Mountain Pastor

Thinking about ways we can show appreciation to the many volunteers who serve our churches I would suggest handwritten note cards. You can get inexpensive notes cards at a local bookstore or Wal-Mart.

Take 30 minutes every week and write a few sentences of thanks to different volunteers for their hard word and tell them how they are making a difference. Include your staff or other volunteers to say thank you as well.

Any growing church should have a growing volunteer base that is helping to bring life change every week as your church share the Gospel on Sundays, in small groups and outreach.
At Life Church Franklin we believe volunteers are valuable and so important. We invest lots of time in building them up and letting them loose to use their gifts and talents.
We also try and show constant appreciation for all their time and energy.
Over the next couple of posts I will share with you how we show appreciation to these amazing people, weekly, monthly and yearly.

Since starting Life Church we have dedicated ourselves to making kids ministry one of our 5 areas of concentration and priority. We live in a small town with lots of families and their kids. We seen incredible growth happening every week through our kids area called LifeKIDS, but I wonder why do we bother with it?

Kids ministry is hard work. We have an incredible staff member and team of volunteers who make it happen every week. But it’s SO tough and can be very draining some weeks. Being a portable church there is the setup, then there is the scheduling, and materials, check-in, more setup, follow-up and tear down, etc… I could go on and on. But is it worth it? Should we bother with it?

My quick answer is YES! Not only are these kids learning about a what a real and meaningful relationship with Jesus Christ is all about, we are seeing indirect results as well.

• Volunteers are learning with the children. Many volunteers tell me they learn as much as the kids most weeks!
• Volunteers are taking more and more leadership and ownership of the kids ministry. We have people stepping out and leading whole areas now instead of just week to week.
• Families are experiencing church community for the first time. Many parents hesitate to even bring their kids to a church. Because our LifeKIDS team is doing such a great job most parents don’t fret about leaving their kids. This gives them a peace of mind to come and worship, serve and experience/learn from God’s word with no distractions.

If you are a church leader and YOU WOULDN’T send your own kids to your church’s kids ministry if you didn’t have too, then I would encourage you to do whatever it takes to make it what it could be.

Let’s be passionate about partnering with families to lead them and their children to become fully devoted followers of Christ. It’s so worth it.

Empower Volunteers

This is key in helping your volunteers take more ownership in your church. You have to empower them to do what they are good at. Teach them what to do. Cast the vision for their role and then let them go further than you could ever imagine.

Take practical steps in the process of empowering them.

• After they clearly understand how, why and what their role is all about, see how they think they might be able to make it better. How can they better serve the church in their role.
• Give them positive feedback and direction continually.
• Once they have learned their role effectively give them more responsibility. Maybe you make a greeter a team leader to oversee a group of 4 or 5 other greeters to work together and making you churches greeting experience amazing.
• Let them know they what they are doing is important. It doens’t matter what role it is. Everyone is playing a part in the mission and vision of your church. Tell them to their face individually that they are important and how much they are appreciated.

How else can you empower your volunteers?

Communicate the ask

When recruiting volunteers and calling them to action I believe how it’s communicated to them is as important as the role you’ll be asking them to serve in. Many small town experiences in churches see a handful of people doing everything. Sometimes it’s sadly the lead pastor trying to do everything himself. So, let’s break that stigma in your small town and show how the church should be. Let’s get as many people involved to serve and connect through volunteering.

Here’s a few thoughts and ideas for how to communicate the ask when recruiting volunteers:

• Let them know they all have gifts and talents to contribute.
• Explain how volunteering lines up with your church’s vision and mission.
• Ask them if they could have a part in leading someone to know and grow in a relationship with Christ, would they do it? Well, volunteering does just that.
• Every volunteer position is important. Every role helps lead people to become fully devoted followers of Christ. (Greeters welcome everyone so they arent intimidated. Kids workers are sharing Jesus on the child’s level. The setup team makes sure seats, environments, etc… are in place for people to come and worship and learn more about God.)
• Don’t be afraid to challenge people to serve. It’s not a guilt trip, but I’ve found people want to know they are needed. “We need you.”
• Be clear in your expectations. Let them know up front what volunteering is and what it is not.
• Explain that the church was not created so one person could do everything. We all have our gifts and talents that God uses to minister to others through the local church and our lives.

What are some other ways or things you might add to this list in communicating the ask to your church for volunteers?

And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ – Matthew 25.40

Volunteers make the local church work. Without volunteers there’s lots missing at your church. This is never more true than in local churches in small towns all across America. A local church with a culture of volunteering and serving at the core has unlimited potential to grow and see God’s work accomplish in big ways.

With a volunteer driven church you’ll allow your church to take ownership in the mission and vision of the church and you’ll empower them to do great things. The thing is, if you the lead pastor or church staff you have to make the vision clear, communicate it well and you have to ask.

Share Vision

Tell your church why they should get plugged into a volunteer role. This can be crafted and said who it fits into the vision of your church, but I think it needs to include the following regardless:

• “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” – Matthew 20:28
• Jesus set the example of what a servant is all about. The Son of Man, God made man, came to earth to serve. If we are to model ourselves like Christ serving others is just in us.
• To reach more people with the Gospel, we need you.
• To steal from LifeChurch.tv’s Craig Groeschel…we are not here to recruit volunteers, but to release leaders.
• Our goal is not to burn you out, but to empower you to use the gifts and talents God gave you to serve the church and our community.
• It is NOT the responsibility of the church leadership and staff to do everything. From a practical standpoint it doesn’t make sense. From a biblical standpoint, it’s just wrong. We need you. We want you to find your fit.

I’m sure there’s more, but that’s what first came to mind and probably some of the most easily communicated parts of vision for volunteers at my church. What are some other things that should be in there?

If you are having a hard time recruiting and empowering volunteers, which one of these vision points do you want or need to adopt right away?

Tomorrow we will talk about how we can communicate the vision and opportunity to volunteer to our church.

If you’re in church leadership you’ve probably wondered, “how do we get more people to volunteer?”. It’s a constant part of a new, growing and existing churches. For small town church with limited staff, having volunteers is vital to the success of your church reaching your community through Sunday mornings and other ministries.

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