The Community for Catholic Moms

How do you find volunteers for ministries?

I'm trying to coordinate my church's nursery ministry, basically a place for little ones to come who aren't ready to be in Mass. Not because all little one's aren't welcome in Mass, I know that they are, but I also know many parents who won't come to Mass because they think their kids are too disruptive. I have a few volunteers, but not many, I have an announcement going into the bulletin for the next two weekends, I plan to have a sign up sheet in the nursery and I'm going to see if I can post one on one or more of the other bulletin boards throughout the buildings of our church. I was also thinking of asking the knights if I can put on out during donuts. I don't think the handful of volunteers I have is going to be enough to sustain this ministry, and I'm worried. I want to help my community and I would really appreciate any advice you have for me, and also any prayers you could spare.

Thanks so much!
Jamie

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Permalink Reply by Kristin Detloff on August 10, 2009 at 7:57pm

We don't have a nursery at our current parish, but at a previous much larger parish they did. I believe they had it set up where if a parent used the nursery they needed to be available to be in a rotation or sign up to work in the nursery for a certain mass time on a certain week etc. I'm sure it wasn't strongly enforced, but rather encouraged, and they probably let people pick out the times etc rather then just assigning them a time and weekend. Also with such a LARGE parish the parents probably only had to work at one mass time every 4 or 5 weeks. Not sure how big your parish is..that would make a difference as well I suppose. I don't know if that helps you as you are just in the establishing phase, but I think it makes sense that if you use the nursery you should help support it. I'm not sure what was done as far as making sure everyone who volunteered was appropriate and competent....

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Raybaud on August 29, 2009 at 9:50am

Jamie -
Even though my "baby" is 14 and I've never had a church with a nursey available I do participate on our parishes "Stewardship" team so getting volunteers is the "name of the game" within our group so I have a couple quick suggestions.

First of all, I'm really big on personal testimonials so if you or someone currently working in the nursey enjoys the work, have them share that at mass. If they are pretty shy, maybe a short written piece you might be able to read at the end of mass one weekend might do the trick.

Second, have you tapped into some of the older teens in your church who may specifically be wishing to get into elementary education or work with very young children once they graduate? Again, putting out a personal plea from the ambo specifically mentioning this group as possible volunteers might be just the ticket you need to get the help you desire.

Best of luck to you!