If you’re ever in a meeting of pastors, sooner or later the conversation will turn to the ongoing challenge of finding enough volunteers to run the programs of the church. Teachers are needed for junior high boys, and we need twice the number of volunteers in the pre-school departments since the new child safety protocols went into effect. Every Sunday is a desperate and panicked scrabble to staff the ministries for that Sunday morning.
Of course, the constant complaint among the members in the church is how many times the church staff keeps calling them to volunteer for any number of things. It doesn’t matter if they have any interest or particular talents for the position to which they’re being called. Whatever you do, don’t ever volunteer for anything. Once you do, the church staff will call you for everything.
Here’s the bad news. Pastors work with volunteers. Volunteers work for free which means volunteers can, at their discretion, not work at all. Pastors and church leaders are tasked with finding those who can and will do the necessary work for the ministry’s success. It’s one of the things they don’t tell you in seminary. Working with volunteers is one of the key elements to any pastor’s success.
And that’s easier said than done.
It begins when pastors realize their church members – and thus, volunteers – are real people with real lives. They have jobs to do, parents or children – or both – to care for. They have hobbies, chores around the house, and keeping up with their favorite sports team. No one these days has too much time. Everyone is rushed. People want to serve their church, but it has to be aligned with everything else they have going on in their lives.
I’m not sure most pastors understand that.
First, every volunteer position needs to have a written job description. This description should include realistic statements of the time required and what actions are required for success.
Second, each job description should outline what support is available for the volunteer. Will there be training? How often is that training updated? Will the volunteer be working with a team?
Third, how long is this commitment? Is it for a year? Or the rest of the volunteer’s life? Most of our volunteers think it’s for one year. Most pastors think this position is now fixed forever.
Yes, it’s a lot of work to think through every position in our churches at this level. Most of us haven’t done this and it’s one of the main reasons we continue to have so many challenges identifying and engaging our volunteers. Every volunteer deserves to be set up for a successful ministry. Do the work for them so they in turn can do the work for your church.
