Darren Sutton
LeaderTreks, 2012, 106 pp., $9.95
Ministry is not meant to be done alone, without the help of others; but sometimes as youth workers, it can feel as if we don’t have any other choice. It seems as if there is always a shortage of people within our churches who feel called to serve in our youth ministries. This leads us to have to recruit, which can make us feel as if we are telemarketers.
If you have felt this way in ministry when it comes to volunteers, Darren Sutton’s new book is a highly practical and straight-to-the-point resource you need to pick up. Everybody’s Called To Youth Ministry…They Just Don’t Know It Yet, is an eye-opening read that challenges youth workers not just to find the handful in our churches who can work with youth, but to look at one’s entire church and get everyone involved somehow, someway.
Sutton’s book is a quick read that will be highly impactful in your ministry if you put into place the easy suggestions he shares from his more than 20 years of ministry experience. He spends the most time in his book helping the youth worker identify who to approach when, and then shares some great wisdom about how to have the recruiting conversations. The rest of the book covers four issues: identifying the different kinds of leaders you have in your church, how to plug each person into the ministry, how to train them and then how to let them run with the ministry for which you have prepared them.
No matter how long you’ve been in ministry, this is a great book to have. If you are just starting out, this approach on recruiting leaders can save you a lot of headache and issues if you can learn these things now. If you are a seasoned veteran, this will help you hone your recruitment skills and give you helpful tools for maintaining the leaders you already have.
