FCLP 19 | How to Use Summer to Recruit New Volunteers

In this practical leadership episode of the Female Church Leaders Podcast, Kadi Cole reframes a common ministry challenge: the summer slowdown. While many leaders brace for inconsistency and gaps, this season can actually become a strategic opportunity to expand your team and invite new people into meaningful roles.

This episode helps female church leaders shift from a maintenance mindset to a more intentional approach to summer engagement. You’ll discover how simple adjustments in structure, communication, and expectations can lower barriers to entry and create new pathways for people to serve. Instead of losing momentum, you can build stronger teams, develop new leaders, and move into the fall with greater capacity and energy.

TIMESTAMPS

02:06 - Reframing summer as a strategic opportunity 

02:11 - 10 strategies for summer ministry success 

02:46 - Lowering barriers: adjusting structure for participation

03:41 - Creating clear, short-term serving opportunities

04:41 - Smarter recruitment: meeting immediate needs & availability

05:37 - Events, training & first steps to serve

06:34 - Building what lasts: relationships, retention & finishing well

Resources mentioned;

Emerging Trends in Leadership Development  - kadicole.com/trends

Next Steps and Resources:

• Take the Quiz: Identify your growth gap with our Sticky Floor Quiz at femalechurchleaders.com.
• Join a Cohort: Be part of our next Closing the Leadership Gap cohort for guided coaching and monthly Q&A with Kadi. Visit closingtheleadershipgap.com to learn more.
• Stay Connected: Follow us on Instagram @femalechurchleaders for daily encouragement and leadership tools.
• Spread the Word: If you found this episode helpful, please follow, rate, and share the podcast to help us reach more female church leaders.

Tune in and get ready to lead with clarity, strength, and joy. Your calling matters, and we're here to support you every step of the way!

