The Volunteer Church

Leith Anderson, Jill Fox

• Publisher: Zondervan
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9780310519164
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Ministry

Working with volunteers can be a rewarding and exciting experience—for them as well as for those who recruit, train, and maintain their services. However, if church leaders are honest, they know there are times that it can be frustrating. They know that volunteers are essential, vital to creating growth and new ministries, and are the key to introducing youth and children to Jesus Christ. They have the welcoming smiles at the door, they serve the food, pray for needs, stuff bulletins, organize missions trips, and on and on. If they want to see their church grow, it must be a volunteering church, a church that runs on volunteers.

The Volunteer Church was developed out of the ministry of Leith Anderson at Wooddale Church in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, where a vital and vibrant volunteer program boasting 4, 000 participants grew under the leadership of Jill Fox. The principles and training have been applied in churches of all sizes and denominations in seminar settings across the country as well as at Wooddale Church.

In The Volunteer Church, leaders will

• Learn how to effectively recruit and train volunteers
• Discover how to build sustainable, long-lasting ministries led by volunteers
• Find methods for encouraging and maintaining your volunteers for success
• Know how to build teams of volunteers
• Understand how to find the right service that fits a willing volunteer

If you lead a church and are exhausted by the lack of volunteer help, or if you are a volunteer and dream of adding numbers to your team, this book is for you. If you are on a church staff and know that a new ministry is needed but volunteers and training are required to make it happen, here you will find the resources to recruit, inspire, train, and maintain the church's most vital workforce.

Part 1

BUILDING A VOLUNTEER CULTURE

CHAPTER
1

People Want to Volunteer

LEITH

Google the phrase “why people volunteer” and about seventy-three million websites and articles will appear. If you read any of them, you’ll quickly conclude that people want to volunteer. That’s good news! And even better, you’ll be pleased to learn that religious volunteering tops most of the lists. (Well, some of the lists. I confess I did not have enough time to read all seventy-three million sites.)

Instead of researching on a computer the motivation behind volunteering, though, try looking for the answer in the Bible. You’ll find lots of volunteers. You’ll find them in the Old Testament book of Judges — individuals who stepped up and answered God’s call during some of the troubled times in Israel’s history. For example, God raised up an amazing leader named Deborah, who was a prophetess, judge, politician, and military strategist. She was also a songwriter and singer; here’s some of her song:

When the princes in Israel take the lead,
when the people willingly offer themselves — praise the LORD!

— JUDGES 5:2

My heart is with Israel’s princes,
with the willing volunteers among the people. Praise the LORD!

— JUDGES 5:9

When Deborah sang this, the nation was a real mess — roads were closed, village life had ceased, and there were no arms for an army. So Deborah tapped into a reservoir of waiting volunteers, defeated the occupying enemy, and brought forty years of peace and prosperity to Israel.

Turn your Bible a few pages to the New Testament and you’ll find more stories of volunteers in the book of Acts. Willing volunteers in the early church sold their property and shared the proceeds with needy Christians (Acts 4:32 – 37). When the Jerusalem church got bogged down in a controversy about distributing the benevolence money, a group of financial volunteers stepped up and solved the problem (Acts 6:1 – 7).

There are many reasons why people volunteer, and we shouldn’t assume that we know those reasons. I recall talking to someone on a church-sponsored Mediterranean tour of Israel and Turkey, and I asked this person why he was one of the first people to sign up for the trip. My assumption was that he really wanted to visit the lands of the Bible. But he had an unexpected answer for me: “Honestly, I would have signed up if this was a trip to Florida or Montana. The destination didn’t matter. I’m new in town and to the church, and I figured this was a good way to make some friends.”

Some people volunteer out of generosity, out of gratitude for God’s blessings. Others volunteer out of selfishness, motivated by guilt, shame, or a sense of obligation. Some don’t really think about why they volunteer; they just do it. I believe it is helpful to think about our motivations, to understand some of the top reasons why people volunteer. And it’s also a good idea to ask your volunteers that question, to learn what they want out of the experience.

Personal Desires

Our personal needs and desires are powerful motivators. Whenever Jesus connected with people, he usually began by speaking to their desires. What do you want? Hungry people wanted food. Blind, leprous, and lame people wanted healing. Curious people wanted to learn, to hear Jesus tell stories. The theologians and religious leaders wanted answers to their questions. Just about everyone wanted to see miracles. Jesus knew that the people around him had needs, including eternal needs that extended beyond their wants. But often, he began by addressing their desires.

