100 Best Ideas to Turbocharged your Preschool Ministry (21 page)

Preschool ministry can be a very demanding and stressful area for volunteers.
Many volunteers will leave prematurely because of burnout caused by poor self-management, unrealistic expectations placed on them, or lack of support from leadership.
Regardless of the underlying cause, the end result will be that a valuable volunteer has been lost for life.

One of the most important components of a preschool minister’s job is the commitment to love and support volunteers in every possible way.
It’s essential to take notice of their time, their families, and the struggles they’re facing in day-to-day life.

These simple practices will help you prevent volunteer burnout and keep a healthy and happy atmosphere in your preschool ministry.

• Know your volunteers. Take the time to develop a relationship with them in a nonprofessional setting. Find out about their families, their lives, their relationship to God, and their dreams for preschool ministry.
  
• Set clear expectations. There shouldn’t be any questions about the job expectations for each volunteer. Create a job description that’s clear and concise, and also set a specific length of time for his or her commitment.
  
• Don’t set up a volunteer for failure. Some volunteer positions require more time and knowledge than others. Be careful to put the right person in the right job. If you place a novice volunteer into a position that requires experience, you’re setting up that person for failure. Gradually work people into positions of higher responsibility.
  
• Be willing to listen to advice. No one has all the answers all the time. Your volunteers’ observations can be invaluable, and you must always be open and willing to take advice. If your volunteers feel that you value their thoughts and advice, they’ll develop an ownership attitude toward their positions and the preschool ministry.
  
• Keep your volunteers motivated. Provide training when possible, either within the church or at outside conferences. Everyone needs a “refresher,” and the right training can renew the spirit of a volunteer on the verge of burnout.
  
• Show appreciation. The backbone of any preschool ministry is its volunteer staff. Always take time to say thank you, acknowledge the work volunteers have done, and remember their birthdays, anniversaries, and other important dates in their lives.
  
• Be reliable and organized. A volunteer’s time is precious—don’t waste it. Respond to their requests promptly. Follow through on your commitments, and keep yourself and your preschool ministry organized.
  

—Barbara

I hate waiting in line, don’t you?
The ultimate misery for me is waiting in line at the department of motor vehicles.
It’s enough to drive you crazy— especially when you’ve moved to a new state and don’t have a choice about standing in that line.

But I’ve watched preschool parents willingly stand in long lines.
I’ve seen them stand in line for an hour just so their children could see Santa.
I’ve seen them wait in long department store lines just so their children could have the popular toy that everyone wanted.
I’ve seen them slowly weave their way through a maze of line stanchions so their preschoolers could go on a ride at a theme park.
I’ve seen them wait in the summer heat so their children could have their photos taken with their favorite Disney characters.
I’ve seen them wait patiently into the night so preschoolers could be part of a special holiday event such as Fourth of July fireworks.
I’ve seen them stand in line to make their children’s birthdays extra special.

All of that waiting was for one reason—so their children could have an experience that would create a wonderful memory.
When I was a parent of a preschooler, I stood in those lines right along with everyone else.
I wanted my boys to have fun experiences that would bring a smile to their faces and give them fond memories of their childhood.

So if parents are that committed to seeing their preschoolers have great experiences, we must ask ourselves this question: How can we create preschool experiences at church that’ll have parents lined up to get their children in?

Why do parents wait in line so their preschoolers can see Santa and their favorite Disney characters?
It’s because kids have a relationship with these icons.
These icons touch kids’ heartstrings and foster happy memories.
They touch the inner need of feeling loved by someone.
What if your preschool ministry was full of volunteers who made preschoolers feel loved?
volunteers who cheerfully greeted them by name each week?
volunteers who created
happy memories for them?
I have some volunteers who are at this level.
And parents and preschoolers can’t wait to get to their preschool ministries each weekend.
Parents will line up to have their preschoolers in an environment where caring leaders build loving, nurturing relationships with kids.

Why do parents line up to purchase the popular toy that everyone wants?
It’s because they want their preschoolers to have the very best.
What if your church became known as the best place in town for preschoolers?
What if the word spread that preschoolers were learning and living out biblical truths they were being taught at your church?
What if unchurched preschool families saw the positive impact your church was having on families and this made them want the same for themselves?

