by Gina | Mar 25, 2020 | Blog, Leadership, Ministry, Volunteers
In the previous post, we talked about how a team of volunteer Coaches has taken on a new level of value during this crazy pandemic. In fact, many of you shared how you are leaning on this layer of leadership within your volunteer team and the value you’ve experienced.
For some of you, a Coaching structure wasn’t on the radar… but it could be now. In fact, now is a great time to lean in and build your team… even if you have to do it virtually.
One thing we’re seeing from this pandemic… people are scared. Some are facing friends and family that are ill. For our family, we have two friends currently battling the virus. One is weathering it well… the other is struggling. In the midst of uncertainty, our volunteers and families need someone who can lean in and just show up.
Showing up may mean something as simple as a phone call and a question,
“How can I pray?”.
If you’re trying to figure out how to provide that level of connection for your volunteer team, you’ll want to recruit some help to make it happen. Here are some ideas that can move you in that direction.
Recruit Coaches
Consider the following types of people within your volunteer team:
- Influencers: Who do other volunteers appear to follow? Who seems to have a voice that is louder than others? It’s possible this person has influence you can leverage to care for your team. **Warning. Some influencers have an impact you want to limit, not multiply. To learn how to recognize and manage this aspect of leadership, check out my book Don’t Quit.
- Care takers: Who have you seen with a natural bent toward caring for people? Who on your team seems to come alive when they discover someone in need? It’s possible this person can show up for people in meaningful ways.
- Connectors: There’s likely someone on your team is always “the guy who knows a guy”. They’re natural connectors. When they discover a need, they are quick to create a connection that addresses the need.
Make a list of people that meet one (or more) of the descriptions above. That list is a potential team of coaches you can enlist to help you to connect with your volunteers in meaningful ways in this season. Feel free to place parameters on their commitment to this role. This doesn’t have to be a permanent team. It can simply be the team you lean on during this unusual season of ministry.
Group Your Team
Take your team of volunteers and group them in groups of 6-8 volunteers. For each group, you want to assign one coach. This step helps you see how many coaches you need in order to provide care and connection for your team.
Can a group be larger than 8 volunteers? The answer is yes. But it depends on the coach you recruit and their level of availability. Typically with our busy lives, 6-8 people is all we can reasonably and meaningfully know.
As you recruit a Coach, assign them to a team and provide contact information.
Define Expectations
The kindest thing you can do is clearly define what you need your Coaches to do and how you need them to do it. So don’t shy away from being clear. Write out a brief role description that defines what, how, when and where. Make sure they know how frequently you want updates and discoveries.
I recommend inviting Coaches to use tools like GroupMe or Facebook private groups to create a space where they can connect with their assigned people, share prayer requests and resources.
Stay Close
Once you’ve recruited your team of coaches, this becomes the team of people you pour into the most in this season. So, demonstrate for them what you want them to do for your team.
Show up.
Pray.
Be curious.
Call them individually to see how their doing. Pull them together as a group (online, of course!) to talk about what everyone is experiencing. Brainstorm via group chats about how to meet needs that arise. Fight in prayer together as you lean into the messes of life.
Disconnection happens quicker than we realize. Meaningful connection requires consistent pursuit and a team of Coaches to help us make that happen.
Looking for a resource that can help you build a Coaching Structure in your ministry?
Building an Effective Coaching Structure by Gina McClain is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Based on a work at www.ginamcclain.com.
Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at www.ginamcclain.com.
by Gina | Mar 24, 2020 | Blog, Ministry, Volunteers
It’s no question. This pandemic has changed the ministry game, for sure. I confess, I’ve relived a few apocolyptic movie moments in my brain over the past few weeks. A mash up of The Stand + Stranger Things + Hunger Games.
That may reveal more than you care to know about the inner mechanations of my brain. You’re welcome. 🙂
But today, in the midst of (what feels like) daily uncertainty, we have an opportunity before us that we’ve never had before.
- Most people’s daily lives are slowing down. Rhythms are shifting from constant “on-the-go” to more time than they’re acustomed to having. Yesterday the puzzle shelf in Target was wiped clean. Really? It’s my only outlet when couped up at home, people!
- Parents are navigating conversations with their kids they don’t feel prepared to have. And they’re looking for help.
- Though quarantine is necessary, the effects of isolation can take it’s toll.
- Watching news outlets isn’t great for the psyche as we face the prospect of economic hardship down the road.
These are only a few of the complexities our families and volunteers face today. And trying to find ways to bring support, encouragement and practical resources is a challenge. Many ministry leaders are turning to social media as a method to connect. And those avenues are great!
In fact, you can read here for some curated resources that can help AND you can listen here for a great conversation about connecting with parents effectively… even now!
But even with these resources, it can feel like connection on social media is like yelling across a crowded room. We’re competing with a lot of noise.