Today, there are “seekers” who may come to church looking for a friend. They may not be interested, at first, in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. So we get to know them. We learn what they are looking for and start with their desires. Maybe we can learn something from Paul on Mars Hill in Athens (Acts 17), where he started his presentation quoting familiar pagan poets rather than Old Testament prophets, and moved on from there to Jesus and the resurrection. God created us as social beings in the image of God, so of course we need friends and meaningful relationships with others. Aloneness can be devastating — just look at the psychological and physical consequences of solitary confinement. God designed us to be together, not all by ourselves. And that’s why many people offer to volunteer. They are lonely. They want to be connected. They want friends.

Some will say that this is especially true for men. In many cultures, women socialize around conversation while men socialize around tasks. When lonely men are offered a circle of talk, they may decline; when lonely men are offered a circle of activity, they are likely to accept. When men are invited to volunteer for a sports team, construction project, planning task force, or camping trip, they may agree to the task without admitting they are really looking for friends.

Other people are looking for excitement. Boredom comes in many guises. You may find teenagers who want to volunteer because they couldn’t get summer jobs, or you’ll find the octogenarian who used to be a world-traveling hostage negotiator and simply wants to stay active. Volunteering is something they want to do rather than staying home and watching television. Others may wish to serve because of job-related boredom. This person may have a very busy life, putting in long hours at the office, factory, or in the driver’s seat of an eighteen-wheeler. Though life is full, it’s full of the predictable and routine. Volunteering to do relief work in Haiti or to greet newcomers at church services brings some variety and excitement to their lives.

The best physicians don’t begin with a prescription; they begin with questions and a diagnosis. Similarly, the best recruiters don’t begin with a job offer; they begin by learning about the needs of the volunteer. Don’t start with the church’s need when you ask for help. Begin by saying, “Tell me more about you.” Potential volunteers are delighted to be asked, and some will tell you their life story and maybe request a specific service opportunity. Others will leave it to the recruiter to diagnose their need and propose a prescription.

Lofty Aspirations

The eight-year-old boy who approached me between Sunday morning services was smart, though he was the youngest in his third-grade class. He rushed to me and said with excitement in his voice, “I want to be a pastor who wins the whole world to Jesus! What should I do?” I could have explained that he should finish third grade and continue his education through elementary school, middle school, high school, college, seminary, internship, and ordination for the next twenty years. Instead, my advice to this young boy was simple and immediately relevant. “Start with the Bible. Read what it has to say. Learn what it means. That’s the best preparation for everything God is calling you to do.”

A month later, we had a follow-up conversation in that same hallway between Sunday services. “Okay, I read the entire Bible and figured out everything it says,” he told me. “Now I want to know what to do next.”

Some volunteers have lofty aspirations.

If you are like most church leaders, when you hear an “over the top” volunteer describing their dream of changing the world, you might want to put the brakes on for them. Over time, leaders develop an intuition that warns them when someone is getting out of control. But I’d caution against trying to dampen this enthusiasm right away. Most volunteers are not delusional or dreaming when they express their desire to do good. They truly want their lives to count, and they wish to make a positive difference in others’ lives. Ask questions to make a diagnosis before writing a prescription.

Two of the best Christian volunteers in history were a husband and wife named Priscilla and Aquila. They were lay members of the first-century church of Ephesus. When an amazing Jewish preacher named Apollos of Alexandria visited their church, he mesmerized the congregation with his teaching. According to historian Luke, “He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor” (Acts 18:24 – 25).

But there was a problem with this amazing preacher. He “taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John” (v. 25). He was mostly orthodox with a little bit of baptismal heresy.

Fortunately, Priscilla and Aquila were volunteers in the Ephesian church. They knew their theology, and they wanted to help Apollos. So “when Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately” (v. 26). They were simply motivated by a desire to help. An interesting footnote to all of this is a claim some New Testament scholars make that Apollos was the author of the New Testament book of Hebrews, counted among the best-written books in the Bible.

