As we continue to think about burnout, yesterday I said, "When a volunteer says they are quitting because they are, "burned out", it is an opportunity for us to identify a need and find a solution! I'll talk more about this tomorrow." Let's look at one of the main reasons teachers think they are "burned out" - they are serving on their own. When we are understaffed, the volunteers we have are in a situation where they may feel tired, worn out and decide they are burned out. Clearly, the answer to this is to recruit enough teachers and helpers and when you do not have enough, combine classes until you have enough volunteers. We should never put one volunteer in a room by themselves with children - if we do, we are opening the door for the volunteers we have to decide they are burned out and to give up. When we put volunteers in a situation like this, they may not experience the joy God has for them when they serve and may look at serving in the children's ministry as something they do not ever want to do again. This would be so sad; serving in the children's ministry is an amazing way to use the gifts, talents and abilities God has given! We want our volunteers to experience joy in serving, not become tired and quit. This joy is one reason I do not burnout - I experience so much joy from serving! I want volunteers everywhere to experience this same joy!
So, if we want long-term volunteers who serve with joy, then we need to be certain we do not understaff our classes.
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