Pioneer Clubs coordinators eNewsletter–Successful Recruiting Starts in the Spring

April 2006

Dear Pioneer Clubs Coordinator,

Welcome to the latest edition of the Pioneer Clubs^® Coordinator’s eNewsletter, where we provide resources to assist you as you plan, recruit, and train—enabling others to share God’s Word with children. This month we would offer some ideas to help you as you begin to recruit leaders for next year.

Successful Recruiting Starts in the Spring

Why should you be thinking about recruiting in the spring? To get leaders who are fully committed to leading well, you need to give the people you approach time to consider prayerfully what they will be taking on. Start by confirming which of your leaders will be returning in the fall. Most clubs have some turnover in leadership each year. By starting your recruitment efforts early, you can give people plenty of time to think, pray, come back to you with questions, and still make a decision well before the new club year starts.

As you start looking for new leader candidates, target the kinds of people who are capable of leading well and who will enjoy the experience. The obvious choices are parents of club members and professional teachers: people who work with kids of these ages all the time and know what to expect. And certainly both teachers and parents have been invaluable leaders in and supporters of club programs over the years. However, they also tend to end up high on the recruiting priority lists of other Christian education people. They may already feel fully committed between family or work and Sunday school or other church responsibilities.

Where else can you look for leaders? Before you answer that, think about what characteristics a good leader would embody:

someone who cares about children
someone with the patience to work with children
someone who can get excited about helping children grow
someone committed to explaining salvation to children
someone interested in outreach to unchurched children and their families

Does your church have college students who might be interested in working with kids? True, they will graduate in a few years, but Pioneer Clubs offers them valuable leadership experience and mentoring opportunities before then. And consider that many college students get jobs near their alma mater—you may be training a leader who stays much longer.

How about the singles in your church who have no kids? They don't have the family time commitments that parents do, so may be more open to giving time to club. Some are very excited about working with kids. Singles who have only recently begun living on their own may be missing the presence of younger siblings. Or the idea of getting in some “parenting practice” may intrigue other singles. Club leadership is also a good way to help singles connect with church families.

In the same way, club leadership is a good way for people new to the church to meet families and feel needed.

Encourage men to be club leaders, either on their own or in partnership with their wives. Men may be looking for a way to share their skills or experience with the next generation—leading club is a great way to do that. Stress how important it is for boys to see men being club leaders and Christian role models.

And don’t overlook the potential of the retired folks in your church. Grandparents can have an even better appreciation of children than parents, who have their own kids around every day. In addition, older leaders bring a wealth of life experiences to the clubs they lead.

Chapter 6 of the Club Coordinator’s Manual (catalog #2703) covers a wide range of recruitment issues. If you haven’t read it recently, consider doing so before you start this year’s recruitment. The Recruitment Ideas chart on page 55 gives you a summary of possible recruitment approaches for many different groups of potential leaders. Order at the following link: http://www.shoppioneerclubs.org/store/product.asp?ItemID=826&CategoryID=171&HeaderCategoryId=29&returnUrl=&RandomSeed=T6EC9.

You will always lose the occasional leader due to circumstances beyond your control, as when families move. Consider recruiting from a wide range of people—college students and singles, men and senior—in addition to the parents and teachers in your church to give yourself an easier time finding new people willing to serve as leaders.

Action Ideas for April

If you know a leader needs to step down, make sure the coleader is willing to continue and start recruiting a new coleader early. Having coleaders ready to lead makes transitions easier.
If you don't already have one, recruit a co-coordinator so you have trained backup for your own position.

Ideas for Encouraging Leaders

E-mail each leader, noting something you've appreciated about him or her this year.
Recognize years of service by organizing a short ceremony in church for retiring leaders to “pass the torch” to new leaders.
Have a reception for club leaders after a worship service. Include a few words from the pastor. Let club leaders tell about their experiences with club. Provide refreshments.

