Help with Recruitment Strategies is here!

We hope last week’s post on the Top 10 Ways to Recruit New Council Members struck a chord with y’all. We believe many of you will agree with us when we say that this process is a BIG deal and it deserves your utmost attention! Councils need to MAKE a plan and then STICK to it year after year, to ensure you’re finding the right people at the right time for the right roles.

So today we’re sharing what we feel are some of the Fundamentals of Recruitment: Crafting a Recruitment Strategy. Now we know that some churches have done this already and you can find examples of these here and here. Perhaps if your church has perfected the recruitment process, you’d be willing to share it with the rest of us! As you may already see, each church will need to find what works for them. There really isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to recruitment or a fill-in-the-blank template, although some of the fundamentals are the same! If you would like help in writing up your Recruitment Strategy, we have Diaconal Ministry Developers across Canada ready to help churches and Classis. Or you can email one of our Regional Ministry Developers: Rachel for Western Canada or Tammy for Eastern Canada.

Now! After you’ve crafted your Recruitment Strategy, it’s time to get to work. As we mentioned in our Top 10 and in the above resource, educating your congregation on what being a council member actually means is crucial. Sometimes people say “No” to a nomination because they don’t really understand what they are being asked to do. It’s important to create ways to inform your members, and especially nominees, on what the job descriptions and expectations are for an Elder or Deacon, and then carve out time to do so!  

So as a bonus, today we are also sharing some ideas we’ve put together to help get you started! Check out our newest resource Fundamentals of Recruitment: Informing Your Church.

Remember; potential council members aren’t likely to magically appear at your doorstep imploring you to commit them to service, even if you did compose a fun and catchy bulletin announcement. A well thought-out Recruitment Strategy is a MUST in order to make searching for new council members a breeze, year after year!


Did you find these tips helpful? Did we miss anything? Does your church have a clear Recruitment Strategy? Are you willing to share it? Email Erin today if you are!

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