THE ART OF FINDING AND RECRUITING PEOPLE TO SERVE THE KING
I have never met a church or ministry leader that has said, "you know, we have way too many people serving!" The opposite is usually true. Most churches and ministries are constantly trying to figure out how to find and recruit new people to serve. We'll get into some practicals on how to do that. But before we do, I should probably ask some other questions to assess the situation first. If your church or your ministry is regularly struggling to find people to serve you might want to consider answering some of the following questions.
- Do people serving understand why the position is important to the mission?
- Are people being discipled and growing in their relationship as a byproduct of serving?
- Is there a sense of community with those they are serving with?
- Are people appreciated for their service?
- Are we simply plugging holes with people or finding places for people who are gifted and passionate about that area to serve?
- Is the leader of the ministry organized enough to enable others to serve?
- Is the leader of the ministry relationally connective and loving the people they lead well?
- Is there ongoing equipping that needs to happen to keep people engaged?
- Is the ministry or position still effective, or is it time to revamp, replace, or cease the ministry?
These questions deserve answers before we simply seek to recruit more people. I'm sure I will be fleshing this out in another series of posts, but for now, let's assume you have a great ministry that is integral to your mission and is loving and caring for people well. How do we go about finding people who are ready to take the step of serving the King and being part of his Kingdom as disciples. Let's call this part of our serving process Recon and Recruitment. I'm pulling some of this first part of the process from a book called The Apprentice Field Guide by Carter Moss, Eric Metcalf, and Nick Plassman. It's geared towards identifying potential leaders, but I found the ideas to be applicable to what we as leaders should be doing with people who are just beginning to think about serving as well. Recon and recruitment is actually the first part of a much larger process of helping people serve that looks like this.
RECON
Recon is actually a military term that means to, "conduct a preliminary and especially an exploratory survey of something. It's the idea that if you are going to be prepared for your mission you need to gather as much information as possible. Well, if our mission is to make disciples and we know that part of the process of following Jesus includes service, then part of our responsibility as leaders is to gather as much information about people as we can. We see this in the Bible when Moses sends Joshua and Caleb into the promised land to see what the land and the people were like.
I have found that one of the greatest ways of doing recon is by inviting people to lunch. Now, let me make a careful caveat. We must be really intentional about the way we see and interact with people. We don't build relationships in order to put them to work for us. That is using people and they can smell it from a mile away. When a ministry leader only goes to lunch with you to find out what you're good at, people see right through it. When we are interacting with people, our first reason for GATHERING INFORMATION FROM THEM is for the purpose of CONNECTION WITH THEM. If they are new to the church or exploring faith, it's my personal rule of thumb to not mention serving until either they mention it or I have a sense that I've spent enough time with them to care about them more as people than as producers.
This means for leaders of ministries, we have to regularly be meeting with people who are new to the church. If we only hang out with those who are currently serving, we eventually will see our ministry shrink and will struggle to even maintain our ministry. Additionally, we need to be connecting with those who are not in our ministries because they are often the people who can give us leads on people we don't know or haven't considered. For example, I think it's pretty funny that often times someone will "rat out" their spouse or a friend. During the conversation they'll say, hey did you know that my wife plays piano, or they might say, you know I just heard my friend say that they were a woodworker. These are great "leads" for us to then follow up on.
Other ways we can do this is by making sure that we are intentionally connecting with new people on Sunday mornings or at large events that are designed for making initial connections with people. Ask as many people as possible to lunch or coffee and connect, connect, connect. Do it because you love people, and do it because helping people serve is part of helping them to love and follow Jesus.
DISCERNMENT
As we are meeting with people, it's important to be observant. Where are they at in their journey of faith? Are they exploring faith? Are they relatively new believers or have they been a Christian for a while and have had some experience serving already? Part of discernment is about recognizing "Spiritual Velocity". The apprentice field guide uses this term to describe someone who in actively engaged in the process of moving towards Jesus. It looks something like this...
For example, person B (those who have not yet made a decision for Christ) appears to be earnestly seeking and exploring. They may not have made a faith commitment yet but they have spiritual velocity. On the other hand, person A may have made a faith commitment to Jesus but does not seem interested in knowing more or growing a priority. They may only be nominally involved and have other priorities.
For those who have made a faith commitment to Jesus, was it simply crossing a line and they're only nominally interested and involved, or are they actively pursuing Jesus and wanting to know him more? This doesn't mean that people have to be perfect or have it all figured out before we approach them about serving. It means that it is easier to direct someone towards serving who is already moving than it is to try to get them to start.
Another important area to discern is where this person is in the process of serving. We'll talk about the various stages of serving, but if we're going to recruit someone to serve, we need to know whether they are in the exploration, recognition, passion, or vocation stage. If someone hasn't made a faith commitment yet, it doesn't mean they can't serve. It simply means they need a place to serve that is appropriate to their stage. Others may have a significant amount of serving experience and are looking for what's next. They're aware of their gifts and need direction on clarifying their unique vocation.
Other things to listen for is for what motivates and gives them passion. What things make them light up when they talk about it? What saps their energy? Are they driven by accomplishing tasks, having fun, bringing beauty, connecting with others? This helps you both in thinking through areas and opportunities where they might flourish or languish.
HUGE NOTE HERE! Don't just look for people to involve in your own ministry. If you do, you are missing out on opportunities to help the WHOLE CHURCH thrive. If you're involved in the student ministry and you just happen to know that the worship ministry needs sound technicians, you'll be more likely to notice if someone mentions their love of music and technology.
RECRUITMENT
After you've identified someone who you think would be a good fit and you've spent time getting to know them, it's time to recruit them. Some people may not love that term, but I think it fits well because it sounds missional. Like in the mission impossible movies where they say "your mission should you choose to accept it" gives a sense of purpose. The truth is we're not trying to fill holes. We're inviting people into the adventure and mission of following and serving the King of the universe. The King is recruiting them through us. We're inviting them to explore an opportunity that will both change them and learn how they were intended to change the word.
It all starts with an invitation. Something simple like "hey, have you ever thought about serving (in this area, or with this skillset, fill in the blank)?" You'll probably get a number of responses. Best case scenario they might say, actually I had been thinking about that for a while. Or they mighty say, are you kidding? I don't think that I could do that! This is a pretty common response and the reason behind it is usually "why me?" They want to know why you think they're competent and capable. Deep down people want to know they're noticed and worthy but often don't feel that way.
If we are not simply approaching people because we need to fill a slot but because we have identified them as someone God has gifted in a certain way, then we need to give them a sense of affirmation. I love the way that the apprentice field guide says to do this. They use the acronym "I.C.N.U." It stands for I See In You. This is where we point out what we have noticed about them. We point out the what we have observed about them, their personality, what other people have said or noticed as well. We might mention that we've seen the way they are taking their spiritual journey in a serious way. There is something incredibly powerful and compelling when someone realizes that we recognize them and their potential. When they hear, I really believe that you could be great at... it is often an invitation they've been waiting for.
So just a recap: Start with RECON. Gather information by meeting with new people and listening for when others mention someone they knows talents and abilities. Have lunch. Connection first, service if they're ready. Then practice DISCERNMENT. Where are they on the spiritual journey? Is there a sense of spiritual velocity? Have they already had experience serving? What lights their fire? Finally, RECRUIT. Invite them to consider how they might use their gifts and be part of God's mission. Affirm where you see their gifts, abilities, and potential. ICNU.
In our next post we'll cover the process of exploration for those who are just starting to learn where they fit.