Month: October 2025

3 Keys to Giving Leader Christmas Gifts

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It’s that time of year: stores are beginning to put up Christmas displays, Christmas music is playing, and holiday commercials have begun popping up. And we haven’t even made it to November.

Now we could engage in the debate of when is it too early for playing Christmas music, but that’s a topic for another day. Today, I want to talk about gifts for your volunteers and some key things to consider when getting gifts for them. This post is not a list of gift ideas but rather one that provides insight on the key elements that should go into choosing the gifts you are giving to your team.

When it comes to giving gifts to leaders, we like to have our gifts meet three key elements which allow for the gifts to be more intentional:

1. Personal and thoughtful.

When it comes to gift-giving, what gift has made a significant impact in your life? We could think of the biggest, most expensive gift, but what I’m getting at is a personal and thoughtful gift resonates and impacts us at a deeper level.

I had a student who recently gave me a handwritten note and a stuffed monkey for pastor appreciation month and that gift is one I will remember for a long time over a monetary gift. Why? Because it was the heart and thoughtfulness that meant so much to me.

The same is true for our leaders. When we make the gift personal and thoughtful it means so much more to our leaders. This isn’t an excuse to be cheap just to be cheap, nor am I saying that we need to break the bank. Instead, we need to find a balance within the confines of our budget to give a gift that is from the heart and is personal and thoughtful.

2. Practical.

This is another key element of our gift-giving. We want all of our gifts to be practical along with being personal and thoughtful. I’ll admit that this does get a little difficult the more leaders you have because what may be practical for some may not be practical for others.

When you’re thinking about a gift, ask yourself, “Is this practical and will our people use it?” When we’ve looked at gifts we have always thought about the usefulness and practicality because we want it to be a gift that our leaders would appreciate and could utilize in the their daily lives.

3. Edible.

This one is listed last, but if I had my way I’d list it first (mostly because I love food). This element is intentionally listed last because out of the three elements, this is the one that if the other two are met, isn’t vital to have. That isn’t to say don’t incorporate this element, but realize it doesn’t have to be the priority of the three.

When you provide an edible gift, it is imprtant to incorporate the other two elements of gift-giving. Is it a thoughtful gift and practical? Did you simply grab something from Costco or is it handmade? Did you attach a personal note? Is it something everyone can have (think about food allergies)?

Edible gifts are some of my favorite because it means someone knows me and most of us love food. So to provide something to your leaders that is edible is a great gift to bless them with.

At the end of the day, there’s no magic formula to gift-giving. These elements have served our ministry well and have helped us to truly bless our leaders. There may be times our gifts don’t hit the mark, but this method helps us to think through the gifts we are giving and how they will be received by the people who get them.

When you give gifts to your leaders, how do you make sure they are well-received and intentional?

Trip Tricks: Make Sign-ups Simple

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Have you ever had to fill out a form for the doctor before? What about an online survey to get a free Chick-fil-A sandwich by telling them all about your last order? Have you had to purchase airline tickets where they try to get you to purchase all the add-ons that take you through a variety of screens when all you want to do is purchase your tickets? Or should we even mention taxes?

How did you feel after completing these forms? Probably a little tired. You maybe be contemplating if that chicken sandwich is worth the time it took (come on, we know it is). You might even promise yourself to never do it again. You might feel overwhelmed, irritated, and ready to send an email to their help center.

But let me ask you another question: did you ever have questions when trying to fill out these forms? Maybe because you didn’t know the answer or perhaps because the wording of the question made it unclear? Maybe you didn’t know you needed certain information for the airline and the hold on your seats went away while you foraged for your passport number.

Now put yourself in your students and their parents’ shoes. How do they feel signing up for your camp, trips, or retreats? Do your forms and processes make sense? How clear and simple are the forms?

How you register and where you go can affect the sign-up process. If a camp or retreat center wants their own processes used, you probably have limited, if any, control over said process. But you do have control over helping to prepare your people for the sign-up. The question we are faced with regardless of the process, is how do we make signing up the easiest and smoothest for our people?

First, give clear guidance well ahead of time.

