{"id":31940,"date":"2022-09-10T15:50:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-questions-to-ask-when-youre-short-on-volunteers\/"},"modified":"2022-09-10T15:50:02","modified_gmt":"2022-09-10T20:50:02","slug":"5-questions-to-ask-when-youre-short-on-volunteers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/5-questions-to-ask-when-youre-short-on-volunteers\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Questions to Ask When You’re Short on Volunteers"},"content":{"rendered":"
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By Dennis Garcia<\/em><\/p>\n

I recently took an informal poll asking church leaders I knew to name the top two or three challenges they\u2019re currently facing in ministry. Overwhelmingly, leaders identified recruiting volunteers as their No. 1 problem.<\/p>\n

For those in church leadership, this doesn\u2019t come as a surprise. In my nearly 20 years of ministry, finding volunteers has always been a constant struggle.<\/p>\n

Most of us are familiar with the 80\/20 rule, also known as Pareto\u2019s Principle. Pareto was an Italian economist who observed that 20% of your input accounts for 80% of your results.<\/p>\n

In the church world, we frame it this way; 20% of our church members do 80% of the work. This isn\u2019t a hard and fast rule, but it\u2019s usually in the ballpark of what we find to be true.<\/p>\n

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If recruiting volunteers is a nearly universal problem for the church, what can we do about it? How do we change the narrative and encourage greater ministry involvement from our congregations?<\/p>\n

A New Paradigm<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I\u2019m not going to answer these questions. Instead, I\u2019m going to borrow a move right out of Jesus\u2019 playbook and ask you a question.<\/p>\n

Rather than asking, \u201cHow do we recruit move volunteers?,\u201d it\u2019s time to ask, \u201cHow well are we stewarding the volunteers we have?\u201d<\/p>\n

In Matthew 25:14\u201330, Jesus tells a story of a master who leaves on business. In his absence, he entrusts his affairs to his three servants.<\/p>\n

Two of the servants were faithful and experienced success. The third was afraid of his master and did nothing.<\/p>\n

When the master returns, he rewards the first two servants for their faithfulness and rebukes the third.<\/p>\n

This is ultimately a story of stewardship. Those who are faithful with little are trusted with much. Inversely, those who are not faithful with little, are not trusted with more.<\/p>\n

Maybe our lack of volunteers has less to do with recruiting strategy and more to do with how we\u2019re stewarding our current volunteers.<\/p>\n

So, how well are you stewarding? Here are five things to ask:<\/p>\n

1. How are you engaging your volunteers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

With this question, I\u2019m specifically referring to engaging the many spiritual gifts within the body. In many churches, the two most public volunteer positions are the singers and teachers.<\/p>\n

I once had a church member say to me, \u201cI don\u2019t sing, and I can\u2019t teach. Is there any place for me to serve?\u201d We need to do a better job engaging people with all the gifts and abilities God gives, not just the two obvious ones.<\/p>\n

2. How are you encouraging your volunteers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

One of the most difficult things is when a volunteer quits because he or she feels unseen or undervalued. Encouraging and appreciating our volunteers is simple but often neglected.<\/p>\n

This is one of the most critical factors, however, in retaining volunteers. Leaders must be intentional and systematic to ensure all volunteers know they\u2019re loved and are a valuable part of the church\u2019s ministry.<\/p>\n

3. How are you equipping your volunteers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

There\u2019ve been a few times in my life when I\u2019ve been asked to serve in a particular role but never received the education or training necessary to be successful. Those were difficult and challenging times.<\/p>\n

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See also  8 Ways to Persevere in Ministry<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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No one likes to be thrown into chaos without a life vest. In his letter to the church of Ephesus, Paul tells church leaders a key component of their leadership is to equip the saints for ministry.<\/p>\n

Equipping our volunteers isn\u2019t optional. It\u2019s an essential part of our duties as good leaders.<\/p>\n

4. How are you empowering your volunteers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Early in my ministry, I made the mistake of trying to recruit volunteers to serve in MY ministry. I needed people to fulfill MY goals and help ME achieve success. This is not good leadership, nor is it biblical.<\/p>\n

Rather than recruiting volunteers to serve in our ministry, we need to be empowering people for their ministry.<\/p>\n

In the same passage referenced above, Paul reminds church leaders every member is a minister. Peter writes in his epistle that believers are a \u201croyal priesthood.\u201d<\/p>\n

We\u2019re not recruiting volunteers to simply fill spots; we\u2019re empowering God\u2019s people to minister as God has called them to do.<\/p>\n

5. How are you inspiring your volunteers?<\/strong><\/h3>\n

People serve, not because there\u2019s a need, but because they have an opportunity to make a difference. This is why asking for help in the bulletin or from the stage is one of the least effective ways of recruiting volunteers.<\/p>\n

Every volunteer should know their role is important to the mission of the church. We inspire our volunteers when we remind them every job, every task, and every act of love is a necessary part of the ministry of the church.<\/p>\n

A New 80\/20 Rule<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In a video to church leaders, Allyson Evans of Life.Church encourages leaders to follow the 80\/20 rule. She says, \u201cSpend 80% of your time developing your current volunteers. When you do that, they\u2019re going to find all of your new volunteers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Life.Church 80\/20 rule recommends spending 80% of your time developing current volunteers and only 20% of your time recruiting new volunteers. It sounds counterintuitive.<\/p>\n

We know from the Parable of the Talents, however, that those who are faithful with little can be trusted with much. Be a good steward of those God has brought under your care. Lead them well and see how God provides.<\/p>\n

Dennis Garcia (@dennislgarcia)<\/strong> is the husband of Toni, father of Miranda and Kephas, and church planting catalyst serving in Southern New Mexico for the North American Mission Board.<\/em><\/p>\n

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Dig Deeper at Lifeway.com<\/div>\n
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The Volunteer Church: Mobilizing Your Congregation for Growth and Effectiveness<\/h2>\n

Leith Anderson & Jill Fox<\/p>\n

FIND OUT MORE <\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Related posts:<\/h3>\n
A New Approach to Volunteers: 5 Tips for Getting a \u201cYes\u201d in a Culture of \u201cNo\u201d What Do Pastors Believe About the End Times? What Do Pastors Believe About the Book of Revelation? 3 Ways to Reach Non-Religious People in Your Community <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Dennis Garcia I recently took an informal poll asking church leaders I knew to name the top two or three challenges they\u2019re currently facing in ministry. Overwhelmingly, leaders identified recruiting volunteers as their No. 1 problem. For those in church leadership, this doesn\u2019t come as a surprise. In my nearly 20 years of ministry, … Continue reading “5 Questions to Ask When You’re Short on Volunteers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31940","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermons"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31940","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31940"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31940\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31940"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31940"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/sermons\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31940"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}