How do we find a way to cut through all the chatter?
Is there really a way to get their attention amidst the myriad of posts, updates and links flooding their feed?
Is there a way to stay connected in light of social distancing?
The answer to these questions are… YES!
And the answer is found in a team of volunteer coaches.
Whether you have an established team of volunteer coaches… had just started to build it… or never really thought much of it before, now’s the right time to lean in.
“I already have a great team of Coaches!”
If this is you… then congrats. You can hit the ground running. In fact, you probably already have. Here are a few ideas to help maintain (and even build) momentum for your team in the midst of this crazy season.
- Set a vision for your Coaches. Their role is to expand your span of care. That means they’re primary purpose is to care for your volunteers the way you want to care for them. And in this season of uncertainty, you want them to know someone is there to listen, pray and encourage them. So, set a vision for your coaches to help.
- Establish a method of connection. Mentioned above are methods toward virtual connection, but it simply cannot replace personal connection. We need both. And your coaches play a key role in helping you maintain personal connection. So set a clear expectation for calls and/or texts from coaches to volunteers to personally connect. (In light of the pandemic, “personal connection” takes on new meaning. Phone calls and video chats can create that connection while practicing social distancing.)
- Define an agenda for the contact. Clarity is the kindest thing you can offer your coaches. So, make sure they know what you want them to do. Equip them with simple questions to ask like, “What needs do you have, right now? How can I pray for you?”
- Set a goal for contacts. Be specific with how many contacts you’re asking your coaches to make each week. As the weeks progress, persistance around personal calls will wane. So, agree to a reasonable goal for each coach and a time where they agree to check in and provide an update.
- Connect regularly. A weekly video call is a great way to pull your Coaches together to pray, recap and encourage. Be prepared with a recommended resource that can help them AND the volunteers they lead. Remember… if the call adds value, your Coaches will engage.
- Create a central point of communication. Emails and text threads can get hazy real fast. Try a private FB group as a central hub of communication where you can send videos, post updates, share prayer requests and helpful resources. I recommend setting one up for your Coach Team and a separate one for your entire volunteer team. This allows you a connection point with both teams. The trick here is making sure you honor and support the Coach role. Allow them to be the source to the volunteers they lead. You are there to underscore what they do, not the other way around.
“I don’t have a team of Coaches! What do I do?”
If you’ve not yet leaned into building a Coaching team, now is a great time to do it. Check out this post where I share some ideas on how to build and deploy a team of coaches despite our present circumstances.
What methods have you found successful to leverage your coaches during this season?
by Gina | Mar 23, 2020 | Blog, Ministry
I think it’s fair to say this Coronavirus crazy has introduced unique challenges and opportunities for ministry leaders to navigate. As of today, some leaders are facing mandatory quarantines, while others are still suggested. Some leaders are trying to figure out how to adjust to smaller than normal worship gatherings while others are looking for remote ways to provide programming for kids and families.
Though I’d love to offer some creative solutions to the challenges you face, there are far more available to you that I would highly recommend.
You could listen to the Orange Kids Podcast Bonus episode on remote solution for kids ministry.
You could download Crossroads Church “Pandemic Guide for Professionals who Lead Kids” for tips on how to keep your people connected.
You can check out a LOAD of tools curated by Ministry Boost to help you communicate, connect and equip families in your church.
There are a ton of talented people offering their skills and expertise. And I love how crazy circumstances like a pandemic creates constraints that draw out creativity and passion for the local church.
Whether you are simply postponing physical church experiences or facing a quarantine, you may find yourself with more time than you’re accustomed to. And if you’re like me, you’re scratching your head trying to figure out what to do with it.
Though I find it challenging to offer much in this season, I can offer some words of encouragement. The funny thing is, I think these are more for me than anyone else. But you’re welcome to peak over my shoulder and read my thoughts as I challenge myself. If they help someone beyond me… all the better.
- Give yourself permission to enjoy this season. Sometimes NOT having a goal to chase, a meeting to attend or an agenda item to check off is a good thing. Even a healthy, soul-satisfying thing. So relax and enjoy.
- Have a longer conversation with a friend (while practicing social distancing, of course!) Explore more avenues of curiosity and enjoy the time without the pressure of getting to your next appointment.
- Rediscover a hobby. Actually for me, I just need to GET a hobby. Something that challenges the creativity, engages the heart yet winning is NOT the objective. (Okay… that one was DEFINITELY for me.)
I’m sure there are more I could add. But it’s probably smart to start small.
Happy Quarantining, my friends.
by Gina | Mar 20, 2020 | Blog, Ministry, Parenting, Podcast
This has to be my favorite podcast to record to date.
And that’s saying a lot in light of the conversations I’ve had the privelege of having on the Orange Kids Podcast.