Other volunteers serve so they can “make a difference.” They are troubled by the pain and poverty in our world, and they know they can’t fix everything, but they also believe they can help some. They want to rescue that one girl from sex trafficking, teach that one boy how to read, help that one addict to stay sober, win that one sinner to become a saint, provide that one homeless family with a house, or mentor that one child from a broken home. These people are not looking for recognition, long-term friendship, or a promotion in the social order. They just want to make a difference in someone’s life.

You will also find some volunteers who are “legacy” volunteers. They want to start something that will continue when they are gone. They are social and spiritual investors and often have entrepreneurial instincts and gifts. They are far less excited about sustaining existing programs and institutions, but they will light up at the idea of beginning a new church, founding a volunteer network, creating a new Bible study app for mobile phones, constructing new access facilities for the disabled, or inventing a new ministry that none of us would ever have imagined. If you try recruiting them to replace a retiring board member or fill a leadership role, they will likely say no. But they aren’t saying no to volunteering; they are saying no because you asked them the wrong question.

Family volunteers are also increasingly popular. In these situations, an entire family signs up to serve together. The initiative to volunteer may come from the parents or the children, but the goals are usually the same. They want to bond as a family while doing something to help others. Often these are families who are grateful for God’s blessings and want to “pay it forward” to other families. But don’t limit this to the rich helping the poor. Volunteering as a family is a great experience for any family, regardless of their socioeconomic background. Families who have less may not be able to give money or material resources, but they still want to be generous through donating their time and skill. Be aware, however, that when you set up a program for families, you may get more volunteers than you can easily handle. So choose the activities wisely. The benefits far outweigh the risks. Programs designed for multiple families not only allow families to bond with other family members; they also allow the families to bond with other families. This builds community and deepens relationships within your church family.

Finally, some people will volunteer when they are chosen. These are typically Christians with special abilities who are drafted by the church to tackle a difficult assignment, often something they would rather not do. These individuals have a high level of trust in God and a deep confidence in the leadership of the church, and so they agree to do what needs to be done, even when it is difficult. An example of this is found in Acts 15. The home church of Christianity in Jerusalem was deeply divided over a controversial theological issue, and it looked like the church was going to split into two denominations, one Jewish and one Gentile. “Then the apostles and elders, with the whole church, decided to choose some of their own men and send them to Antioch with Paul and Barnabas. They chose Judas (called Barsabbas) and Silas, two men who were leaders among the brothers” (Acts 15:22). Judas and Barsabbas agreed to volunteer when asked, and they became instruments used by God to save the young church from schism. They were volunteers who responded to a specific call, sensing they had been chosen by God and had to say yes.

People volunteer for many reasons, but one of the simplest is that they enjoy it. In addition to connecting them to others, volunteering can be fun, even as it brings a sense of fulfillment to their lives. When researchers at the London School of Economics examined the relationship between volunteering and the measures of happiness in a large group of American adults, they found that the more people volunteered, the happier they were. Compared with people who never volunteered, the odds of being “very happy” rose 7 percent among those who volunteered monthly and 12 percent among people who volunteered every two to four weeks. Among weekly volunteers, 16 percent felt very happy — a hike in happiness researchers said was comparable to having an income of $75,000 – $100,000 versus $20,000. And among all the volunteer options they surveyed, giving time to religious organizations had the greatest impact.¹

I’ve often wrestled with two misconceptions about volunteering, and they often rob me of the joy and freedom of serving others.

First, it’s too easy to think that with enough love and hard work, I can change the world. Therefore I should say yes to everything I’m asked to do. And when the world doesn’t change overnight or even over weeks, my exhausted body and spirit become discouraged, and I wonder what I am doing wrong, what else I need to be doing.

Second, I’m not equipped to do what is being asked of me, so I will not even try. Or I might quit when I’ve tried something and it has become too difficult. I probably was asked only because they needed somebody to fill the role, not because it’s something I’m good at or at which I will succeed.

These delusions stem from looking inward — relying on my strength and skills, focusing on my weaknesses, harnessing my willpower, being paralyzed by my inabilities. Volunteering isn’t about what I can do for God; it is accomplishing something with God.

The truth is we are called to do good works, and God will equip us to do those good works. He wants to do them with us and display his pow...

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Part 1: Building a Volunteer Culture
• Part 2: Recruiting Volunteers
• Part 3: Volunteer Training and Care
• Appendix 1: Volunteer Development Training: Growing Greatness
• Appendix 2: Your Plan for Volunteer Development
• Notes