The Lead Volunteers Leadership Blog
The Sunday School Zone Lead Volunteers Leadership Blog addresses the ongoing needs of those in a church or children’s ministry organization who are responsible for leading the volunteers engaged in that ministry. Josh Denhart, the host and creator of Lead Volunteers, is a veteran pastor and ministry leader who provides regular, ongoing leadership advice for those in the trenches of ministry.
Check out Josh’s brief videos (typically about 2 minutes) and blog posts below that will encourage you, inform you, and equip you as you develop your own leadership skills and, in turn, equip others to deepen and expand the ministry of YOUR organization!
Lead Volunteers: People Stay Where They Have Say
As a leader it is important to understand that gaining input from those you lead helps them feel as if they are part of the vision. By giving their input they feel as though they are taking part in shaping the future of the ministry. As a result, giving people a say will give them…
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Lead Volunteers: Eat That Frog!
A number of years ago, while sitting in an airport, I saw an interesting book by a name that I vaguely recalled. The author was Brian Tracey and it turns out that Brian Tracey is a productivity guru. The book is entitled Eat That Frog. Let’s imagine that you sit down to dinner with your…
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Lead Volunteers: Quietly Allow Results to Speak for Themselves
The Endeavor Allow results to speak for themselves. Years ago, our team decided to undertake a massive endeavor and recreate and redesign all our brochures. Now, you may think in your mind that this was a simple task. But it was not a simple task. We started from scratch and it took us a little…
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Lead Volunteers: Don’t Oversell the Sacrifice
When recruiting, don’t oversell the sacrifice. Share the opportunity to make an impact on the Kingdom of God! So many leaders walk into the recruiting conversations apologetic and sheepish. They come to the conversation feeling like they are a bad person that is taking something away from this potential volunteer. As they present their ideas,…
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Lead Volunteers: Creating Relationship Between Volunteers
Sadly Surprised Years ago I was sadly surprised when I found out that some of our key volunteers who had been serving as small group leaders next to other small group leaders for 40 weeks of a school year didn’t know the name of the person sitting right next to them. I was abhorrently disappointed…
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Lead Volunteers: Don’t Recruit Disunifying People
I made a significant mistake early on in my ministry career. I made several decisions that were unpopular — but that was not my mistake. We are going to make decisions that don’t please everyone. That is a good case of the “normals.” An Honest Mistake My mistake was in recruiting some of the individuals…
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Lead Volunteers: Simply Say Thanks
A Simple Phrase It blows my mind how many leaders don’t understand the value of appreciation. Appreciation can come in many forms, but I want to speak right now to simply saying thank you. It’s a simple phrase that we were taught at a very young age — thank you. Over the years, I have…
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Lead Volunteers: Don’t Cry Wolf
I have to say, in full disclosure, I am an individual who can succumb to exaggeration, hyperbole, and dramatic inflation. I have to be cautious to not over-inflate my communication of the needs of our ministry so as to get our way. Some of you know what I am talking about. You are sitting in…
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Lead Volunteers: Smile More!
I think one of the most important leadership practices that we can ever adopt is simply to smile more. Now if you are a librarian, my apologies, but I have a concept that I call a Yes Face and a Librarian Face. The Yes Face The Yes Face is someone who is vibrant and inviting.…
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