But our conversation with Ally Evans speaks right to the heart of why I started in ministry so long ago. Because I love connecting with, encouraging and equipping parents to win at being a parent.
Highlights I took away from Ally’s experience:
Equipping for what WE teach isn’t enough
Though many ministry leaders send emails, post on social media, provide handouts and (generally) strive to equip parents for faith conversations around what WE teach each week, this isn’t quite enough. Why?
“What we’re teaching this week in church is probably not what a parent is struggling with at home that week.” -Ally Evans
This is a compelling point. We don’t want to stop what we’re already doing. It holds value. But there is opportunity for more and that part excites me.
Why We Should Listen
For years I was guilty of thinking I understood the challenges parents faced today. I ingested books, blogs and podcasts to keep pace with the current trends of parenting. But the truth is… there are nuanced challenges just within our communities that a nationally published book may not adequately address.
Something I learned in the past few years of ministry is… nothing replaces a simple conversation where you take a moment to say, “What are you facing as you parent today?”
How We Could Listen
There are a variety of ways to listen. As Ally mentioned on the podcast, a private Facebook group for parents can provide a great space for conversation and connection.
I think there are other ways to build on this. A few years ago another ministry leader shared about coordinated phone calls she and her leaders made to parents. I loved it so much, I implemented a similar strategy.
All it required was a monthly plan to:
- Focus on an age group (i.e. Kids ministry = 1st grade; Student ministry = 7th grade)
- Focus on a goal (i.e. only 5 completed calls. The goal wasn’t to exhaust the list. In our world, that was overwhelming!)
- Focus on a question (i.e. What challenges is your child facing in school this year?)
- Offer our help (i.e. How can we help?)
I led the team to focus on these calls for several months. I’ll confess, it was hard to sustain without strong accountability. You get more voicemails than actual conversations. That can feel defeating. And, in light of where we were as a ministry, it was a project I had to back-burner.
But the value of the actual conversations was so high, I wasn’t satisfied to let it go. Despite the daunting volume of potential calls to make. I’m convinced there has to be a way to connect with parents in smaller conversations such as these. It’s just a matter of getting creative.
Maybe that’s a future project. 😉
Equip Leaders to Break the Barrier
I love the idea of equipping a small group leader to simply break the barrier of communication. If you listen to the podcast for long, you’ll hear us talk about challenging small group leaders to introduce themselves. The simplicity of knowing their small group leader’s name makes a parent feel valued. Add one simple question… and you’ve changed the game:
“Is there anything you want me to know about your kid?”
Walking away from this conversation, the question I keep turning over in my head is,
How can we listen and communicate to parents “We are FOR you”?
What do you think?
What have you discovered that helps you listen to parents?
by Gina | Mar 19, 2020 | Blog, Ministry
That has been the theme of the past few weeks of my life.
No one told me.
No one told me… the past 24 months would be the hardest of my life… that three weeks ago everything would change… that today I’d be sitting on my couch in the early hours of the morning typing this post… I’d soon be changing my ‘status’ on all social networks. (you know… the one’s I rarely update!)
No one told me.
Though if they had, I wouldn’t have believed them.
Two weeks ago I had the privelage of being a guest on a podcast hosted by Callie Holland called “No One Told Me“. It’s a fun listen that I highly recommend. It isn’t hard to see why our conversation took off so quickly. Callie is pretty engaging.
The funny thing is… we recorded the podcast last fall.
And a lot has changed since then.
Let me explain.
Nearly two years ago our family was preparing for some big transitions.
Our oldest was graduating high school, planning for some big summer intern experiences out of the country and preparing to start college in the fall.
The rest of us were preparing for a move from Knoxville to Nashville where I would join the Cross Point team leading NextGen ministries. A bucket list job, for sure.
Our family (at least 4 of the 5) officially transitioned to Nashville in June 2018. By August our world started to get a little crazy.
Transitioning Teens… is NOT an easy thing to do. That first summer was difficult, for sure. Mourning the distance of friend groups left behind is a real thing. FaceTime, text and social media can only do so much to close the gap. And facing the prospect of building new friend groups just doesn’t provide the solace a parent could hope. So we started counseling.
Diagnosis #1… hit in August. We wake up to a phone call from our son’s best friend. They’re taking him to the ER. He’s pretty sick. We knew he spent the previous day in bed with (what sounded like) a simple stomach virus. That wasn’t the case at all. His body was shutting down due to ketoacidosis. Turns out the kid’s pancreas was pooping out and he would leave the hospital four days later with a bunch of needles and a lifelong journey ahead with Type 1 diabetes.