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:01

Welcome to the Female Church Leaders Podcast, a weekly resource for women who love God, love the church, and are called to lead. I'm your host, Katie Cole, Church Leader, Autor, and Executive Coach. After more than 30 years in full-time ministry, often as the only woman at the table, I understand how meaningful yet challenging your calling can be. That's why I created this podcast to remind you that you're not leading alone. Each week, I'll share practical tools, biblical insights, and honest encouragement for the real challenges female leaders face in ministry. So you can grow your skills, strengthen your faith, and lead with more confidence and joy without burning out or striving to prove yourself. We drop a new episode every Monday because Sunday is coming and you are gonna be ready for it. Summer is coming, and for a lot of church leaders, that brings a familiar tension. Attendance shifts, schedules get inconsistent, key volunteers are in and out. And if you've led through a few summers, you may already be bracing for it. Trying to cover gaps, trying to keep things running, trying not to lose too much momentum before fall. That mindset will wear you out. Because you're leading summer like something to survive instead of something to steward. Summer doesn't have to be a step back. It can be actually one of your most strategic opportunities to invite new people into serving. Here's why this works: summer may change how people engage, but it doesn't eliminate their desire to contribute. In fact, research around volunteerism consistently shows that people are more likely to step into serving when the commitment is clearly defined, the timeline is short, and the experience feels relationally meaningful. Short-term defined opportunities often lower the barrier to entry and increase participation, especially for people who hesitate to commit long term. That is exactly what summer offers: a natural season where people expect things to be temporary, flexible, and different. So instead of fighting that, use it. Every week this summer could become an opportunity to invite someone new into your ministry. Let's walk through 10 ways to lead your ministry well this summer. Number one, rethink summer instead of defaulting to survival mode. Most leaders approach summer asking, what do we need to keep going? But a better question is, what could we do differently because it's summer? Churches already do this in some areas by offering things like vacation Bible school, summer camps, mission trips, and creative sermon series such as at the movies. These environments feel different. They naturally create energy, visibility, and invitation. Your ministry can do the same. Number two, adjust your format to make participation easier. During the school year, people manage full, predictable schedules. But summer loosens that. It also makes consistency actually harder. So instead of asking people to fit into your existing structure, adjust your structure to fit the season. Look at what you're offering and ask, where could we make this easier to step into? That might mean shifting the format. I've seen small groups move from weekly meetings to short-term workshops or topical classes. Teaching environments become more drop-in friendly rather than sequential. It could also mean rethinking how people serve. Instead of asking for only a weekly commitment, create an option for serving just once a month or for a one-time event. The roles stay the same, but the structure changes. When you lower complexity and increase flexibility, more people can see a way in and say yes. Number three, create a clear summer serve timeframe. Clarity removes hesitation, especially when it comes to the length of a commitment. Instead of a general ask, hey, we need volunteers this summer, create an ask with a specific timeline. I love the term summer serve opportunity because it creates a clear viewpoint of what kind of commitment you're asking for, just for the summer or just for part of the summer. Many people won't commit to something open-ended, but they will rearrange their schedule for a short, meaningful season. Number four, offer short-term commitments that feel doable. This is where many leaders miss the opportunity. They ask for long-term commitments in a short-term season. Instead, align your ask with reality. Make the opportunity one week long, four weeks, six weeks. People will step in for something temporary that they never would commit to long-term. Number five, now this kind of goes against modern recruitment theory, but for the summer, recruit around need, not just calling. Not every invitation has to match someone's long-term gifting. Sometimes the most compelling invitation is simple. This matters, and we need help. There are people in your church who will respond to that. They have gifts of service or gifts of help, or they're looking for something that will really make a difference. They want to contribute, they just need a clear place to step in and to know that you need them. Number six, engage people whose availability shifts in the summer. Summer opens doors for different types of people who might not normally be available. Middle and high school students are more available. Young adults usually have a different rhythm in the summer. Even empty nesters likely have more margin in the summertime. If you don't intentionally invite them, you'll miss them. But if you make the ask, you might just find people who are ready to step up in ways they couldn't during the school year. Number seven, build event-based serving opportunities. Not everything has to be ongoing. Summer naturally includes things like camps, baptism, special events, and those are perfect entry points. People are more likely to say yes to a moment than to an ongoing role. So use those natural events in the summer to recruit new people. Often that moment leads to something more long-term. And number eight, make training, nope, sorry. Number eight, make training simple and accessible. Training is often the biggest barrier, not someone's willingness. If it feels complicated or time consuming, people will hesitate jumping in. So simplify it. Offer a one-hour training after service one Sunday. Create some short videos you can email them that they can watch anytime. Or train people by allowing them to shadow someone during a regular Sunday service. Make it easy to get started and to feel successful. Number nine, prioritize relationships, not just roles. People might sign up because they want to serve God, but they stay because they feel connected. So don't just place people into positions. Take the time to introduce them to each other. Follow up with them. Ask how it's going. Create space for conversation. Use summer as a way to build a sense of community that will sustain them in more long-term engagement. And number 10, finish well and keep the door open. How you end the summer really matters. Celebrate your new volunteers, thank them clearly and articulate their impact. Then give them freedom. The last thing you want to do with a summer serve opportunity is to create a bait and switch or guilt them into staying on your team. Simply say, thank you for fulfilling your commitment, and please know you're always welcome back. That kind of posture creates trust, and many will return when the season is right, even if the season is next summer. When you lead summer this way, everything changes. You're not just covering gaps, you're building a deeper bench, a stronger substitute team, probably even new leaders and definitely some fresh energy. And your ministry moves into the fall, stronger, not depleted. One more piece to pay special attention to, your own leadership. There's a point in the summer where things will stabilize. New volunteers are trained, the schedules are working, and that leader is your moment. Please take a break. Step away, even if it's only for a short time. Let your team lead without you. You don't need to earn rest, but you do need to access rest in order to lead well. Ephesians 4.16 says, from him the whole body grows and builds itself up in love as each part does its work. Growth happens when more people are engaged and building up the body together. Every new volunteer you invite in strengthens the body and makes your church more complete. So here's your action step. Choose two to three of these ideas and implement them this week. What can you rework and simplify for the summer? How can you make serving more accessible in this next season? What group of people might be looking for a place to serve with their time this summer? Keep it simple, be intentional, and start inviting people in. This might just be your best summer yet. If this podcast sparks some new ideas for your ministry, you'll want to also check out our featured resource this month called Emerging Trends in Leadership Development. It explains the top five trends to keep in mind as you recruit new volunteers and develop leaders. You'll find that in the show notes. Keep challenging yourself to grow as a leader and move your ministry forward. Even one step forward or one new idea can make a big difference. Remember, your faithfulness and your calling truly matter. And we are here to cheer you on every step of the way. I'm so glad we got to spend this time together on the Female Church Leaders Podcast. I hope you're walking away encouraged, equipped, and reminded that your calling truly matters. To keep growing, join us for our next Closing the Leadership Gap cohort at ClosingThe Leadership Gap.com. It's a guided coaching experience, including live QA with me, designed to accelerate your leadership journey. If this podcast has been helpful to you, would you please take a moment to follow, rate, and share it? Your engagement helps the algorithms suggest our resources to female church leaders we haven't had a chance to meet yet. And don't forget to follow at female church leaders on Instagram for encouragement and leadership tools designed just for you. You can also follow my personal feed at Katie Cole spelled K A D I C O L E. Keep leading faithfully, keep growing your leadership gifts, and I'll see you next Monday because Sunday is coming and you are going to be ready for it.