Here’s a tip for all of you who recruit others to help you in your leadership role. You may be a group leader looking to recruit group members to certain positions of leadership. You may be a staff leader who is responsible for your church’s overall groups ministry. In either case, as you recruit people to serve along side you, be sure to recruit them to a vision, and not to a job description alone.

The Job Description

Everyone’s seen a job description. It’s a list of the essential tasks you are required to accomplish. If I, as a group leader, needed to recruit someone to check the role in my group, I would need a short job description for that position. It would read something like this:

• Pick up the group’s role book in the church office
• Mark people present and absent
• Provide a list of the present/absent group members to the teacher and care group leaders
• Turn in the role book to the church office before leaving the church

And there you have it. A short job description for my group’s “secretary.”

Recruit to a Vision

If I wanted to recruit you to be my new class secretary, I’d certainly show you the job description. But I wouldn’t stop there. Next, I’d say something like this:

“As you help us identify people who are present and absent, we can reach out to them as a group that cares for them. No one wants to feel like they are disposable or insignificant, so you’ll help us know who to contact each week. Falling through the cracks of our class wouldn’t feel good to anyone, so by keeping accurate records for us, you’ll be part of the process of making sure people are feel valued and important. And by the way, as we keep adults connected to our group, it will also help the church keep their kids connected to their groups, too.”

Do you see the difference in recruiting to a vision versus recruiting to just a job description? You need the job description, but don’t stop there!