“It is not good to have zeal without knowledge nor to be hasty and miss the way.”
Proverbs 19:2
This past year and a half has forced all of us to rethink so many things we took for granted. Volunteer training is one of those things. It has also given us an opportunity to create new ways to equip potential volunteers and supervise and encourage current volunteers.
I thought I would take the opportunity in this newsletter to help you think through some issues as you decide how to move forward and continue the training aspects of your volunteer program.
Start with the end in mind.
The available training programs you can find for Pregnancy Center volunteers, including Equipped to Serve, are rather dense. They can seem overwhelming when you think about using them to train volunteers. It is important, no matter which training manual you choose, that you clearly identify the end goals of any training. You might ask yourself the following question:
What do you want volunteers to be able TO DO WELL at the end of training?
This is a different question than,
What do you want them to KNOW at the end of training?
This is the essential difference between knowledge and skill. It is the difference between knowing and doing. How you train and what you spend the most time on usually leans in one direction or the other. Knowledge is important. The foundations of why and how we minister are essential. We must translate that knowledge and scriptural basis for the ministry into skills when it comes to caring for the people that the Lord sends our way.
Here are some questions to ask yourself if you would like your training to be skills or application focused:
- What is the difference between general information (knowledge) and the skills necessary to fulfill their job descriptions?
- What should you spend the most time on during training to achieve the desired results?
- When and how is the best way to teach those skills?
- How does each lecture, discussion, activity of the training equip volunteers to use the skills?
- What do trainees need you (as trainer or staff person) to help them with?
- What can they read about or listen to on their own?
- How will you know if the volunteer can apply those skills when serving clients?
In ministry we are asking volunteers to interact and minister to people who are very vulnerable and often at a turning point in their lives. It is essential that volunteers have the skills to know how to care for people and have the confidence and integrity to do so.
With this in mind it will be helpful to decide which sections of the training need staff training, role-modeling, and in-person interaction (even if it has to be via Zoom) and those that can be done at home or online by volunteers individually. These usually fall along the lines of knowledge versus skills.
Knowledge can be gained alone but developing and utilizing skills most-often takes a community.
In the Pregnancy Center ministry knowledge alone can be dangerous. Volunteers need the skills and the accountability of their fellow trainees and the Center staff.
Much of the Christian culture around teaching and learning is very leader/lecture based. We are used to being passive learners as we sit in church listening to sermons, retreat speakers, podcasts, etc. How many of us actually apply what we are hearing on any given Sunday? It is hard to do it alone and it takes time and accountability to apply the concepts in our daily lives during the week. Then we go to church the next week and there is a new teaching and it starts all over again. No wonder there can be a big gap between our knowledge of Jesus and His word and our ability to live as Jesus’ ambassadors.
You have the chance to equip volunteers that the Lord sends you with life-changing skills. Skills that change the lives of volunteers as well as the people they serve. What an honor and a privilege!
Equipped to Serve is mainly focused on those skills that volunteers need when serving clients. I am grateful for our partnership in equipping volunteers to serve with confidence and integrity.
Most of the training materials have been revised. The Male Training Supplement, PowerPoint Visuals and Role-play Videos are now available via downloads. The Leader’s manual will be ready in about 2 weeks. I have updated the training materials page. Stop by the updated page and take a look.