CreativePastors Blog & Podcast

In Practice - Volunteer Central

Invest in your volunteers by taking care of them

Several years ago, we decided to set aside a space at Fellowship Church called Volunteer Central, where we could track the attendance of our volunteers and offer them rest and refreshment.  Here’s how it works:

• Volunteers show up to serve and report to Volunteer Central.
• They are welcomed and checked in to our church management system.
• They pick up any necessary identification and equipment, such as name badges, radios, parking vests, etc.
• Before, during and after the service when they have off time, they can enjoy free snacks and a space to visit with each other and relax.
• And, of course, Volunteer Central is staffed with volunteers!

It's a simple concept, really—take care of what you value. Not only does Volunteer Central create a comfortable environment for those doing the hard work of serving within the church (the Parking Team needs a place to cool down on 100 degree days!), but it also shows our volunteers that we care about them by setting aside a space just for them.

You can find more ideas about building your volunteer ministry in our Volunteer Kit, available at 20% savings this month.

In Practice - Proactive Policies

Difficult situations. As a church leader, you've probably been there. Some conflicts and inappropriate behavior beg for correction and re-direction. When churches in the midst of these situations contact us for advice, the heartbreaking reality is that many of them could have been avoided if pro-active policies had been put in place from the beginning. There's nothing like learning from our mistakes (and we've made our share!), but why not eliminate as many sensitive scenarios as we can in advance?

It takes some forethought and advance effort, but you will reap untold rewards when you invest time in creating unmistakably clear guidelines for your staff and volunteers. The goal: conduct beyond reproach. And when that doesn't happen, solid policies give you an straightforward starting point for establishing accountability, as opposed to inconsistent judgment calls. Think about the wide range of ministries offered by your church: What is and isn't "appropriate touch" for your children's ministries? Can alcohol be served at small group functions? What should happen when a pastor is counseling a member of the opposite sex?

We've developed extensive resources to help you in this area. The Employee Policies and Procedures Handbook is a great place to start. And you can also check out Ed's 10 Commandments of Purity for pastors that he shared at a marriage retreat last year.

Of course, we don't want to create so many rules that our staff and volunteers are ill-equipped to perform their roles effectively. Rather, we should strive for smart guidelines that establish a safety net for all parties involved.

In Practice - Special Needs Ministry

Churches frequently contact us with questions about the Special Needs Ministry at Fellowship Church. Three programs make up our Special Needs Ministry and more than 100 families are involved. Here's a look at each of these programs:

SideBySide
During the weekend, the SideBySide ministry covers special needs children from birth to 6th grade. We have amazing volunteers who partner with the same special needs child each weekend, and as a team, they go into the child's age-appropriate room. The volunteers are there to help each child as needed. They may be an encourager to get them more involved or a familiar face so the child is comfortable. The volunteer's role depends upon what the child needs. Experience in working with special needs kids is not required. We have skilled volunteers who act as trainers and will train new volunteers on the child they will accompany.

Fellowship of Friends
We also have a class called Fellowship of Friends that meets on the weekend and is designed specifically for special needs students who are junior- and senior-high age. A team of volunteers in this area create a fun, exciting and welcoming environment each weekend.  For curriculum we simply adapt the Elevate Children's Curriculum.  The hour consists of a captivating Bible story, fun skit, interactive songs, appropriate crafts/games and a snack.

Respite
Outside of the weekend, we also offer a Respite program for the Special Needs families.  It is once a month and it lasts about three hours.  It's a time where special needs families can bring all their kids (special needs kids and their siblings) up to the church and the parents can just get a break.  They can run errands, have a date night or just take a nap.  We have a team of volunteers who play games, eat dinner and just hang out with the kids.  It's a really fun, laid back evening, and the parents have expressed that they are truly blessed by it.

In Practice - Small Groups

For churches who want to stay small as they grow in numbers, small groups are the answer. Not only are  they biblical, but small groups are also an ideal environment for church members to experience real community. At Fellowship Church, we created HomeTeams in order to connect people to one another and to the life of Fellowship Church, while helping them apply basic biblical principles to their everyday life. Here are some answers to the questions we receive most frequently about the small groups ministry at Fellowship Church:

How many small groups do you have?

