boy, does this speak volumes to these volunteers.
And I know that my children's pastor leads our children's church
at least two quarters each year.
And doing that kind of changes the relationship.
She's not seen as a professional children's pastor, but as a
fellow servant.
I also know that many, many, many children's pastors lead the
children's church every single week.
That's good stuff and it really helps to build the team spirit
and let them know you appreciate them.
Remember, children's ministry is part of God's overall vision
for the church.
I think there are many jobs in children's ministry that do seem
unimportant to the casual observer.
I think everyone should know how the job they're doing is truly
a part of God's incredible work.
Those ladies who rock babies and change diapers, they may feel
like their job is unimportant.
But we all know they're helping infants gain a positive impression
of who God is and what church is really like.
Remind your volunteers that without them, many other ministries
in the church simply would not be possible.
Tell your volunteers frequently that it was Jesus himself
who rebuked his disciples for trying to keep the kids away
from him.
Now the next thing that's going to appear on your screen is going
to sound very strange in this day and age, personal visits.
One of my top priorities in my last children's ministry was
making personal visit to the homes of the volunteers.
I would make appointments, go to their houses, and the purpose
for the visit was to recast the vision for children's ministry.
While I was there, I listened to their concerns, I encouraged
them, I met their families, and sometimes we just had fun.
And I want to tell you the number one comment I received
from these families was this, quote,
this is the first time a pastor has ever been in our home.
Thank you for blessing us with your visit.
Wow.
I was with a young children's pastor, fairly young.
Children's pastor recently who has been in our church less than
a year.
She told me that one of the first things she did when she came
on staff was to make a personal visit to each of her teachers.
I believe she told me that she actually got in the homes of
about 80 to 85% of the teachers.
And this is not a small church.
It took her many days, many weeks to do this.
But the dividends were well worth her effort.
She is many, many years younger than most of her teachers,
and she gained their respect very quickly because she affirmed
and encouraged them where, in their homes, not just at church.
Another friend of mine told me that he does a special luncheon
called The Real Thing.
Sounds familiar?
Now, what he does is he puts together a special luncheon for all
of his team called You Are The Real Thing.
He gives each of them a Coke product because that was Coke's
byline.
He gives each of them a Coke product to remind them that you
are the real thing in God's service to children.
I know another children's pastor who has an after church luncheon
every quarter for a different age level.
It's really kind of nice.
She provides childcare, a very nice lunch.
She shows a training video to her volunteers.
And for them, it is like an afternoon free from preparing
a meal, gives them a break from their children,
and then provides a really nice opportunity for them
with the other adults that they walk past on Sunday mornings
but typically never get a chance to spend time with them.
So that's a good idea.
This next one is kind of fun too.
I call it Sit In The Dirt.
Yeah, this sounds silly to some people.
But I know a male, a guy, a children's pastor,
who has several volunteers who work construction jobs.
He will meet one or more of his men who volunteer on the job site.
He puts on old clothes, he brings a lunch,
and he sits in the dirt with these guys.
You know what?
They know he is genuine.
And they know that he is willing to step out of his comfort zone
to express his gratitude for their service.
I have to tell you, I've done that.
And it's a strange feeling.
But these guys thoroughly, thoroughly enjoy it.
When you leave your comfort zone and go to where they are
and interact with them.
Well, the last thing here is called brainstorm and make it personal.
I have not even begun to touch on all the possibilities
for affirming and encouraging volunteers.
That was intentional because I want you to give it some thought.
So here's what you do.
First of every possible way that you could affirm
and encourage your volunteers.
Then reduce that list down to the things
that will make the most impact on them
and look for ways to make it personal.
It has to be personal.
Well, as I said earlier, Han,
before we actually started the broadcast of the webinar,
you are able to listen to and watch pre-recorded webinars.
You're able to look at about 100 now free training videos.
You go to Vimeo.com.
They're divided up into six albums.
Those are free.
They are designed for you to use in your ministry.
If you would like to contact me,
it's Dick Crider at discipleland.com.
Let me know if there's any way I can help you,
and I want to pray for you as we go.
Heavenly Father, thank you for the people
who have attended our webinar.
Pray that you'll bless them.
Pray you'll bless their ministries.
Encourage them to become encouragers.
Lord, we love our volunteers.
They are precious in our sight and in your sight.
Lord, help us be those encouragers.
I pray this in Jesus' wonderful name.
Amen.