Why do parents wait in long lines so their preschoolers can experience a ride at a theme park?
It’s because they want them to have a fun experience.
When parents are on a ride with their children, you’ll see them closely watching kids’ expressions.
They love to see their preschoolers’ eyes light up with wonder.
What if we created hands-on, interactive learning experiences at church that amazed preschoolers?
What if we created worship experiences that lit up their faces with God’s glory?
What if we offered shared experiences where parents and preschoolers could have fun together?

Why do parents wait patiently so their preschoolers can be a part of a special holiday or birthday event?
It’s because they want to celebrate milestones with their children.
What if we provide spiritual celebrations and milestones parents could experience with their children?

I recently witnessed something amazing.
A mother was leaving church with her preschooler in her arms—and he was pitching a royal fit!
He was trying to get away from her with all his might.
He even had his take-home paper in his hand and was hitting her with it.
I’ll never forget what he was yelling—he was yelling, “No!
I don’t want to leave!
No!
I don’t want to leave!”
I’m not excusing his behavior.
But my heart did rejoice that he’d had such a great experience at church that he didn’t want to leave.
I’d much rather our preschool parents had to drag their children
away
from church instead of
to
church!

My prayer is that half-empty hallways and classrooms will be a thing of the past for churches—that parents will line up to get their children into our preschool ministries.
If we incorporate the strategies mentioned above, it can become a reality.

—Dale

We’d all agree that parents and the church play a significant role in the spiritual development of preschoolers.
Scripture is clear that parents are their children’s primary faith influencers.
It’s also clear that our preschool ministries have a biblical mandate to partner with parents.
The question isn’t whether we should partner with parents to train their little ones spiritually.
The real question is what’s the most effective way we can do this?

A recent study in Children’s Ministry Magazine shed light on three main areas of connection between parents and the church, related to raising spiritually vital children.

Take-Home Handouts
—While 54 percent of parents in the study identified take-home sheets as a helpful way for churches to partner with them, only 36 percent of parents actually used these handouts—which explains why you spend so much time recycling handouts at the end of each service.

At our church we set out to close the gap between parents’ perceived value of handouts and the likelihood that they’ll actually use them.
On the back of our traditional take-home sheet we include “The Drive Home,” three open-ended questions parents can ask their preschoolers on the way home to start a spiritual conversation about what kids have learned.
We’ve found that our take-home sheets now leave our building and, at the very least, make it to the minivan.

We also know that our parents no longer have to settle for the pat answer of “Jesus” when asking their preschoolers what they learned at church.

Communication
—The study found that 76 percent of parents preferred email communication and 35 percent preferred face-to-face conversations.
Websites and snail mail were parents’ least favorite forms of communication.
This tells me that parents are looking for two-way communication about the spiritual development of their children, not simply one-way communication about what’s happening in our preschool ministries.
In other words, parents want to know
how
their preschoolers are doing, not
what
they’re doing.

We train our volunteers to intentionally use drop-off and pick-up times to provide parents with specific feedback about their children’s spiritual growth.
We also collect stories from volunteers about individual preschoolers so we can include those stories in emails, text messages, and Facebook messages to their parents.

Training
—Finally, the study discovered that parents aren’t yet ready to fully embrace a “home-centered, church-supported” philosophy of family ministry.
This shows me that parents need the church to provide training so they’re more equipped to be the primary faith developers for their children.

Our church has set out to equip parents with a three-pronged approach of sermon series, workshops, and small groups.

• With the help of our senior pastor, we spend four to six weeks a year teaching biblical principles about parenting in our main service.
  
• We also provide at least one parenting seminar that’s specifically geared for parents of preschoolers.
  
• Finally, we team up with our adult spiritual formation team to provide a 12- to 13-week small group study for parents of preschoolers that explores a biblical foundation for parenting.
  

While you may not be able to implement these specific strategies, our preschool ministries must take the initiative and help equip parents to be the spiritual leaders they’re called to be.

—Eric