There are a ton of voices out in the Kidmin world. Many that aren’t heard simply because they don’t have a platform to speak. “Voices of Orange” is a series of posts to highlight these leaders. You’ll hear from Family Ministry leaders, Student Ministry leaders & Children’s Ministry leaders. All of whom are in the trenches fighting week in and week out to do what God has called them to do. Here are their voices.
Julie Eastman leads kids ministry at Northside Christian Church in Spring, TX. She brought a dynamic team of leaders with her to experience Orange Conference 2011. I grabbed Julie and her kidmin team for an interview.
Julie shared about a ministry-changing interaction she had at Orange 2010 after chatting with Joy Bowen at the Orange Specialist Meet & Greet. After that conversation Julie was challenged to go back to the drawing board and revamp her team structure. Shelley Wells emerged from these changes as the team’s Volunteer Coordinator. Focusing on their volunteer recruiting & acclimation structure, Shelly works to develop and deepen the volunteer bench. A newbie volunteer goes through a series of steps including a Spiritual Gifts test, Background Check & One-on-One interview.
Then said newbie moves into a coaching phase where they are paired with a seasoned volunteer referred to as a mentor. The mentor’s role is to show the new volunteer to do what they do. Shelly and her team has found more success with pairing new volunteers with mentors that will best develop them as leaders… not necessarily mentors that lead a specific age group. Shelly says,
We’re less focused on placing someone based upon their preferred age when they start as a volunteer. Instead we work to place them with a mentor that best fits their personality.
Naturally I asked, “What’s your best method of recruiting?” Julie shared some of the challenges they’ve had in the past with mass recruiting “Come Sign Up” Rallies. The success rate was low considering the number of people that signed up based upon an emotional response. So they’ve established a “Bring someone with you” culture. At every meeting, every training, every group interaction they have with their volunteer team they are sharing this vision with their volunteer team.
Who do you know?
Who can you invite?
“Who can be you so that you can be where God is calling you next?“
Bar none, that’s the best quote of the conference for me.
“Who can be you so that you can be where God is calling you next?“
I’m stealing that one, Julie.
I had a great time meeting with Julie and her team. In my brief time with them I saw a group of strong leaders. My prayer is that Julie and her team continue to work together discovering ways to extend their reach into the community of Spring, TX. What an honor to get to hang out with some great people at Orange.
