Volunteer Training with a Purpose

All volunteers should go through training. I know some volunteers are simply warm bodies. I will dive into why that is a bad thing in a future blog, but for today: even warm bodies need to be trained.

“Why?” you might ask.

“Vision and mission!” would be my response.

That is not the only reason, but it is the most compelling reason.

Trainings could include: policy review, procedures, best practices, classroom processes, background checks, developmental characteristics of children, and safety training. All those things are great to have in a training session. And if you are not including them you should consider it…… seriously….consider it.

But there is one more reason to have training: purpose. Every volunteer must understand why they are giving of their time. They must see how their volunteer service helps support and shape the vision and mission of the church. Staff can easily see how volunteer’s efforts make a difference for the Kingdom, but do the volunteers see it? Some might all of the time, all might some of the time, but unless we tell them from the very beginning, they all will not all of the time.

So it is simple, in your training. Besides the list mentioned above make the volunteer training a time of connecting the service and purpose of the volunteers to the mission and vision of the church, and the growth of the Lord’s Kingdom.