I have known a lot of youth pastors to be pretty lenient on the commitment that they ask from their volunteers.  And, to tell you the truth, I remember when I first got into ministry and there were a handful of us doing pretty much everything and we were just happy that peeps wanted to hang out with the kids and put in some time.  However, when things moved along and we were at a steadily growing group, we made some changes. 

It was about the time that each of our groups, about nine of them or so, was at least running a solid eight or more kids per week that we made our change.  We now would ask our leaders to put a commitment in writing of the time they were going to spend with us in our ministry.  And of course we were smart enough to start with the bar a little lower than we would like it to be in terms of how much time we would ask of these volunteer leaders.

If a kid was coming out of high school and was planning to stay local within about thirty miles or so at a local college or career we would entertain the idea of them being a part of our ministry.  We would first ask them for a two year commitment, being that our junior high group was only seventh and eighth graders (if yours has sixth as well then you can move stuff accordingly).  This would ensure the peeps that were coming on realized that they were not taking on a small task, but one that would involve time, love, money and commitment on their part.  It was only fair, in our observation of ministry, that we gave our kids the best opportunity for someone to build into them for a period of time worth everyone’s while.

I understand that no matter what you do, they are volunteers and they can leave whenever they want.  But if you put the responsibility on them then they are more likely to follow through.  And if your leaders will just be there at the very least, they are prolly going to be able to put some quality time into the kids and make a difference.   And at the end of this first two year stint the leaders made it, we would then ask them for another commitment.  This second commitment was to be longer.

As their group moved into high school, each leader was given the opportunity to continue on as the leader of the group; this is of course after we watched them for two years and know that they are impacting the kids in a positive way.  And you would be surprised how many of the leaders do not even flinch when asked to put in another four years.  By this time they have spent so much of their time and energy that, in the very least, they want to see the fruits of their labor.  And further than that is their yearning to bring their work with their group to completion of high school.

My point is that you have to help your staff set goals and know why they are committing.  They will do it, trust me, I have seen it time and again – and I am confident that you can help your leaders do the same.