Changed Lives

“My Voyager leader’s husband died recently. I taught her class that week and we made Miss Ginny cards: “To the greatest teacher ever ... To the bestest teacher ... We love you because you do great activities.” I have known all of these kids for a long time, so I said, jokingly, “I don't know if I can teach you guys or not. If Miss Ginny is the best teacher ever, then what am I?” They thought and thought, and one little boy said, “Well, ... you're ... fun.” I cracked up, and it made Ginny smile when I told her. Just proves that these kids are just as much a blessing to us as we might be to them!” —Sue Carney, Westerville Free Will Baptist Church, Westerville Ohio

We’d love to hear testimonies of how your club has seen God at work. Please e-mail Becky at ballenpowell@pioneerclubs.org with your name, church name, and how you’ve seen God at work in your club.

Pioneer Clubs Announcements

Kids for Kids Hike Countdown

You've been planning for months, and now hike day—April 22—is just around the corner! Here's what you can do during the remaining days before your hike:

Call adult helpers to review responsibilities and check on supplies they are assigned to bring.
Divide adults and children into hike groups, keeping a ratio of 1 adult for every 6 to 8 children.
Prepare a certificate for each participant in the hike. Certificates can be downloaded from the Kids for Kids Hike section at Pioneer Clubs' Web site (www.pioneerclubs.org, click on Kids for Kids Hike).
Hand out Kids for Kids Hike T-shirts to participants.

On hike day, collect sponsor forms and money from participants and follow your personalized Hike Day Plan (also available on our Web site). Be sure to take pictures and send them to cpowers@pioneerclubs.org so we can share them.

If you haven't planned a Kids for Kids Hike yet, it's not too late! Our Quick & Easy Hike option takes only two weeks to plan and can take place during a club meeting. Don't miss out on the fun! Visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/lrc/HikeBook.asp for more information.

Pioneer Clubs Phonathons

Our heartfelt thanks to all those who supported our recent phonathons. We especially appreciate our club leaders who opened their hearts to children beyond their own church through a gift to Pioneer Clubs' national ministry. On behalf of all those children, thank you for your generous support!

Pioneer Clubs Sunday

Congratulations and thanks to all who participated in Pioneer Clubs Sunday! To learn how churches celebrated, visit the “Life Impact” page of our Web site at www.pioneerclubs.org/whatothers.htm.

If you haven’t yet celebrated Pioneer Clubs Sunday at your church, we encourage you to choose your own date and do so! For ideas and a brief presentation script, visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/lrc/pcweek/pcsunday.asp. Be sure to let us know how it goes!

Voyager Clubs—Special Announcement:

If you are a club coordinator at a church with a Voyager club and haven’t already filled out our Voyager curriculum survey, please visit http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=837411933739, and take a few minutes to give us your feedback on the Voyager curriculum.

Encourage your Voyager leaders to do so as well.

Join us for a Pioneer Clubs^® training teleconference!

You may participate in these sessions from any location that has a telephone for only $20 per telephone line. These teleconferences are scheduled throughout the year. Upcoming topics are:

Basic Training
Evaluating Your Club Program
Leader Recruitment and Retention

Pioneer Clubs training teleconferences will benefit every club coordinator and leader—and it’s easy to register today! Visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/trainingwork.htm for the complete schedule and online registration forms. We hope you can join us!

NEW TOOL! Five Steps to a Fabulous Fall As you’re wrapping up a great year of Pioneer Clubs, remember...NOW is the time to start planning for the fall! We’ve made it simpler for you with our new planning tool, “Five Steps to a Fabulous Fall.” This timely resource contains great tips to help you recognize kids and leaders, build an effective award incentive program, evaluate your club program, recruit and retain leaders, train your leaders, and promote your Pioneer Clubs ministry! Visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/pdf/Fabulous_Fall.pdf for the complete schedule and online registration forms. We hope you can join us!

Reflections

Use the evaluations you did in the individual clubs this past year, or will do as the year ends, to develop key criteria for recruiting new volunteers. What characteristics do returning leaders need in coleaders? Will any club groups need extra leaders because of the number of club members anticipated? Visit http://www.pioneerclubs.org/pdf/PC_evaluation_form.pdf for a Pioneer Clubs evaluation form.

Lighter Side

After a church service on Sunday morning, a young boy suddenly announced to his mother, “Mom, I've decided to become a minister when I grow up.” The mother asked, “What made you decide that?” “Well,” said the little boy, “I'll have to go to church on Sunday anyway, and I figure it will be more fun to stand up and yell than to sit and listen!”