Sign-ups are always “fun” because there are always questions, speed bumps, system errors, and human error throughout the process. But the more guidance and information you are able to provide on the processes ahead of time, the more you can help guide your people in the sign-up process.

The clearer the information and guidance, the better prepared your people will be to sign up. Communicate expectations and requirements so your people know what will be needed and when signups will launch.

Second, try keep your forms as simple as possible when you are able to do so.

I know this isn’t always in our control, but when you’re able to, keep the signups as simple as possible to allow for an easier experience overall. Do this for yourself, your team, and your students and families.

Simplifying and streamlining the process allows your people to sign up quicker and easier and it means less issues for you overall. That is not to say we sacrifice important and necessary information for ease of sign-up. We still need to obtain all pertinent information but also seek to make the process simple.

Third, be available to help when signups are opened.

There are always questions and issues that arise when signups are launched. Whenever we open our winter retreat signups I know my email and phone will be going off and our social media channels will be abuzz with questions.

Being available to answer questions at the opening of signups particularly is very important. It brings peace of mind for students and parents. It helps circumvent additional issues. And it highlights the value you are placing on the sign-up and the trip you are going on.

These are not the only trip tricks for signups, but they will help make your signup process easier and smoother in the long run.

Healthy Ways to Disconnect

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Let me ask you a question: when was the last time you took a break? How about a true weekend without work? When was the last time you took a vacation and truly felt relaxed, at peace, and didn’t think about work?

Please understand that I am not trying to cast condemnation or criticism here. I’m in the same boat. For years, I always had my phone next to me and was ready for the next issue to arise. Every time it buzzed I feared what was happening.

It took a good couple of days to breathe and truly enjoy being on vacations. Weekends were rough because I was always thinking about what was to come. It was always hard to shut off my mind after a standard work day let alone after youth group.

Feel like you’re in the same boat? I think for a lot of us in ministry we feel that weight. We feel the complexity of working hard at our jobs and ministering to students, families, and the church, but also the added weight of a deeply personal call to shepherd and care for the people of God.

When you put all those things together they can feel heavy; they are heavy. And if you don’t put appropriate breaks, rhythms, refreshment, and space between those things and your own personal life and spiritual development, you will burn out. You will struggle with anxiety, depression, resentment, bitterness, and more. You will find distance growing between you and your family. Your family will struggle with loving the church because of what they see it doing to you.

And ultimately you will find yourself serving the church of God and not God, Himself; you will create an idol. And yes, even good things can become idols because they are not meant to be the ultimate thing in our lives.

If all of that is true—and believe me it is because I’m proof of it—what do we need to be doing differently? Today, I want to share a handful of practices I have begun to implement in my life that have been extremely helpful in disconnecting.

Bring others in.

If you’re feeling overworked, resentful, burnt out, or if the joy is gone, you need to bring people in. We are crafted for community and so often we go through life alone. Instead, we need to bring others into our lives and share honestly about what is happening.

The sooner you bring people in and are transparent with things, the better equipped you’ll be to heal and disconnect well. By bringing others in, it allows you to have accountability and a network to help you disconnect and establish boundaries.

Be honest about what you’re feeling.

I think when you work in ministry it is easy to mask how you’re feeling and to pretend like you have everything under control. That type of mentality can easily lead to isolation, frustration, and hurt which often times leads us to go through life and ministry alone.

That way of living will not allow you to disconnect because you are tying your personal life and work together in an unhealthy pattern. Instead, we need to be honest with others and ourselves about how we are doing. When we are honest we can begin to move toward growth, healing, and the ability to disconnect more because we are untying our personal and work lives.

Utilize “no phone” policies.

A great way to disconnect is to quite literally disconnect your phone. Turn on do not disturb, turn off notifications, stay off social media, and don’t check emails. If that doesn’t work, then literally turn off of your phone or put it in a different room.

Look, I get it. We need to be available but at the same time there is such a thing as work-life balance and phones don’t always allow us to maintain the proper balance. So practice healthy phone use to keep yourself from being inundated with work.

Take extra days at the beginning and end of your vacation.

