Transforming Ministry

Category: Volunteers

  • Five Questions Every Church Must Answer

    Five Questions Every Church Must Answer

    The answer to these five questions will determine how effectively a local church is fulfilling its mission. They will impact the activities and programs we host. They will establish the depth of ministry to our congregations and communities. Ultimately, they will play a large role in the ongoing impact of God’s transformational work in individual’s lives.

    1. How do we attract people to our church?

    It is so easy for church leaders to fail to address this question. We assume people will visit our church because they see the church building and a welcome sign on the front lawn or because our attendees are inviting people to church. We scratch our heads and wonder why we have so few guests. A pastor once told me that first time guests were often heard making comments like, “Your church is the best kept secret in town!”

    In Matthew 5:14-16, Jesus said, “You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.”

    Our communities don’t need to see the building so much as they need to see “the light of the world” in us and our congregations. They need to see that our church is a place where transformation takes place. Where lives are changed. Where people meet the True and Living God. We need to find ways to shout from the mountain that God shows up at church each week. We want people in the community to get the feeling they are missing out on something important at our church.

    What is your church’s strategy to attract people?

    2. How do we assimilate guests into our church?

    Of these five questions, this is what church leaders ask me to help with the most. It can be very frustrating to see 3-4 guests walk through the front doors every week and yet not experience growth as a church. Sometimes guests will even return for a second or third visit, but eventually they sort of just disappear and we never know what happened. What makes matters worse, they usually tell us they really enjoyed the service! We can’t help but secretly ask ourselves: Was it something we said or did to offend them? Are we weird and just don’t know it? Why won’t they come back?

    More often than not, our problem is that church leaders and longstanding members have blinders on. They have lost the ability to see the church environment through the eyes of a guest or newcomer. This is fairly normal and to be expected, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Creating a ‘guest culture’ should be high on every church’s priority list and should include finding ways to ensure guests have a positive experience and are intentionally and tactfully invited to come again.

    Another reason why this question is hard to answer is because we often fail to properly define what ‘assimilate’ means. Is it when guests have visited 3 times,6 or 8? Is it when they join a small group or sign up to volunteer? Is it when they become a member? It may be different for every church, but at some point, newcomers need to feel like they are one of the ‘insiders’ at your church. We need to make that as easy as possible!

    In Acts 15, Paul said, “It is my judgement, therefore, that we should not make it difficult for Gentiles who are turning to God.” In other words, we need to pay special and close attention to our new attendees as they are “turning to God.” 

    What is your church’s strategy to assimilate people?

    3. How do we connect people with one another in our church?

    I often tell church leaders, “You can make a lot of mistakes as a church and people will keep coming if they are connected.” Certainly, the answer to this question is an important part of ‘how do we assimilate people,’ as well. But it’s more than about getting newcomers to come back. It’s about having a church where people truly care about one another, and show it in practical ways. A church that successfully accomplishes this doesn’t have to rely on the pastor(s) to do all the ministry in the church, because people organically minister to one another all the time.

    In today’s culture, getting people to ‘connect’ with others in the church is a LOT easier said than done, but it’s a necessity if people are to move from superficial relationships to authentic relationships. Despite the indoctrination of social media in our world, nothing will ever truly beat regular face to face interactions. Getting people to actually do that is a challenge some church leaders have given up trying to address. They’ve tried small groups, Wednesday services, Sunday School, fellowship events and more. However, no matter how discouraging or hard it may be, it’s important we ‘not grow weary in doing good’ and continue forward until we have discovered ways to break into authentic church community.

    The author of Hebrews so aptly reminds us, “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Don’t give up. It could be your church is just inches away from a major breakthrough in this area!

    What is your church’s strategy for connecting people?

    4. How do we disciple people in our church?

    Any church leader who doesn’t know what the “Great Commission” is, should probably hang up his hat and let someone else lead. This is Christ’s final mandate to His disciples, and a primary role of the church. Volumes of books, masses of videos and thousands of series are available to help us explore Jesus command to spread the Gospel to our communities and around the globe. It’s hard to miss the four primary commands found in this passage:

    “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” Matthew 28:19

    Go. Make Disciples. Baptize. Teach.

