When Tru Fire was presented to our staff, we were impressed by the mission and focus of the curriculum. On further review and research of the program, our love for it continued to grow! Due to the size of our ministry, kids and volunteers, our concern was making the switch to a completely new style of teaching and involvement.

We were beyond excited when beginning Tru Fire, and it was important for us that our volunteers feel equally as excited about it. It was decided that the only way to make the transition a success was to introduce Tru Fire to our volunteers and put them in a position where they felt empowered as leaders through educating and training them with Tru Fire.

Our first step in this approach was reflecting on our volunteers and all that they do. We felt it vital to have a specific and deep understanding of their role and wanted to effectively communicate that to them. Through creating a written description of their role, we could powerfully cast a vision to them of how important and necessary they are. In the descriptions, we implemented Tru Fire components to make it cohesive. Our approach was to be organized and thorough so our volunteers felt confident in the switch.

A lunch was planned for our leaders after the Sunday morning service, where we cast vision about Tru Fire to our volunteers. We spent time in fellowship, went over policies/procedures, the responsibilities of volunteers, and participated in a Tru Fire training service. We invited a representative from Tru Fire to conduct an actual Tru Fire service in which our volunteers would participate as “students.” Through the training service, they experienced an engaging explore activity, heard an amazing BIG God Story, and then had the opportunity to respond through a creative response station.

It was so much fun seeing and participating in the service from the kids’ perspective, but what was even more exciting was learning more about what a powerful resource Tru Fire offers, how our leaders will use it, and having the feeling of being unified as the body of Christ.

Volunteering is an incredibly rewarding experience, and we want to make it all that it can be by setting our leaders up for success. By developing our plan of action for the transition to Tru Fire and empowering our leaders, we were able to help them remain confident and excited about their role in the ministry.