Four Things You Must Do With Student Volunteers

I see the question, “What do I do with student volunteers?” come up over and over again. Students are wonderful great and their willingness to serve is often unmatched, but they require a certain level of training and different type of onboarding to keep them safe and your ministry safe. Often times students show up on Sunday morning eager to serve, but you haven’t thought through specific policies & procedures so you are unsure what to do and how to train them. Sound familiar?

There are a lot of varying policies around student volunteers. Every state and every church has different guidelines and it can be hard to know what way is the “right way”. These 4 things below are steps that every church can take. I will share best practices and invite you to answer specific questions to help you build out your own policies. The good news is, there is not a “right way” to do ministry. Certain policies & procedures are important to have in place, but I believe student volunteers sit in the “grey” space where everyone has to decide what works best for their church and their teams.

Let’s jump in!

Set Clear Expectations

I think setting clear expectations is crucial for all volunteers, but especially student volunteers. You must communicate what your expectations are, what you expect them to do, and what they can expect from you. Keep in mind, for many student volunteers, this is their first leadership or serving opportunity. Clarity is kindness!

This not only serves your students well, but it serves your adult volunteers as well. No one should wonder on a Sunday morning what ratios are with student volunteers or if a student can take kids to the bathroom. All of those expectations should be communicated so you have a room full confident volunteers.

Set clear expectations and communicate then often. As you decide what policies & procedures would be best for your ministry, here are some questions to consider:

• What do they need to wear?

• When do they show up?

• What are your policies around personal touch?

• What are they allowed to do? (ex: change diapers, take kids to the bathroom)

• What is your technology policy?

• How often are they required to serve?

• How will you communicate?

Invite The Parent to the Conversation

Many ministry leaders require parents to serve alongside their student. While I am not opposed to that, sometimes it is not realistic and not necessary. What is necessary is making sure the parent is included in all communication. It is common for younger students to not have a cell phone, an email, or a car, so your only option is to communicate with the parents. If a student has a phone, set a clear texting policy for you and whoever else is communicating with volunteers. An example policy could be that you text the student & the parent at the same time.

Here’s where the expectations are important. You need to make sure the parents and students are aware of what to do when a student can’t make it. You want to treat students like regular volunteers while also remembering that sometimes things happen in their family that they have no control over. As you are communicating with parents here are some questions to consider:

• Are your student volunteers necessary to open a classroom or at they extra?

• What is your communication strategy for volunteers? Are parents invited into that?

Value their Voice & Allow Space for Them to Try New Things

I personally love serving with students. They bring a special energy to the room and let’s face it, little kids LOVE the “big kids”. I am always surprised how they are able to teach kids about Jesus is a unique way that I would have never thought of. When you invite students into your ministry you also invite a new way of thinking. As the leader you set the vision, but you also get to invite your students to participate in how you get there. If we want these students to be the next generation of leaders, we need to start giving them space to lead. What a better way than for them to practice leading! I am in kids ministry because leaders invested in me and gave me space to lead and grow.

Think about these questions as you invest in student leaders:

• How are you valuing their voice?

• Can you invite some student volunteers to the leadership table?

Loop In The Youth Pastor

This may seem obvious, but I’ve been in situations where teens start volunteering but they actually are not attending youth services on Sunday or during the week. Wouldn’t it be cool if the entire family ministry department worked together to encourage, equip, and celebrate students who are serving their local church? Wouldn’t it be cool of the family ministry staff partnered with parents to help instill a love of serving and a love for the local church in the hearts of students? It would be SO cool! Here are some questions to think about when you begin to work together to make a greater impact.

• Can serving be more fun for students? (ex: middle school & high school students serving together, create a fun hangout before or after serving for students, invite youth ministry staff to walk the hallways to encourage or appreciate student volunteers)

• Can the youth min staff help you onboard volunteers?

• Can the youth min staff help you recruit volunteers?

Bonus: Onboarding Students
This proves to be another grey area. Students are too young for a background check and they have some specific policies in place. Here are some ideas on how to best onboard student volunteers.
-Host a special student volunteer training at the beginning of each semester.
-Bring parents along every step of the way. Interview the student & parent and invite a parent to walk students through your sexual & child abuse training. Both provide a ton of opportunities for the parent to encourage their kids and talk through what it looks like to serve the local church.
-Invite them to all volunteer trainings and allow them to be a part of the greater team.

Bonus: Example policies
Here are some examples of policies that I have used around student volunteers…

• There has to be a 5 year age gap between a Student volunteer & a child.

• Student volunteers do not count toward full ratio numbers—only half. (ex: Adult 1:6 ratio Student 1:3 ratio)

• Students must be attending adult worship service or youth ministry service in order to be on the kids volunteer team.

• They must go through child sexual abuse training alongside a parent. *Parents have the option to watch it ahead of time and opt their children out—I often see this with 6th & 7th graders.

Student volunteers are an incredible gift to kids ministry. Set expectations and give grace—they are worth it!