    I’ve noticed local churches can be all over the place in answering this question. Usually, we have an innate belief that discipleship is happening, but we can’t really quantify how much, to whom and when. It’s easy to simply “do church” the way we’ve always done it, without asking the question, “is it working?” Are we hosting the {put program/activity/service here} because we really believe it will disciple people? 

    Either way, discipleship should be a foundation activity in our church’s strategy to minister to the congregation. Among other things, this will include helping people learn how to discover God for themselves through activities like Bible reading, prayer and missions trips; teaching them Godly principles regarding evangelism, parenting, relationships, stewardship, etc.; and equipping them to overcome the world, the flesh and the devil by living a victorious life.

    What is your church’s strategy for discipling people?

    5. How do we engage people in our church?

    One indicator of a healthy church is found in the level of volunteer engagement and ownership within the church and community. When the congregation relies primarily on the pastor or church staff, something is broken. The “body” has turned into a codependent entity that will never effectively serve it’s mission in the community. A few years ago I spoke at a small rural church of about 75 people that is run entirely by volunteers. It was an active church with several great programs and meaningful activities for it’s attendees, and there was nobody on staff. They told me they wanted to eventually hire a part time pastor, but in the meantime, they had discovered something powerful – when the body works together, ministry can and will happen.

    Recruiting and releasing volunteers is something we church leaders talk about a lot, but often struggle doing. It often seems easier to just do things ourselves and rely on a few key influencers in the church to handle the rest, but this cripples the body of Christ. Paul was quite clear in 1 Corinthians that every person is important and makes up different parts of the body of Christ:

    “But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.” 1 Cor. 12:18-19

    Helping people find their place in the church will serve the volunteer, the congregation and the larger community. This will stimulate growth and create ministry momentum. It will also define a more balanced ministry environment, rather than a staff-driven and co-dependent one.

    What is your church’s strategy for engaging people?

  • 3 Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    3 Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    I once spoke to a “been there done that” volunteer from a local church. Put another way, he was no longer a volunteer; he’d “been there, done that” and it didn’t go very well. In fact, he ended up silently leaving the church and was leading worship and a small group at another church. I didn’t have to ask about his volunteer experience at his former church, he told me all about it. The backstory is, I knew this man and also knew he had been faithful and committed to that church for many years prior. He wasn’t a grumpy, church-hopping kind of guy. 

    I was glad to see how engaged and excited he was to serve at the new church. I was saddened to realize that he was a miserable volunteer at his former church, which probably meant other volunteers were as well.

    Patrick Lencioni wrote a book designed to help organizations identify the key factors that lead to miserable employees in the workplace. As you might expect, those same factors apply to the volunteers in our church and ministries as well.

    The Three Signs of a Miserable Volunteer

    Adapted from “The Truth About Employee Engagement: A Fable About Addressing the Three Root Causes of Job Misery” by Patrick Lencioni

    1. People Feel Anonymous

    “People cannot be fulfilled in their work if they are not known. All human beings need to be understood and appreciated for their unique qualities by someone in a position of authority…. People who see themselves as invisible, generic, or anonymous cannot love their jobs, no matter what they are doing.”

    Volunteers need to believe you know and care about them. This means you’re not just interested in what they can do to make your ministry a success. It means you’re interested in them as individuals. Great leaders will take the time to learn about their lives, their families and the things that are important to them right now. They will check in on them when they are experiencing life-challenges. 

    You can make a lot of mistakes as a leader, but if your volunteers believe they are important to you, they are much more likely to be loyal to the ministry you lead, despite it’s weaknesses and faults.

    Leadership Test: Do you know the names of each of the volunteers you lead? Do you know what personal challenges they are facing right now?
     

    2. People Feel Irrelevant

    “Everyone needs to know that their job matters, to someone. Anyone. Without seeing a connection between the work and the satisfaction of another person or group of people, an employee simply will not find lasting fulfillment. Even the most cynical employees need to know that their work matters to someone, even if it’s just the boss.”

