I've been reading Tony Morgan and Tim Stevens book "Simply Strategic Volunteers" for too long but have gotten some great ideas to use in the ministry God has place me in here at NCBC. As always I will keep this book report down to two specific ideas that I got from the book (though I have about 5 ideas) and I will add in one more thought as well.
Big idea number one - The need for me to always encourage my leaders isn't a new idea but Morgan and Stevens certainly reminded me that this is a huge deal. I have to admit I'm not very good and constantly encouraging people. One of the main reasons I have an admin is for her to keep reminding me (and often she does it) to encourage my volunteers. "Anytime you are given credit publicly or thanked for your leadership, always uses that opportunity to deflect the glory to God and the thanks to your team" is something that was shared in the book and something I need to keep in front of me always.
Big idea number two - I need to stay focused on a small group of volunteers and invest myself into them. I like this statement from the book, "It's about spending focused time with regular companions, and that can happen only if we limit the number of people who are within our direct span of care." I'm not saying that I only want a few sponsors interacting with me - I have an open door policy and I want any sponsors (and kid/parent for that matter) to feel comfortable to talk with me. But I do need to keep myself focused on a few people who I am willing to sacrifice almost any of my time for. This is just a very important reminder.
Final thought - I both like and dislike how this book was put together. It has 99 2-3 page long chapters which I thought I would like when I first started to read it. But since I only allow myself to read one book at a time I found myself spending a lot of time reading this book (I usually only read one or two chapters a night) because of how many short chapters there were.
"God never wastes an experience, no matter how horrific" or how wonderful and this book has been a wonderful read and I would recommend it to my youth ministry friends to read and have as a resource to impact their volunteers.
Big idea number one - The need for me to always encourage my leaders isn't a new idea but Morgan and Stevens certainly reminded me that this is a huge deal. I have to admit I'm not very good and constantly encouraging people. One of the main reasons I have an admin is for her to keep reminding me (and often she does it) to encourage my volunteers. "Anytime you are given credit publicly or thanked for your leadership, always uses that opportunity to deflect the glory to God and the thanks to your team" is something that was shared in the book and something I need to keep in front of me always.
Big idea number two - I need to stay focused on a small group of volunteers and invest myself into them. I like this statement from the book, "It's about spending focused time with regular companions, and that can happen only if we limit the number of people who are within our direct span of care." I'm not saying that I only want a few sponsors interacting with me - I have an open door policy and I want any sponsors (and kid/parent for that matter) to feel comfortable to talk with me. But I do need to keep myself focused on a few people who I am willing to sacrifice almost any of my time for. This is just a very important reminder.
Final thought - I both like and dislike how this book was put together. It has 99 2-3 page long chapters which I thought I would like when I first started to read it. But since I only allow myself to read one book at a time I found myself spending a lot of time reading this book (I usually only read one or two chapters a night) because of how many short chapters there were.
"God never wastes an experience, no matter how horrific" or how wonderful and this book has been a wonderful read and I would recommend it to my youth ministry friends to read and have as a resource to impact their volunteers.
.jpg)
