Equipping your toddler group or creche team with tools
23 May 2023
How can we equip those volunteers who help with our toddler group or creche?
This seminar, delivered by Rachel Turner, was part of the Nurturing Babies and Toddlers’ Spiritual Lives Training Morning in 2022.
You can watch below and we have added short notes.
- There is a changing volunteer culture: Recruiting teams can feel hard; many churches find this to be the case.
- Work with who you have: Don’t force people into roles they dislike. Instead, equip them to serve in ways that fit their strengths (e.g., some may not enjoy toddlers but love welcoming adults or praying for people). You may need to fit your ministry around who you have rather than trying to fit people into the ministry. Volunteers need to feel significant not just for what they do but for who they are. Ministry should flow from shared community, not just task lists.
- There are two types of equipping: you need to equip your team practically – how to set up and put down, how to prep or supervise the craft, for example. There’s another significant equipping you need to do: to equip your volunteers to recognise and be confident in their ministry. If we equip team with the same key tools we want the parents and carers to learn we create a culture of spiritual parenting that impacts parents. As volunteers gain confidence, they start to share their own stories and talk about faith in their normal conversations and parents and carers learn from that.
- Drip-feeding training: Instead of long formal sessions, give short reminders, tools, and encouragements in the moments before or after groups. Help volunteers to understand that their stories of them and God and share how to talk about God. Let them know that small truths (e.g., “you are enough” for parents, “children are naturally connected to God”) have lasting impact.
- Spot and affirm fruit: Notice and name when volunteers use those skills and also when spiritual fruit shows up in the group. Help the team see God at work, not just tasks accomplished. This will build encouragement and confidence.
- Adapt training to needs: Centre any extended training around volunteers’ pain points and questions, not just your agenda. What do they have questions about or struggle with?
- Practical approaches for more extended training: Hold multiple small gatherings (like breakfasts) covering the training rather than one big session. Online is an option. Or put them into working groups where they figure out stuff together.
- Volunteers who aren’t Christian: Affirm their contribution, value their presence, and give them space to opt in at their comfort level. Culture itself can disciple.
You might also be interested in:
Parenting for faith in a toddler group