About this resource

Volunteer Discussion Group Guide: an Annual Strategy for Children's and Youth Ministry The Grow Strategy provides seven tactics to help you recruit, train, and retain volunteers in family ministry: volunteer events, meetings, discussion groups, one-on-ones, communication, tools, and celebration. This resource gives you an annual strategy for your Volunteer Discussion Groups. A discussion group is a gathering with a small group of volunteers who work in a similar role, with the goal of idea-sharing and problem-solving. The Grow Strategy recommends scheduling at least two discussion groups per year, and to leave room for more discussions as needed. When we think about training and leading volunteers, we probably picture environments where we (the ministry leader) are doing the training and leading. That should be a necessary part of our volunteer investment strategy, but it's not the only way. Sure, you've got a lot of wisdom to share with your volunteers, but have you ever considered that your volunteers have a lot of wisdom to share with each other? That's where these Discussion Groups come in. If you're building your own customized Grow Strategy Calendar, we recommend putting this event on your calendar twice a year -once in the middle of the year for a check-in and once at the end of the year for a debrief. But be prepared to add additional discussion groups for key moments like event debriefs, moments of ministry transition, and care during a crisis.

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