We recently received and
answered a question through our website on the subject of encouraging volunteerism in the church. When a similar question recently came up on our
message forums, it quickly became evident that the lack of willing workers is a widespread problem many leaders face, regardless of church size. Compounding the problem is that too often, when someone does volunteer, people are content to let them carry the burden alone until they cannot carry it anymore. Some pastors' wives also feel the frustration of having people in their church who are very involved in the community, but do little to serve within the church itself.
Below are some suggestions I gave on the subject of "Trying To Find Willing Workers". They are reprinted here in case they may be helpful to others who are not part of our message board community:
Pray for workers. Even the Bible tells us that
the harvest is ripe, but the workers are few (Matt. 9:36-38). That passage really
impressed upon me when we first started our latest pastorate, and one of the first things we did was pray for
workers rather than for new members.
Work hard at recruiting a team for each position.
As our new building is getting finished and we're finally going to be
able to re-open many of our Sunday School classes, I've emphasized to
each person I'm talking to that I'm not wanting them to carry the
burden alone, that I'm working to have at least one other teacher so
they can rotate and have time off. So, if someone is wanting to quit because they're burned out, you can
try saying, "what if you take the quarter off and then rotate with
________? That'll give you a break to refresh, and it'll keep _________
from feeling burnt out like you feel now."
Find Recruiters.
Some people are better at recruiting than others. It's
something about their personality, enthusiasm, etc. So, look for that
person or those people and put them on the task.
Reconsider Programs. When all else
fails, consider cutting everything but the bare essentials to free up
volunteers. What is needed more? Sunday school teachers or mid-week
teachers? I know realistically that both are. But... I personally feel
that the Sunday morning impression is the one that makes the most
difference to visitors. We ourselves cut the mid-week program (and it
stayed cut for years until we recently had a volunteer to start it back
up again).
The Nursery Many
people have a specific problem finding someone to serve in the nursery.
In the past, we have hired a trusted teenager in the community (with
appropriate background checks); but currently we do a rotation, and I
prefer it immensely. Each person whose child regularly attends nursery
was
asked to take a turn. Then, the nursery coordinator was able to fill in
a few more volunteers who didn't have children, but didn't mind serving,
since it's only once every 8 weeks.
Others
have had great success with hiring members of the community, knowing
that an added benefit is the workers were hearing the weekly message and songs
of praise over the P.A. system -- something they might not otherwise be
hearing on Sunday morning.
The husband of one pastor's wife on
our forums had a unique solution to the lack of volunteers in the
nursery. He wasn't in the sanctuary at the beginning of the church
service one morning, and
when it was time to start, his voice came over the p.a.
system. He said he was watching the nursery today instead of preaching,
since no one else thought it was an important ministry. The story is
better when she tells
it, but needless to say, the volunteers were falling over themselves.
Thoughts From OthersThis question generated a great discussion on our online message boards, and many shared helpful insights and tips. One pastor's wife, in recruiting new teachers for their children's church program, created a survey to get a better feel for the interest in teaching. This also gave her an opportunity to find out what needs potential teachers might have, whether it be training, resources, or support.
Here are some other suggestions given by members of our
online message board community, posted with their permission:
"We used to attend a church of 2,000 that had problems
recruiting volunteers, especially for the 0-3 year olds. Once the class
was at capacity (kid to worker ratio), a note was put on the door
saying, 'This class is full. If you'd like to volunteer, please call
..................' People started signing up pretty quickly after that."
"... produced a video and set up a recruiting
display in the foyer with a mining theme called, 'Digging for Gold.' We
moved shortly after that, but heard all positions were filled for the
fall!"
"Sometimes people need training, to shadow someone, to
know they're not going to be relied on completely, to know that if they
try it and don't like it, they're not stuck..."
"One thing that helped our church was holding a ministry fair one Sunday
right after the service. My DH (delightful husband) taught a series on the church and being
involved in ministry, he asked the leaders of each ministry to put up a
small display advertising the work they did, and placed a sign up sheet
at each one. We got quite a few new volunteers--and they are still
involved almost two years later." (This idea was inspired by Rick Warren's 40 Days of Purpose campaign.)
"I personally would have to close the nursery, let kids
sit in church with the families and combine all Sunday School classes
into one (intergenerational) ... I really have been in that situation
before -- we have posted that due to the fact there were no workers
for the nursery, it would not be staffed. And they do have One Room
School Sunday School material so that you can put all the kids in one
class. ... I do believe that the need for commitment is a
universal problem. It is important that we begin teaching about it to
our children and teens because we are just one generation from no
Christians. If school/community/sports become the god, where will be
world's hope be?"
"One thing that helped our church was holding a ministry fair one Sunday
right after the service. My DH (delightful husband) taught a series on the church and being
involved in ministry. He asked the leaders of each ministry to put up a
small display advertising the work they did, and placed a sign up sheet
at each one. We got quite a few new volunteers--and they are still
involved almost two years later."
The ConsensusA special thank you goes to everyone who participated in this discussion. Many other thoughts were shared as well, and these three ideas emerged as the consensus opinion of our community:
1. Pray and keep your appeal positive.
2. If necessary, let the congregation experience the consequences of failing to volunteer.
3. Recognize that participating in the community outside the church walls can be a wonderful thing as well.
For a related discussion on a similar topic, please see
Encouraging Volunteerism in the "Real Answers from Real Ministry Wives" section of our website.
Posted by:
Moose
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