Invite, Invest and Impact

In August my pastor started a new sermon series entitled “I Love My Church.” The key elements are invite, invest and impact - let me explain. People need to be invited, we have to invest in them and then we can see the impact that we,together, have made. I have often pointed out, in the past, that fire departments are not all that different from churches.Lest you not understand, by the way, the church is not a building - it is the people that attend and are involved. The same thing can be said about a fire department. A fire department is more than a building and apparatus - it is the people that belong and are committed to the mission of the agency. So even if the church and the fire department have a different focus, they are alike in how they can transform lives - the lives of the people we serve and the lives of those that belong.So if they are that alike, then the theme of invite, invest and impact should also be applicable to our fire department - and it is.

INVITE - You cannot just sit inside the four walls of the station. You cannot just wait for people to come along and join the fire department. You have to invite people. That means making sure that people know that you need help.One of the ways to do that is to sign up for the NVFC’s “Make Me A Firefighter” website. Once you create your department portal, all people have to do is to type in their zip code and they will be connected to your department. Wehave to make sure in social media, with signs on our building, with word of mouth - that people know we are looking forthem to join. Recruitment isn’t just the responsibility of those that wear the white helmets, it is everyone’s responsibilityin the department. Of course, if your members don’t have a good experience while involved in the department, they might not be recruiters. I can tell you that on my volunteer department, my members are my best recruiters. Tell your members that they can invite people that they think will add to our mission. But an invitation is just the first step - a critical one - but only the first step.

INVEST - Normally we think of an investment as putting money in a bank or a stock account so that we can watch it grow and help plan for our retirement. Well I guess getting new members and training them works in much the same way. We get older every day. Some day new people have to take over the running of the fire department and making the calls. It doesn’t do any good to invite someone and then let them just learn about our trade from you tube videos that theywatch from home. We have to train and train hard, because this job can kill you. This means that the training has to be relevant to the mission of the department. This means we also have to know who these people are, who their families are,what they like to do for fun, who they spend time with. Maybe that is being nosey, but maybe it is making sure that we connect with our firefighters on a personal level. The support of the firefighters family will be critical to the success of retaining that firefighter that you worked so hard to invite. Invest in them and it will pay dividends.

IMPACT - You know we think our only impact is on the lives of people that have a fire, a wreck or a medical emergency - and, yes, that is our mission, but transforming the lives of our members and have a huge impact on them as well.