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3 Ways to Cast Vision for Kids’ Ministry

And although it’s true that sometimes people just don’t get it, or sometimes they just can’t grasp the vision of where we’re going, the bottom line was that even though I was casting vision, few were following me.
Cast Vision in Kids' Ministry

Why don’t they get it? Are they not serving again this week? Don’t they understand what we’re trying to accomplish here?!

Those are just a few questions that echoed in my head Sunday after Sunday during my first year of leading kids’ ministry. It was so easy to get frustrated as I thought of the leaders who just couldn’t grasp the importance of what we were trying to accomplish every week.  

And although it’s true that sometimes people just couldn’t grasp it, I continued to cast vision for kids’ ministry . . . with few people following it. Clearly, my volunteers didn’t know how important understanding our vision was.

But finally, I realized that was my problem.

The truth is that we can cast the most compelling vision for ministry at the beginning of every year. However, without an effective way to continue casting vision, it will drain out over time. Oftentimes, this leaves our teams struggling to remember what matters most. 

How to Cast Vision for Kids’ Ministry

If we aren’t careful, our vision for ministry has the potential to become a distant memory when our teams face ministry challenges. For every volunteer to follow our vision, we must find ways to communicate consistently. Over the years, I’ve learned there are three key ways to cast vision for kids’ministry in order to keep volunteers focused on what matters most. 

1. Cast vision for ministry annually (or even quarterly)

Finding time to meet in person (or maybe digitally now), with all the volunteers in your ministry on an annual or quarterly basis is key. This will cast a big picture of what really matters most in your ministry. It’s your opportunity to share all at once with every single leader where you’re going and how you plan to get there.

These bigger meetings with volunteers are the perfect way to share the 30,000-foot vision. More importantly, these gatherings will  build a strong connected team that shares a common goal of investing in the faith of kids week after week. Each annual or quarterly meeting should clearly define your vision and the path toward it. The tone we set at these bigger meetings can likely translate to the tone of the ministry’s vision, so they should definitely also include a huge dose of fun.

2. Cast vision weekly

We can’t fully trust that the annual vision we share will stick with our volunteers overtime. As the challenges of ministry rise, it’s easy for our teams to forget what we said months ago. The obstacles before them become louder than the mission ahead of them. Thankfully, we can become strategic about casting vision weekly so that our leaders don’t forget why they’re serving. 

One of the most effective ways to cast vision for ministry on a consistent, weekly basis is with a volunteer huddle. A volunteer huddle is simply a quick meeting with your team before they serve. It’s a meeting to cast vision, inform your leaders, and pray. By creating an intentional time and space to remind them of what matters most ensures that the vision drips from week to week. 

3. Cast vision one-on-one

It’s important that we’re also strategic about casting vision one-on-one with our kidmin volunteers. Whether you’re having coffee with a leader, sending a note of encouragement, or calling a small group leader, every conversation should leak more of your vision. 

You see, when we have an opportunity to connect with volunteers one-on-one, we can remind them of the vision. It provides an opportunity to encourage them to play a bigger part in the vision too. But most importantly, it allows us to celebrate that they’re truly moving the vision forward! 

These strategic one-on-one conversations also strengthen the relationships within our ministry. They allow us to leverage these connections to clarify any vision-confusion and personally help volunteers focus on what’s important.

 

When we are strategic about casting vision for ministry effectively and consistently, we align leaders to focus on what matters most everyday.

For ideas on how to cast vision for partnering with parents, click here!

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