Leadership Tools 7- Values and Expectations
I love my volunteers because without them the ministry would be a small group of kids/students running around in chaos. Our volunteers give so much up to make the ministry happen. They are the life force to the ministry itself and as we recruit them we need to be clear on what to expect. Sure we have a mission and vision and probably a job description for the role they are taking. But do we list out some of our expectations for those leaders. Do they know what we value, do they understand that you expect them to come early or stay after to help? Do they know you care about the community as a whole and you are asking them not just to be a small group leader but part of the whole community? Do they understand they are responsible for the safety of not just their students but all students in the ministry?
Early on in ministry, I would have said absolutely those questions are implied by signing up to be a youth counselor. I'm sure they understood when they were recruited or at our first leader meeting. But the truth is... they may not fully understand all that entails in the role. They may think I'm responsible for my small group of teens and it doesn't matter if I don't talk to the rest of the students. I arrive when the students arrive and leave when they do. But as we all know there is so much more to ministry then what happens during group time. So attached is our basic guidelines and hopefully this begins a discussion within your own ministry.
If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control. Martin Luther King, Jr.
