Well-Equipped Volunteer: Train & Grow Your Children's Ministry Volunteers

I have spent the last 9 days being very sick. My husband and I went on a 10 day trip to visit various family members. It meant traveling on a lot of airplanes and hanging out in a lot of airports. The result was a nasty cold. Both of us got sick and we both commented that we had not been this sick in a long time.

So, I haven’t gotten a lot of work done in the last few days, but one thing has been prominent in my mind. It’s important all churches have sick child policies. People get sick. That’s just the way it is. If at all possible, we want to reduce the possibility of that sickness being passed on to other children in our care and to our volunteer staff.

So, create a sick child policy and then communicate it to your congregation.

This is the sick child policy that I created for the church I was serving at:

It is our desire to create a healthy, safe environment for all children who attend children’s programs at Transcona Alliance Church. Therefore, we have created some guidelines to protect our children and ensure a healthy environment.

Community health: In an effort to maintain a healthy environment for the children, please do not bring your child to TAC Kids programs if he/she is exhibiting any of the following symptoms:

• Fever over 100 F
• Vomiting
• Discharge in and around the eyes
• Diarrhea
• Questionable rash
•  Any communicable disease

If a child exhibits any of these symptoms while at TAC Kids programs, they will be isolated from the other children and parents will be contacted to come and pick up their child. The child is welcome back whenever these symptoms desist.

This example clearly states the policy, the reason for it, when a child is welcome back to the classroom, and the authority of the teacher to act upon it.

Once you have created a policy it is important to communicate it to the congregation. You want to make sure that all parents and volunteers know what the policy is, but you also want the entire congregation to be aware of it as well.

Post the policy in all classrooms and bathrooms. Ensure that all parents are given a copy of the policy and that all volunteers have a copy as well.

Creating and using a sick child policy is an important part of children’s ministry in the local church. Take some time this week to create one if you do not have one.