    Volunteers want to make a difference. It’s the reason they chose to give up some of their freedoms (to do other things) in order to serve in ministry with you. Irrelevance is a sickness that is so easy to cure, yet is often left untreated. Leaders must regularly keep the vision/purpose for ministry alive in volunteers. Explain why their role is so critical and how it connects to changed lives in the church. Tell them about people who have experienced God in a special way, and how they played a role in that transformation. And make a concerted effort to regularly express gratitude and appreciation for the investment they are making in people’s lives.

    You will keep your volunteers motivated by reminding and showing them how they are making a difference.

    Leadership Test: When was the last time you sent a special ‘thank you’ note to your volunteers? Do your volunteers know why their position in ministry is important to you and God?
     

    3. People Feel Immeasurable

    Employees need to be able to gauge their progress and level of contribution for themselves. They cannot be fulfilled in their work if their success depends on the opinions or whims of another person, no matter how benevolent that person may be. Without a tangible means for assessing success or failure, motivation eventually deteriorates as people see themselves as unable to control their own fate.

    Volunteers thrive on consistent, positive feedback from leaders. Often, volunteers are thrust into responsibilities with little experience or training. Consequently, they can feel insecure or inadequate for the job, eventually leading to them quitting. Unfortunately, the kind of feedback volunteers often receive is grossly inadequate and sometimes not even real. They don’t need to hear, “You’re doing just fine.” They want to know how they can do better, without feeling like a failure.

    To truly “lead” others, we must be committed to modeling the kind of ministry we’re looking for, training people to be a success, and resourcing them with the tools they need to do it with excellence. 

    Leadership Test: Do you know how well your volunteers fulfill their respective responsibilities? When was the last time you gave them constructive feedback or training so they might improve?
     

     
    Are you struggling recruiting or keeping volunteers in the church?

    If so, I recommend you contact me today to setup a free 30 minute conversation about how I might be able to provide the help you need. I look forward to hearing from you!

     

    Amazon Affiliate Notice: I receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

  • Why Simple is Better

    Why Simple is Better

    Recently, I was asked to speak at a church. I already knew what I wanted to talk about when I was asked. I looked forward to the opportunity . . . except for the part where I had to sit down to do the ‘work’. Since I wanted the message to be simple, I ended up redrafting that message three times. I whittled a 45 minute message down to 25. Chopping it up was painful, but in the end it was well worth it. The congregation stayed with me the whole time and I believe God used my words to bring transformation to their lives. Simple. Hard. Worth it.

    Perhaps one of our biggest mistakes when attempting to make ministry, leadership, relationships, or whatever, simple, is that we assume the process should be simple too. But making something simple is complicated, time consuming and a lot of work. Most of us give up at the worst possible time, when we’re just on the cusp of a ‘simple’ breakthrough. There’s a miserable valley we must walk all the way through before we arrive at the other side and our goal – the Valley of Complexity.

    Despite the work, simple is better. A few more observations about simple.

    People Remember Simple.

    God gave us 5 fingers on each hand, not 8. I suspect He knew that most of us can only remember a few things at a time. If I ask you to remember 4 words, I suspect you can do it no problem; but 12? God gave us 10 commandments, but Jesus summed them up in 2 that a four year old could remember.

    People Value Simple.

    We live in the day of the ‘elevator speech’. If you can tell someone what you want to say between the 1st and 12th floor, they’ll listen. If not, well, “Sorry. I need to get going.” We pay attention to simple and lose interest in complex. When you present me with simple, I’m impressed and know you cared enough to prepare. 

    People Do Simple.

    Less is more. Give me 23 tasks and I’ll easily get locked up. I won’t know which ones to do and might just go find something else to do (like check Facebook). Give me 4 tasks and I feel empowered to get things done. Simple helps me focus and motivates me to action.

    Other Examples:

    • Your congregation and community don’t want 8 announcements that last fifteen minutes; they want 2 announcements delivered in 3 minutes.
    • They don’t really want 12 emails a week about upcoming events & activities; one will suffice.
    • They don’t want to spend 10 minutes on your website trying to find service times or directions.
    • Certainly, they would love to have notes from your message; but if they are going to have to fill in the blanks they secretly hope they won’t get writer’s cramp, that there’s enough light in the room and possibly that you will provide pencils for them. 
    • Your volunteers and leaders would really prefer to open the resource closet and find what they need in 8 seconds.
    • Your attendees aren’t looking for a booklet with 28 volunteer opportunities; they just want to know what the one or two things are they can do to help make a difference.
    • Volunteers would like to have a simple 1-page document that lets them know what you expect. They would appreciate getting a quick email reminding them that they are scheduled to serve each week. They want to know about the training event at least a month ahead of time. 

