Volunteers are very important, and it’s important for those in leadership to communicate the volunteer’s importance and appreciate all they do within the faith community. Here are some fun and creative ways for you to show appreciation to the volunteers in your children’s ministry and in your whole church!

Six questions that will help you evaluate your leadership training and leadership appreciation: What is something our team should celebrate this week? What is an area within our ministry that needs to be molded and tweaked? What is a responsibility I have or am doing that I need to train and equip someone else to do and begin letting go of? Which child or family within our kids’ ministry can we be there for EXTRA this week? Who was a life saver this week and went above and beyond? What is one reason I still love working in kids’ ministry?

The best encouragement is always done in person. Making the rounds of your classrooms is a critical part of encouraging your leaders. Never be afraid to pitch in to make someone’s job easier. A written note or a small surprise candy gift are ways to show that you care about the person who is ministering.

It shouldn’t be a secret: your leaders need to feel appreciated! When you’re adding kids and losing leaders, this is a recipe for disaster. This children’s pastor realized something needed to change. He was beginning to doubt his abilities. Worse yet, he started to doubt his calling into the ministry. “My problem was, I was so focused on adding new volunteers that I didn’t give much thought to the ones who were already committed, already trained, and already serving in the trenches.

How can we as leaders ensure we are constantly investing in growing the leaders who are on our team? That is a question Children’s Pastor Heather Marble asks herself every week. Her article shows three methods she has found that made a huge impact on her kids’ ministry team.

All of us enjoy receiving a heart-felt thank you from someone. Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of not following through with our best intentions of expressing thanks to others.