Let's Plan a Volunteer Recruitment Month! - "Hand in Hand" Theme!

One of my favorite "oldie" groups is DeGarmo and Key. I love their music, their sound and I love the message to their songs. So, when it came to selecting music for a theme and video, well, the song "Hand in Hand" is absolutely perfect! I used this song in a church with a long history. I was able to get photos of their original building and even of classes and volunteers from decades earlier. By combining those old photos with video of the church with it's current classes and volunteers it made an amazing video! The added bonus was the strong message in the song, so again while I realize this is an older song, it is well worth considering as the song you choose to build your theme around for your recruiting month!

• Video hints – If you can get your hands on video footage or photos of people who served in your church in years past – former pastors, former Sunday School teachers, former buildings, etc. – put them in the beginning of this video and then transition to shots of your current building.  For the chorus show shots alternating between shots of those who came before you and served and shots of volunteers who are serving now.  Try to communicate the message, you are all serving, “hand in hand” through the years.

Recruiting Plan – begin two weeks before the actual start of your recruiting month with the following “teasers” – 

• Week one – “Hand in Hand”.  
• Week two – “We’ll serve the Lord Together”.   
• Week three/week one of your actual recruiting month – “hand in hand!”

 Recruiting Month – 

• Week one – Show video and have someone sing the song, make name badges/stickers with a picture of a hand reaching to another and print, “Hand in Hand, we’ll Serve the Lord Together” on the sticker.  Give badges to staff, Elders, CE board members and volunteers and ask them to wear each week.  Also give badges to “retired” volunteers who are still at your church. 
• Week two – Plan a “honored volunteer” appreciation service.  Ask those who served in years past, or had family members who served faithfully to bring a picture you can show of them on a power point display or a poster at the front. Have your senior pastor pray, thanking God for the people He has blessed your church with over the years to serve in your children’s ministry.  Have someone sing the song, “Hand in Hand”,  be sure everyone is wearing a sticker, hand out stickers to people who forgot their sticker from the previous week and to new volunteers.
• Week three – Ask three of your volunteers to share what they most enjoy about serving in the area of ministry they are involved in and be sure everyone is wearing their stickers. 
• Week four – Ask Volunteers to stand by the doors and hand out Reisen Chocolate Pieces with a tag which says, “There are so many ‘Reisens’ we would love to have you join our team and serve hand in hand with us!” to adults as they leave the church service. Be sure everyone is wearing their sticker.

Each week during your month, include a flyer in the bulletin for people to respond with and place in the offering to indicate their interest as well as post a sign with how many openings are available, updated weekly.