    What do you need to simplify in your life or ministry this week?

  • 10 Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    10 Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    One day Jesus decided to sit and watch people put money in the offering. When an unremarkable, poor woman gave a couple pennies, Jesus honored her above everyone else. He said, “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on” (Mark 12:43, NIV).

    I wonder how that woman felt about herself. Is it possible she believed that her small gift didn’t really matter? I wonder if the people in her life ever validated her or what she had to offer. Certainly nobody paid much attention to her financial gifts! Most likely, people disregarded her when they looked at what she gave and discounted her because they compared her to all of those who gave so much more. That’s not what Jesus did. He valued both the woman and her gift, when nobody else did.

    Let’s take a moment and stop thinking of her gift as financial. What if her gift was in service to the church instead? What if all she could give to the local church was a very small amount of her time? Or what if she was very unskilled and had very little to offer as a volunteer? Would we treat her the same as those who give much?

    If we were to dig deep, we would discover millions of stories of people who never reached their potential in ministry because the people around them (and they themselves) didn’t value who they were or what they could contribute. Even more alarming would be those who simply didn’t give anything at all for the same reason.

    Ten Reasons Volunteers Don’t Feel Valued

    In today’s post, I’d like to briefly consider 8 reasons why volunteers might feel devalued.

    1. Assume The Worst

    Is it possible there are men & women in your church who could relate to the woman Jesus noticed in the above story? Do they think their leaders assume they have little or nothing to offer because of their skill set, circumstances or personality? Leaders will always micromanage volunteers when they assume they are incapable of doing a task, thinking through a problem or taking initiative. This leaves the volunteer helpless to do more than what they are told. 

    2. Miss Small Contributions

    It’s easy to notice people who volunteer a lot. They are often seen and noticed in the office or working in an area of ministry for hours on end. Their gift of service is seen by all. It’s not so easy to observe those who give small amounts. Their contribution is lost in the shuffle and hubbub of others who give so much more. Leaders should pay close attention to ALL of those who volunteer in the church, no matter how small, so they might later honor & thank them for their service.

    3. Lack of Communication

    When people don’t know what’s going on, they feel undervalued. The unspoken message they hear is, “I wasn’t important enough to be in the loop on this.” Most of the time, it’s not true, but our inadequate communication will eventually alienate and drive some of our most committed people away.

    4. Non-Personal Interaction

    It doesn’t matter what size church you lead, people are still people and they are craving personal touch. In particular, they feel valued and important when the people they respect in leadership take the time to connect with them. This can be a huge challenge for christian leaders. Even so, finding ways to give 1 on 1 attention to people through cards, email, social media, personal visits, even a brief chat, will help them know they are a valued part of your team.

    5. Responsibility Without Authority

    When people are asked to get involved, but aren’t empowered to do it themselves, they feel like wheels in a cog. Systems can add great value to local ministries, but they are meant to serve you and your volunteers, not the other way around. When possible, allow room for some creative liberty to allow volunteers to make decisions on their own.

    6. No Opportunity for Buy-In

    Announcing change from the pulpit is dangerous. People need time to process what’s going on and how it will impact them personally. If you want to value your volunteers, communicate far in advance of the change to give them lead time so they can process change before it happens. 

    7. False or Wrong Expectations

    One of the easiest ways to hurt feelings and sow discord is to keep expectations vague or confusing. If YOU expect more from your volunteers than they realize, you will be disappointed and they will be discouraged. If THEY expect more from you as a leader, they will be confused or disappointed. Either way, it’s a recipe that can lead to broken relationship.

