Even with a meal catered by one of Disney World’s best chefs, I could not get all of my leaders to show up for a training event. This is not conjecture: it is a true story based on an actual event. While we were happy to have had a record 80% of our leaders at a training event and happy to take home some delicious left-over Polynesian food, I was discouraged. Leaders have busy lives. The kinds of people who are willing to volunteer in your ministry are often the kinds of people who serve in multiple capacities across multiple organizations. It is rare to have a leader whose only obligation in this world apart from his or her job is your ministry. So, how can you train such busy people without adding a third or even fourth trip to the church to their weekly schedules?
Videos.
When I began training my leaders with quick videos that they could listen to in their cars, pause when they needed to, and watch over again whenever it was convenient for them, we went from 80% attendance at a training event to 100% engagement with training videos. The quality of the teaching in our ministry improved because my busy leaders were not only preparing one session at a time, but were being developed as Bible teachers and disciple makers in the big-picture sense. Now, we still needed to meet in-person whenever possible to pray together and in order for me to minister to them personally, but the overall preparation level of my team on Sunday mornings elevated significantly and, as a result, so did the fruit born by that ministry.
If you use Explore the Bible, session-specific training videos have already been made for your leaders. Groups, Students, and Kids age level contributors produce a video for every session and they’re all free right here. Bible Studies for Life and The Gospel Project offer them as well! They are all provided through Ministry Grid – a Lifeway resource that helps you put together individualized training just for your church.