culture. I have to admit that perhaps the Church really volunteer to mow their own lawn?) church leadership. They want meaningful work.
actually discourages volunteering. By making it When they feel partnership in the ministry, it It’s your responsibility not only to connect the
hard, we swing the back door open wide. becomes much more natural to take care of dots between their sacrificial service and the
the accompanying responsibilities. But they fruit that the church is bearing, but also to
I’m thinking this because I serve at one of eight have to survive the process. If you fail to find a protect and honor their sacrifices.
campuses of a really large church where over healthy balance, your volunteers will eventually 12,000 people call home. That makes for a lot begin to believe that you care more about the 5. ASK!
of volunteers. What they sacrificially accomplish ministry than you do about them. You know Many people (41%) will not volunteer until
on a weekly basis is nothing short of incredible. what that will do to your back door. someone personally, individually asks them.
I love working with them. And they love to
Perhaps they don’t realize they have the
serve. They’re not average volunteers! 3. SPEND! building blocks needed to learn the specific
It’s not that we’ve cornered the market in Invest in your volunteers. That may mean skills required. Perhaps they think that—
attracting volunteers. We regularly fight between getting them training or coaching to increase despite announcements—you really have all
our value of making things easy for volunteers their efficacy. It may mean purchasing gear that the volunteers you need. Maybe they just want
to be successful and our value of asking translates to enabling volunteers to use their to know that you need them. So ask. Then be
volunteers to dig deep and serve sacrificially. time on things of greater import. For example, ready to follow up with an organized plan that
But we’re learning some key principles that you if you’re a portable church, you may consider includes training so they know you have their
may find helpful, too. purchasing a heavy duty $549.99 travel case/ back and will do what it takes to help them
rack stand that saves 15 minutes in weekly learn to serve successfully.
1. TOUCHDOWN! setup/strike wiring and troubleshooting time for A lot of it comes down to identifying our win. your sound tech; over the next two years not These five suggestions may sound elementary
What do you think will happen when volunteers only are you giving that volunteer 26 additional to you. But as a worship pastor they’ve helped
realize that their one to four hours a month hours to focus on ministry, you’re actually saving me grow a fragmented group of 26 people
changes lives of people they know on an eternal about $626.60 in volunteer equity. Additionally, into a team of over 100 trained and excited
scale? The average church has approximately consider the impact of taking someone out for musicians and technicians. Imagine what you
40% volunteer rate; the top 10% of churches coffee and instead of discussing your ministry could do with four times your current number
have approximately a 72% volunteer rate. Top needs, simply ask about how life is going, and of volunteers, especially if they were all excited!
churches also have a much higher emphasis on then just listen. There’s truth to the adage, deliberately communicating church “wins.” See “People don’t want to know what you care Helping your volunteers feel significant and
a correlation? It’s exciting to realize that we’re about until they know how much you care.” successful may return huge dividends. And
putting our shoulder to something important
because successful service is contagious, you
that Jesus is doing. So when we see something 4. HIT THE BRAKES! may discover that you have more volunteers
worth honoring, we acknowledge the fruit that Consider the impact upon volunteers and their investing more time to help your ministry move
Jesus is doing through someone, whether it’s efforts when making decisions. A brainstorm forward than ever before.
a quiet “I appreciate your doing ___ because you have on Friday night to change the platform ___,” or a public “Hey, did you notice how Sunday in order to better illustrate a sermon *Statistics cited in this article come from NP
clean the bathrooms smelled this morning? point may sound really good in theory until Source’s “The Ultimate List of Charitable Giving
Makes me glad to be here!” Communicate that you realize that the cost of doing so means a Statistics For 2018” and Barna’s “Church Startups
our people’s sacrifices matter and have great couple volunteers have to tear apart the work and Money: The Myths and Realities of Church
significance. We’re reaching the goal together. they had heavily invested themselves to create Planters and Finances.”
and give up most of the only day they have
2. BREATHE! discretionary family time—their Saturday—
Volunteers need breaks while they serve to pull off the change for you. You can still
and breaks between when they serve. Just make the call, but if you do so, honor them by
like providing a bottle of water or a breakfast thanking them for their willingness, appreciate
burrito, it says that people matter. It gives them what they had created, and follow it up by
permission to steward both their lives and their telling them the fruit of the change afterwards.
ministry. Besides, they really don’t want to be Volunteers must know that their time, just like
looked at as mere volunteers. (Can a person their finances, are being used responsibly by
March 2020
Timothy J Miller
Has served in worship for over 30 years in small,
medium, large, and multi-site churches. In addition
to being the technology director at Bayside
Community Church - WSC (an 8-campus, 12k+
congregation along Florida’s Gulf Coast), he
writes for church leadership and worship-related
publications. His recent book, Born For Worship:
The Best You Can Be In Worship Arts Ministry, uses
mini-chapters to help teams and individuals explore
the biblical foundations that result in growth and
effective service.
htworship.com
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