    8. Square Peg, Round Hole

    It’s frustrating when leaders delegate tasks to volunteers and then get mad at them because they don’t do a good job. If you ask me to serve as the maintenance man in your church, you’ll be disappointed. I’m not good at fixing things. Instead of pushing me harder to do better, realize I’m a square peg, not a round one, and find a better fit for me.

    9. Starved for Feedback

    One of the greatest gifts any leader can give their volunteers is the gift of meaningful and regular feedback. When given properly, this will greatly encourage them, empower them for better service and motivate them to continue to give their time and talents to the church. Similarly, volunteers who never hear how they are doing, both good and bad, will be discouraged, disempowered and lack motivation to keep going.

    10. Devalue Small Contributions

    One of the most obvious reasons volunteers don’t feel valued by leaders is because leaders don’t actually value volunteers who give very little. Jesus valued every contribution others gave, no matter how big or small. He recognized the poor woman’s gift was extravagant because he knew she had nothing else to give, and honored her for it. When he fed the 5,000, he knew a couple of fish would be enough to kick start an amazing miracle, despite how inadequate that gift truly was. 

    —

    Invite people to be part of something great, find a good fit for them, and let them serve with the skills, talent & commitment they have to give. Value them and what they give just as much as those who give (or seem to give) so much more.

    photo credit: Lawrence OP She Gave All She Had via photopin (license)

  • How To Offer Amazing MinistryWith Not So Amazing People

    How To Offer Amazing Ministry
    With Not So Amazing People

    I recently visited a local gym who was offering a week membership for free. I was truly impressed. They had a wide range of workout rooms and exercise equipment and a beautiful facility. When I arrived for the first time, they gave me a tour of the facility and made themselves available to help me get acclimated to any of the equipment I didn’t understand. The offer to help wasn’t really necessary since there were instructional signs and videos available explaining how to use each machine.

    They converted an inexperienced and mildly overwhelmed guy (that’d be me) into a confident individual who had the right tools he needed to get great results. At the very minimum, it would be hard to NOT have at least an average workout, though I’d definitely rate my experience above average, if not exceptional. 

    Great systems turn the wrong person into the right person and quickly convert average results into maximized results.

    The Systems/People Matrix

    Let me introduce a revolutionary matrix that, if properly applied, just might change your perspective on how to offer amazing ministry with not so amazing people.

    I call this diagram the Systems/People Matrix. The point of this matrix is simple. When you have great systems, you can often recruit people who aren’t necessarily the ‘right ones’ and eventually develop them into the right people over time. Amazing ministry happens not just because we have the best people in place, but because we have great systems that give the wrong people time to become the best people.

    Let’s look at each quadrant a little closer:

    Down and to the Right

    When you have poor systems, but great people, your end result is frustration. That is, the people serving are frustrated and the longer they serve in that role the more frustrated they become. This often eventually leads to volunteer or staff turnover. They love doing what they are doing and are passionate about it, but they don’t feel valued or cared for and don’t feel like they are equipped or empowered to do the job right.

    RESULT: Not so amazing ministry.

    EXAMPLE 1: A Sunday School teacher shows up to teach the class and discovers that the toys are dirty and put away in the wrong boxes from last week. She spends the first ten minutes putting them in order and getting all the toy pieces back where they belong. Those ten minutes were supposed to be spent preparing the craft and quieting herself before everyone arrives. The next time she arrives to teach, she discovers all the crayons are broken and the cereal box was left open so the cereal is stale.

    EXAMPLE 2: The drummer shows up for worship team rehearsal 10 minutes early to prepare and make sure the drums are setup the way he likes and so he can warm up. When the worship rehearsal time arrives he discovers only two people have arrived. He waits 15 minutes before everyone else gets there and takes the stage. It then takes another 15 minutes to do the sound check and get the monitors mixed properly. He wonders if he should just show up 30 minutes late from now on and forget about warming up.

    Down and to the Left

    If you don’t have good people in the designated role and you don’t have any systems to serve them, you’ll end up with failure. There’s really no way meaningful ministry can happen consistently in that environment.

    RESULT: No Ministry.