Have you ever felt stressed leading up to a vacation as you are trying to button up everything at work? Have you felt like coming home from vacation feels overwhelming as you need to catch up on laundry and food shopping as well as all the emails? Me too!

That’s why Elise and I started to add additional days off to prep for vacation before we go and we have a day or two at home at the back end to readjust to normalcy. Giving yourself breathing room at the front and backend of a vacation allows you to truly rest and relax while you’re away because everything has been handled and can be handled when you return.

Be clear about your boundaries.

This one is key to being able to disconnect. The more transparent you are about your boundaries and the more willing you are to hold to them the more you’ll be able to disconnect.

This isn’t easy in the beginning but I can promise you that it is worth it. Talk about how your days off are actually days off. Be willing to tell people you aren’t checking emails or handling work-related tasks when you aren’t working. The more you talk about and model clear boundaries the more people will begin to respect them and you will be able to disconnect in healthier ways.

I’m not going to say I have mastered this. In fact there are still days and weeks that I feel the weight of ministry. But I can promise you that by putting these habits and rhythms into place you will find yourself in a much better place. Simply taking the initiative and beginning to build these into your life will help you relax and breathe better.

Quick Tip: Recruiting Leaders Early

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How do your volunteer numbers look for this year? Are you full or do you still have some gaps?

What about next year? Have you thought about recruiting leaders yet? Now I know what you’re thinking. Either, “It’s October and the school year just started…why would I be thinking about next year?” or “I haven’t even filled all the gaps this year, so I can’t begin to think about next year.”

I understand both perspectives. In fact this year we have multiple gaps that we are still trying to fill. But in the same breath, I’m also beginning to think about next year and recruiting specifically for our incoming classes of sixth and ninth graders.

Throughout my time serving in ministry I have grown to understand and appreciate the ability to start early on tasks. More importantly, I have seen the blessing of starting volunteer recruitment well before it is needed as it helps to set your ministry up for long term success.

It is the mentality of being proactive instead of reactive. Rather than reacting to not having enough leaders to start off programming, be proactive and recruit early to set your ministry up for success.

In order to do this well, I’d recommend first assessing where you are at for this current academic year and how your current leaders are feeling about returning for the next year. Now I understand that some of your leaders may be surprised by this question but if you are casting the vision of leaders journeying in discipleship-oriented relationships with their students, this will not catch them off guard. Here are some of our recommendations for beginning early recruitment.

Take a temperature check of your current leaders and their status for next year which will then help you to see where you will be to start the next year. Once you know your needs, you can begin to address how to meet them and how quickly to begin the recruitment of more leaders.

Cast vision often. The more you talk about the vision of your ministry and your desire for leaders to journey with students, the greater your retention rate will be. This will help with recruitment as you will, prayerfully, have less leaders to recruit as more of your current leaders buy into the vision and process of discipleship.

Keep a running list of future leaders. I often get responses like, “This year doesn’t work, but talk to me sometime next year.” I’ll be honest: I can be super forgetful, so having a running list of potential leaders helps me to remember who I talked to, when I talked to them, and their responses. That helps shape future conversations and follow up.

Begin conversations with potential future leaders in the fall of the current year. This may seem excessive and presumptuous, but I can assure you that the sooner you start planning the better off your ministry will be. It will also reduce stress on your end as you aren’t frantically trying to find leaders the month before fall programming kicks off. It will also allow future leaders to think about the commitment they are stepping into and to begin shaping and adjusting their schedule accordingly.

Spend time in prayer. Asking God for discernment, wisdom, guidance, and peace is key. Running a ministry means we remember that we are not the one in ultimate control but simply the one stewarded to shepherd and disciple the people of God. Trusting that He is in control takes the pressure off of our shoulders and allows us to trust that He has it all figured out. That doesn’t mean we don’t bear responsibility or shouldn’t put in the legwork, but instead we remember who we are doing this for and trusting that He has everything in control.

Preparing for the future and starting to recruit leaders earlier allows for the longevity and continued success of your ministry and shows the value you give to your leaders. Our leaders allow our ministry to succeed and are needed to love, care for, and disciple our students.

What are you tips for recruiting leaders into your ministry?