When the Crew Jumps Ship: The Need to Recruit

I've written a lot about how to build a strong department, how to work with amateurs, how to write for your cast, etc. But I haven't written much about attrition.

If you've had a drama department running for a few years, you know that people come and go. A church, a good one that is growing, is like a growing business. New positions are constantly opening, and talented people are always needed to fill them. If you've done your job correctly, some of the best and brightest talent in the church will be in your department. That means that they will eventually leave your group.

Hearing that a cast member is leaving is hard to take. Sure, they'll be valuable to the church in another capacity. Sure, they'll be serving the Lord more fully. But, why do they have to leave your department? The rejection hurts on two levels; first is that they are abandoning you and your work. Second, and more perplexing, is that question of where your are going to get an actor to fill that person's shoes. (I have no need to remind you to be gracious in that moment, or to remember that this person is a volunteer, and therefore not required to work with you, so be nice!)

I write this from the perspective of having lost nearly all of my talent in the space of a month. One couple, mainstays that have been with me from day one, left to develop a ministry for the hearing impaired. One actress left because she has outside educational pressures. Another couple left to pursue the children's ministry. Another actress left because of job stresses. My remaining mainstay actor just announced last week that he's moving across the country. Ahhh! My department now consists of myself, an actress in the same age group, a 70 year-old gentleman, and four teens, ranging from 12 to 15.

It's hard to know what the Lord is trying to tell you when your cast jumps ship. Obviously, it's a time to reflect. A time to take a good look at goals and objectives. A time to pray and ask God for direction.

It's also time to recruit. In marketing there's a joke that says the two best times to advertise are when business is bad and when business is good. I recognize that I failed to make recruiting a priority for my department, and that this is the price to pay for it. You need to make sure that you are always drafting new talent for your group. It's critical to the survival of your group, to its continued viability, and to the train of succession, when you yourself need to move on. Ultimately, it is the best job you can do for the church itself.

I hate recruiting. I tend to avoid performing at church these days. I don't mind doing monologues and stand-up bits, but it is extremely difficult to both perform in and direct a skit successfully when you're working with amateurs (see Why Don't They Laugh?, my April posting). So, I do everything I can to get out of it.

But, as director and producer, my job, just like yours, is to do your best to bring new members in. In my church, that means putting an announcement in the bulletin, and doing commercials. If I ask nicely, the pastor lets me do a little bit of stand-up at the end of the service, while the collection is taken place. I slick my hair back, put on a white suit and a red ascot and my best Ricardo Montalban impression and invite people to join the ministry. It's hokey, but it works!

At the end of day, when the crew has jumped ship, you have to remember that story about the Chinese symbol for crisis. It's actually two symbols; calamity and opportunity. Once the sting of the calamity has abated, start asking God how to exploit the opportunity you've been given. It might just be the gift you've been waiting for!