In my last column, I discussed creating job descriptions for potential volunteer posts, along with recruiting and interviewing people who might be interested in taking these jobs on. I also described the importance of doing a thorough job of orienting volunteers, and mentioned how useful it is to set up mentors for new folks or people taking on new responsibilities.

Once the volunteers are in place, however, they need to be supervised, evaluated, and recognized. I'll take the recognition first, since it should happen often, and is the most fun to do.

People frequently ask, "How should we recognize our volunteers?" That's an easy one to answer -- you should recognize people in the ways in which they want to be recognized. That means someone should ask the volunteers how they want this done. Some people would be delighted with a flower on Volunteer Sunday, along with being included in the Order of Service and being recognized by name during the worship service. Others would like to be invited to a brunch where they didn't have to cook or clean up, and child care was provided during the festivities. The list is endless: a pool party in the summer, "Lunch with the Minister" during the church year, a big photo and a short bio on the bulletin board, a special name-tag ribbon or button, a loaf of fresh bread at the end of the year -let you imagination run free. My own personal favorite is a coupon to the local used book store, since I'm always in need of reading materials for my frequent plane trips.

The question of supervision and evaluation should be discussed during the initial interview with a potential volunteer. Actually, the evaluation comes directly from the job description, since that's where the parameters of the job are shown. The interviewer should tell the volunteer how supervision takes place, and who does it 'The Director of Religious Education will call you once a month to ask how things are going in your class." "The church administrator will meet with you every Monday to go over the spreadsheet." `'You'll be asked to complete this short evaluation form at the end of the church year, to tell our next Membership Chair what you wish you'd been told when you started." It's particularly important to describe supervision for people working with children and youth. They should know that someone will be dropping in regularly to see how things are going, and that some of those visits will be unannounced.

A more delicate form of evaluation centers around how well the volunteer has performed the tasks The agreed to. The evaluation form should have a place for the supervisor to discuss what's gone well and what hasn't. The supervisor should then meet with the volunteer to go over the evaluation. Sometimes everything has gone well, and the supervisor can pat the volunteer on the back. Sometimes things have gone awry, and the supervisor needs to find a compassionate, caring way to say, "This doesn't look like a good match. What other areas of church life might you be interested in trying out."

The key here is not to lose track of why people are part of your congregation. They came to your church for worship, fellowship, and personal transformation, so they should be treated with dignity and respect. However, volunteers should be accountable for what they do, just as staff members are. If things haven't gone well, the volunteer is unhappy about it and the job's not getting done. It's in everyone's interest to find a better match.

Again, THANK YOU to all the readers of this column, who contribute their time, talents and energies to help the larger world of Unitarian Universalism.

Happy Volunteering!