{"id":31391,"date":"2022-09-10T15:28:30","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:28:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/6-conversations-to-have-with-your-ministry-volunteers\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:28:30","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:28:30","slug":"6-conversations-to-have-with-your-ministry-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/6-conversations-to-have-with-your-ministry-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Conversations to Have with Your Ministry Volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"
Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash <\/p>\n

By Ken Braddy<\/em><\/p>\n

COVID-19. I wish I had never heard that term before. It has disrupted our lives in unimaginable ways.<\/p>\n

And who knows what the future may hold and how it will continue to impact our lives? I\u2019m thankful that God is more powerful than the worst pandemic, and that He is the author of our future!<\/p>\n

As many states and local cities begin to allow businesses to restart, the church is also anticipating the day when it can reassemble for worship and other activities. As we all prepare to reopen our churches, we\u2019ll need to have conversations with our volunteer workers.<\/p>\n

My church recently sent an online survey to the members to gauge their expectations of what the reopening of our church will look like. There is a small, but significant number of adults at my church, who expect things to be \u201cbusiness as usual.\u201d<\/p>\n

They are looking forward to hurrying back for worship and Bible study, plus other ongoing activities. I\u2019m glad they love their church and their friends. But I believe they may be a little disappointed because of whatever \u201cnew normal\u201d they find when they return.<\/p>\n

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Because every church is autonomous and in a slightly different ministry context, the decisions we make about reopening are going to be similar in some respects, and different in others.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s those decisions that our volunteers are waiting anxiously to know. \u201cJust what will it be like when we reopen?\u201d is a question on the minds of members and lay leaders.<\/p>\n

What kinds of conversations might you have now with your volunteers? What are they wanting to hear and know? Perhaps some of the conversation starters below will be helpful to you.<\/p>\n

Conversation #1: \u201cAre you going to continue serving?\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Every church leader should not assume that volunteer workers are going to return when worship begins again on campus. There are men and women who are older and therefore more vulnerable to the effects of COVID-19, and returning to a classroom setting might put them at risk.<\/p>\n

There are also younger men and women who live with someone with an underlying health issue, and if the volunteer adult comes back to serve and catches COVID-19, they run the risk of infecting their loved one who may not be a volunteer, but lives with them (this is the case with at least one teacher in my church).<\/p>\n

There are adult volunteers who are telling their pastors and kids\u2019 ministry directors they cannot return until a vaccine is available.<\/p>\n

Having this conversation earlier than later can give staff leaders as much advanced notice as possible so they can recruit new leaders to fil in the gaps left by former volunteers who are not comfortable resuming their duties.<\/p>\n

Conversation #2: \u201cWe\u2019re going to do greeting differently\u201d<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The men and women who serve in your church\u2019s greeting ministry will undoubtedly be instructed that their work will be different upon the reopening of your church.<\/p>\n

Here are just a few questions that are already on their minds:<\/p>\n