Episode 185: Online Kidmin and Recruiting Volunteer Subs with Jarrod Harris

Nick Blevins Family Ministry Podcast: Children | Youth | Students | NextGen

In this episode, Jarrod Harris shares about his church's recent shifts in kidmin to online church as well as some unique tips for volunteer recruitment and empowerment. Making adjustments within kidmin and family ministry is inevitable, but all the strategies we hold tightly to within our churches can still be championed and upheld, including personal connections and partnering with parents.

Jarrod Harris

Connect with Jarrod on Facebook, Instagram and Email at [e-mail].

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Notes

Ideas for connecting with families digitally:

• Online kid's services
  • Personalized
    • Volunteers are the heroes
    • Utilize staff sometimes, but allow volunteers to still be seen
    • Pre-recorded and included in the weekend
• YouTube
  • A show focused on family connection
    • Reinforces parents as spiritual leaders
    • Engages families in activities together
    • Prompts families to watch again with challenges
    • Recaps weekend service content for the family
    • Note: After recording this podcast, there were some delays in launching the MISSION YouTube Show for kids (see additional examples and resources in the Action Steps below)
• Zoom calls for groups
  • Continued connection for kids with their leaders
  • Take the most consistent kids and get leaders contact info
    • Prompt leaders to reach out via text, email, or even a personal video to kids and families
  • Relationships truly happen outside of the weekends; otherwise
  • Using GroupMe to interact with teams and send out information to volunteers
  • Zoom Calls can be set (with licensed and private accounts) for kids and leaders to have face-to-face group time
  • Weekly Zoom Calls for grade levels (all first-graders from one service at the same time; then 2nd grade and so on)

Ideas for recruiting volunteer SUBs:

• Building the Bench: a unique approach to filling the weekend gaps from call-outs
  • Turning people's No's into Yes's
  • Volunteer empowerment to recruit and schedule their SUBs
  • Gamification is a great incentive
  • Staff still responsible for orientation, background checks, onboarding and training
  • Identifying pools of potential SUBs

Action Items

1. Check out a YouTube show for #kidmin online
   • Uptown Kids Online
   • LifeKids
   • Saddleback Elementary Online
   • Saddleback Early Childhood Online
   • SandalsKids.tv
2. Empower SGLs to connect with kids more
3. Build the Bench Contest in the fall

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Special Sponsor: ServeHQ

This episode is sponsored by ServeHQ. ServeHQ makes simple tools for ministry leaders to equip volunteers, onboard new members, develop leaders, send announcements, and chat with anyone safely with accountability, all in one unified platform. Go to servehq.church to find out more.