Transitioning our Marriage… was harder than anticipated. Though we are those parents who knew from the beginning that we are raising adults (not kids). And we will celebrate their transition into the world. So, when our oldest remained in Knoxville to go to college, we were excited for him. We just didn’t anticipate how hard it would be to wake up every morning without that kid under our roof. And reality was surprising.
Add to that the simple challenge of leaving a great group of friends behind to face my new role at Cross Point, helping our younger teens through the transition and supporting our oldest through some pretty significant life-events… from a distance. It took its toll on us.
Though Kyle and I are good, the season has been more difficult to summarize in this post. And, frankly, not everything is for public consumption. We’re stronger today than we’ve ever been. But the bumps and bruises to get here were a blindside.
Diagnosis #2… was a gradual head scratcher. We noticed something didn’t line up when our daughter randomly took her blood pressure. (Yes, we have a portable blood pressure cuff. Yes, I was supposed to monitor my BP b/c it had been tracking a little high… but that’s something to address later.)
When she popped that cuff on her arm and pushed the button I thought, “This BP monitor is crap!” It reads too high. Not only is she 16 years old, but she’s a swimmer too. There’s no way her BP could be that high.
Truth be told, I thought it was redemption for me because if the machine read her BP high then maybe mine wasn’t high either. It’s the BP monitor that’s the problem!! Or, so I wished.
Kyle ordered a new monitor (thank you, Amazon). Within a day the new monitor arrived where we tested my “faulty monitor” theory. Turns out I was wrong. The old one was reading as accurately as the new one. My BP was still higher than normal… but Josie’s?? We needed to figure out what was going on.
So after a series of doctor visits, tests and scans we land ourselves at Vanderbuilt with a kidney specialist. We learn our daughter has Chronic Kidney Disease and lost 75% of her kidney function. The goal moving forward is to slow the decline and retain as much function as possible before facing a kidney transplant.
Now… before you say, “Well, Gina, if you’re going to face a transplant at least it’s a kidney transplant. They do those all the time!”
Someone actually said that to me. And I know they meant well. And there are kids out there that face far more daunting things. And one day I will reach a point where I can see that perspective and share my appreciation for it. But sorry… I’m not there yet.
This is not what I imagined my daughter’s senior year would include. Facing the reality of daily meds that make you feel sick, constant fatigue, unwanted weight gain and the persistent nag in the back of the brain wondering when will I need a transplant?
Unless you’ve faced something like this… please understand it’s harder than you realize.
Things start breaking down… when pressures intensify. Although the role as NextGen leader at Cross Point was amazing, it was challenging, for sure. It’s a multi-site church with a centralized model that just needed the central support for NextGen ministries to actually BE centralized. We knew from the start that since we were building the plane while flying it, it was going to take some time.
The team is amazing, hungry and talented. The potential to bring alignment, create the central support and define NextGen ministries across all campuses was all there… and then some.
But there was something happening in me. Though the things Kyle and I faced personally were hard, I didn’t think they were affecting me profressionally. But I couldn’t see things clearly. I didn’t want to see things clearly.
The role was hard. And the pace was daunting. But I loved every minute of it. Like the mad roller coaster you never want to disembark. It’s just too fun.
Except I was becoming more and more un-fun… at home. I was distracted. My head constantly filled with the stresses and challenges of ministry. I was irritable, unapproachable and simply not present for my life.
If one thing is true about life… when you’re squeezed, what’s inside comes out.
I was being squeezed and (it seems) all that was unhealthy within me came out. My relentless drive to succeed. My need to accomplish. My internal fight to prove to myself (if not anyone else) that I am worthwhile. All of that was coming out in unhealthy ways. And those closest to me paid the tax for it.
Listening to Callie’s podcast two weeks ago felt other-worldly. Only God could know that the words I spoke six months ago would be the very words I needed to hear today. (insert sigh)
Transition my brain… to a new season of ministry. That’s easier said than done. But it was the only thing I could do. In light of everything our family has faced these past 24 months, I needed to make a change. So, I resigned my position at Cross Point.
To date, it’s the hardest thing I’ve had to face. As much as I’ve grown as a leader and as a Christ-follower, I still placed my identity in what I did… not who I am. That needs to change. And it simply couldn’t change in the midst of my role in full-time ministry.
The past few weeks have been relatively surreal. Some moments I may share in the future. Most I won’t. They’re too sacred. But today brings new challenges… and new opportunities.
No one told me it would be this hard.
But I’m often reminded (mostly by Kyle) that I’m stronger than I think I am. And seasons like this forge things within us we will never regret.
So I’m facing a new future. One I didn’t anticipate facing. But one filled with expectancy as I transition my attention to the people in my life that matter most.
You’ll hear more from me here as I start writing more. I’ll share about what lies ahead. So check back soon. In the meantime, you can always find me on the Orange Kids Podcast trying to keep from laughing too much at Mike and Kellen.