    EXAMPLE 1: A Sunday School teacher doesn’t really care about doing anything other than making sure the kids don’t hurt themselves. She doesn’t particularly enjoy kids either, but she serves because she knows it’s important. Since there are no systems in place to provide great toys, craft supplies and a lesson plan to the teachers, she literally just comes every week and spends her time trying to keep the kids occupied and prevent them from hurting themselves. Afterwards, kids leave the room crying or bored and the teacher leaves exhausted and ready to quit. As a result, the parents are frustrated that their kids aren’t getting any valuable teaching and don’t want to attend class and it becomes increasingly difficult to find reliable volunteers to run the class.

    EXAMPLE 2: A volunteer is recruited to build a website for the church because he has some web experience. Since nobody gave him any instruction, images or content, he just creates a basic and simple site that ends up missing a lot of crucial data. And since all he was recruited to do was build the site, and not manage it, three months after it’s completed most of the information on the site is dated and some of the pages are broken. Guests who visit the site often choose to visit somewhere else simply because the website is so outdated and unprofessional looking.

    Up and to the Left

    The top left quadrant is the one that fascinates me the most. In this quadrant you have great systems in place, but not the greatest people serving in those roles. Perhaps the people are new, immature, unskilled, or simply not passionate about what they are doing. Despite this, the results will very often be average and sometimes above average. A great example of this in the business world would be your local fast food joint, like McDonalds, Arby’s, or Taco Bell. Similarly, some of the more nicer fast food places apply as well, like Moe’s, Chipotle or Subway. I’m fairly certain most of those employees don’t dream about making fast food service a career path or have a lot of previous training flipping burgers and taking orders. And yet, it’s highly likely you will receive similar service and products no matter where you make your order in the entire world. Why? Amazing Systems. 

    RESULT: Average to Above Average Ministry.

    EXAMPLE 1: A hesitant single adult has agreed to do a ‘3 month test drive’ as a Sunday School teacher. At first, she is nervous she made a bad decision because she has never worked with kids much. But after attending two sessions as an apprentice, receiving great follow-up training and walking into the classroom each week with everything in it’s place and simple, easy to follow, instructions on the inside door, she has decided it’s not that hard and a lot of fun. At the end of the 3 months, she’s committed to serve another year and has already proven to be the ‘right person for the job.’

    EXAMPLE 2: A volunteer that normally comes in on Saturdays to fold and stuff the bulletins calls in sick the last minute. The secretary has a substitute list of potential backups, but they have never actually done the job. She makes the call and as the backup arrives she spends 5 minutes walking her through a checklist and showing her the machinery, which is also well labelled with instructions. As a result, the job gets done as expected and the volunteer felt like she was able to help the church ‘on the fly’.

    Up and to the Right

    This quadrant represents not average ministry or even above average, but maximized ministry. Staff and volunteers are serving where they believe they are called to serve and they have the training and gifts needed to do it. Since there are great systems in place, they spend a lot of their time and energy actually ministering to people and improving the overall ministry of the church. Often, they move on to become the influencers within that sphere of responsibility. 

    Result: Amazing Ministry.

    EXAMPLE 1: The sound tech loves to do sound ministry, and over time he has learned how to do it well and is good at it. On top of that, the expectations, systems, and tasks necessary to do the job are well defined. As a result, he helps recruit and train new sound techs and is currently working on learning some advanced tech that will eventually help the church know how to best place the speakers in the room to maximize their capacity and actually minimize loud hot-spots in the room.

    EXAMPLE 2: A Sunday School teacher serves twice a month in the four year old class and absolutely loves it. He actually looks forward to those Sundays. Since he knows exactly what to expect each Sunday morning there is little stress associated in the job. In fact, the children’s director has created room in the timeline of ministry to kids to allow him to personally pray over each child every week. He recently started a blog for parents of preschoolers at the church and is personally ensuring that each preschool teacher writes on it once a month. His love for the ministry is so contagious that the adults in his small group are thinking about volunteering too. 

    I have a challenge for you . . . write out each area of ministry or responsibility you have delegated to other staff or volunteers. Now ask yourself which quadrant in the Systems-People Matrix that ministry falls within. What can you do to improve the systems to better serve those areas of ministry?

  • 5 Reasons Why People Don’t Volunteer

    5 Reasons Why People Don’t Volunteer

    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?