More than 200 HomeTeams meet throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth Metroplex.

How do people come together to form groups - is it based on commonalities?

To some degree, yes. We sort groups by marital status, age range, geography and meeting day.

Are groups open or do you have some closed groups?

Our groups are open. This keeps them from becoming inwardly focused and ensures that the "reach out" branch of our church's overall vision is carried through our small groups ministry. The only exception is our sports groups, which a open seasonally when teams are forming.

How do you guard against false teaching?

Training, training, training! In our Synergy leadership training classes, our leaders are taught to be facilitators, not teachers. They understand that their role is to keep a healthy discussion going in the small group, not to teach or preach. Our pastors also keep their eyes and ears open through the use of 30-day calls and 90-day meetings. We call these "touches." These frequent touches allow our HomeTeam pastors to keep a finger on the pulse of each of their groups. They are taught to ask probing questions and then look and listen for any issues that need to be addressed.

How do you handle childcare?

We don't. Each group finds a childcare strategy that works best for them. For example: some groups hire someone to care for the children in another room of the house. Other groups use drop-in childcare facilities in their area. Some groups just leave it up to each individual family. We've found that when we let groups work it out for themselves, they arrive at creative, functional solutions!

For a more in-depth look at our small groups ministry, including tools and training, check out our Small Groups Kit.

In Practice: Parking Ministry

When members and visitors pull into the Fellowship Church parking lot each weekend, they are met with the enthusiastic smiles and waves of our Parking Ministry Team. That same team welcomes church leaders who attend our Creative Church Conference in Grapevine each year, and they frequently comment on the friendly greeting they receive. (In fact, we even had a group from one church tell us that they tried various tactics to see if they could slip by the parkers unnoticed, but they couldn't dodge the watchful eyes of our volunteers.) And the question that usually follows is, "How can we do this at our church?" Logistics will vary with your setting, but here's a quick rundown of our volunteer Parking Ministry to get your gears turning:

What are the Parking Volunteer responsibilities?

• Greet and welcome all arriving cars in a friendly manner.
• Safely provide direction to all arriving cars.
• Sort cars by type of destination (handicapped, preschool, general).
• Greet attendees leaving cars as they walk to the church.
• Answer any questions from attendees
• General security of the parking lots (watching for bags or backpacks).
• Provide assistance to attendees that have car issues.
• Emergency evacuation of lots.

What equipment is provided for the Parking Volunteers?

The parking team has more than 550 traffic cones to use for traffic flow purposes, as well as several golf carts for transporation within the lots. Additionally, when volunteers report for duty they are provided with:

• Name badge
• Bright orange reflective vest
• Radio
• Traffic control flashlights for nighttime services
• Rain weather gear, if needed

How do volunteers communicate in the parking lots?

Each volunteer is equipped with a two-way radio. Plus, shots from the cameras in the parking lots are reviewed by a Guest Services/Parking Ministry team member, which aids coordination efforts.

How are new volunteers trained?

Each new volunteer is given a Guest Service - Parking Manual upon initial assignment. After an overview of the ministry, a Volunteer Coordinator provides them with a one-on-one assimilation to the parking lot activities and Parking Ministry responsibilities.

In Practice - New Blog Feature

We love curious church leaders. With an unquenchable thirst for knowledge, you ask questions of anyone you meet. And through the years, you've sent quite a few our way. Those questions inspired Fellowship Church to begin hosting our Creative Church Conferences and several years later to launch CreativePastors.com. With an entity as constantly changing as the local church, no one has it all figured out and we're the first to admit we're firmly planted on the learning curve. But we appreciate the opportunity to share what we've discovered along the way, so we're excited to leverage this space as another learning venue.  "In Practice" is a new series of posts that you'll find right here on the CreativePastors blog. It will feature answers to frequently asked questions, quick numbers and facts, and the hows and whys behind what we do. You can contribute to this effort by posting your questions as comments or by shooting us an email. We look forward to learning with you as we unleash the potential of the local church.