Our weekend service seems to have 3 ongoing problems. You would think that a ministry that serves about 1,000 students each weekend would have everything dialed in and running smoothly. However, every ministry has its soft spots.

Three needs I’ve noticed that I’m sure are common to most youth ministries involve:
1. Noise
2. Number of leaders
3. Necessities.

Volunteers can help champion these needs by…

1. Shushing students- A teacher should never have to shush the crowd. At this weekend’s service I felt bad for our speaker because she had to shush the crowd several times. Volunteers should allow whoever is speaking to focus on the message. Distractions should be handled by volunteer leaders. It’s important to do this in as friendly a way as possible so we don’t crush a student’s spirit or affirm the stereotype that the church is judgmental. However, if the noise gets out of control, we shouldn’t be afraid to shush students. I typically say, “I’m glad you’re hear. It’s okay to talk, we just need you to do it outside.” They never leave, but usually stop talking… at least for a while.

2. Soliciting help – Most ministries suffer from a lack of leaders. Much of the noise problem would go away if there was a stronger leader presence. We need to be on the lookout for potential leaders in the church. If we take this responsibility on ourselves by nudging our friends to help out, the youth pastor can focus more attention on leading and ministering. If each leader adds one volunteer to the team each year, the volunteer staff can double every 12 months. More leaders caring for students can help create an atmosphere which attracts more students.

3. Solving problems – Our youth pastor told me the other day that he would love to have a stagehand to make sure that props and supplies are placed and removed as needed throughout the service. He told me for the past year he’s wanted a student to step up to do it. Since he used the word student, I didn’t think much about it. As I write this post, I’m realizing this is a problem I can solve by either being a stagehand or recruiting one of my students to do it. That’s a great example of supporting him by filling a need. As volunteers, we need to be on the lookout for problems we can solve on our own or that we can get students to handle. Being proactive about finding and meeting needs encourages the staff while also freeing them up to lead.

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