Not too long ago I was talking to a longstanding church attendee about getting involved in her local church. I was surprised to hear her say the following words to me, “I don’t think they need me anywhere.” When I pressed her to explain more, I learned that she had expressed interest a few times over the years and nobody seemed that interested in pursuing and recruiting her to get involved. So she stopped offering to help, assuming she wasn’t needed or wanted.
This is not good. Ephesians 4 challenges us to a very high standard when it comes to volunteers. The local church is called to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. As christian leaders, that means we’re not supposed to overly rely on church staff and/or do the bulk of ministry ourselves.
God wants to release His people to use their gifts to grow the church, disciple people and reach the world. That is His model and strategy.
Over the years, I’ve discovered a few key reasons why people don’t get involved. I wonder how many people in your church aren’t involved because of one of these excuses?
1. What Volunteer Opportunity?
In an effort to create a positive environment during church activities, we sometimes hide the volunteer ‘holes’, or opportunities, we know we have to the congregation. Consequently, people don’t see or know about our needs. For one reason or another, we simply don’t tell the congregation what volunteer openings we have. It is important we create methods designed to let our congregation know about the various volunteer opportunities we have available, and how they can get involved.
2. Been There, Done That.
When volunteers have a bad experience in ministry, they may choose to take a ‘been there, done that’ attitude and refuse to get involved again. Whenever you perceive a volunteer has been burned, I recommend you bend over backwards to bring reconciliation to that hurt. Asking questions, listening intently, affirming their hurt and asking forgiveness will go a long way to paving the road for them to eventually get involved again.
3. I Have Nothing To Offer.
A lot of people don’t get involved because they can’t see themselves doing what they see so many others doing. They don’t feel qualified. “Serve on the worship team? I can’t sing like they do.””Help with the kids? I don’t know how to teach kids.” “Help with tech? Have you seen how many nobs are on that board?” People need to know that they don’t have to be experienced before they get plugged in. Hopefully, you already have the systems in place to eventually train them to succeed. They just need to know you believe in them and that they can make a difference.
4. I’m Too Busy.
Yes. People are definitely busy. And they are often convinced they are too busy to get involved in ministry right now. Occasionally it’s true. However, most of the time it’s not about being busy, it’s about priorities. Until people are convinced that what you want them to do is important to them, they won’t give something else up to help the church. People need a good reason to give their time and energy to a cause. You need to convince them that what you are asking is truly important.
5. Nobody Asked Me.
It may seem like a simplistic excuse, but it’s very real and very common. There are some highly skilled and experienced people sitting in church every week who aren’t involved simply because nobody thought to ask them. We don’t ask them for any number of reasons, but often we have convinced ourselves that they can’t or don’t want to. In other words, we say ‘no’ for them and never give them the opportunity to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ themselves.
Asking people to serve in ministry isn’t easy and can be very intimidating. I have recruited hundreds of people into volunteer roles during my ministry career, and I don’t think I’m necessarily the best seller there is! But I did it, and I believe you can too.
What other reasons do people choose to not get involved?