As church leaders, we must help our volunteers continually to grow in their roles. Some may grow in their leadership capacity and take on additional responsibilities. Some may serve in the same role for years to come. Whatever the case, you must help them continue to develop.
So how do you provide ongoing development to your people?
The greatest barrier to development in most churches is that we focus on a training event that occurs one time. And even when we do gather for an in-person event or training, we often have low attendance and cater the training topic to the lowest common denominator, not recognizing the various levels of competence and experience of our volunteers in the room. You, as the church leader, then become the sage on stage, with everyone looking to you as the expert.
Instead of a traditional training model, we encourage you to flip the classroom using Ministry Grid.
In the flipped classroom, volunteers watch training on Ministry Grid prior to the group gathering time. Doing so allows you to provide various levels of training on the same subject, depending on each person’s experience and level of competence. For example, for kids ministry volunteers who serve monthly, you could send updates on check-in procedures and restroom policies. For kids ministry teachers who lead a group weekly, you could send training on best practices for teaching a Bible lesson for that age group. Or you could send core competency training for those who have not yet completed it or may need a refresher.
When your volunteers gather, they sit in circles, not rows, to debrief and discuss the training they have viewed. Each volunteer is no longer a spectator but a participant as the group learns and grows together. Flipping the classroom helps experienced volunteers engage in the development of new volunteers and positions you to develop the right people into higher levels of leadership. And you become a guide on the side in the discussion to answer questions and troubleshoot ministry issues that come up in discussion.
And let’s be honest. Providing training that is not one-size-fits-all better equips your people for the work of the ministry.
We created a free ebook to help you onboard and train your new volunteers. You can download it here.
