Episode 010: Strategies to Find, Keep, and Develop More Volunteers in Your Small Church | Volunteer Series Part 1

Intro  0:01 
Hey, this is Laurie Graham. Welcome to The Small Church Ministry Podcast.

Laurie Graham  0:15
Hey, hey, welcome to episode 10, we’re diving into an entire series all about volunteers. So the number one struggle I hear from small churches each and every week is not having enough volunteers. Whether I’m talking to a Sunday school teacher, a ministry leader, somebody who considers themselves just a volunteer, which by the way is never true, or from the pastors themselves. I hear the same thing. 

Things like this: “We need more people serving,” “People aren’t committed,” “I’m tired of doing everything myself,” “We need help,” “Our current volunteers are burnt out,” “We can’t keep going on like this,” “How can we get more volunteers?”

Here’s the good news; I have answers for you. I’ve got ideas and strategies, new ways of considering things. I have lots of hope to give you, plus tons of solutions that work great in small churches. 

One of the reasons so many small churches are struggling today is that much of what we’ve been taught about volunteers and what we believe, is wrong. I mean, really all wrong. This is a big reason we find ourselves in a place of lack, frustration, stress, or exhaustion. Now, there is a solution. There’s a way to function that’s so much better. It’s more fulfilling, more purposeful, and more effective. 

Laurie Graham 1:33
Today, we’re going to start at the beginning and just call out a few of the untruths about volunteers that might be affecting how you function as a church. Because the truth is, volunteers are not under-committed, and they’re also not too busy. The truth is, if you want something done, right, you should not do it yourself. Ministry would not be easier if there were no people involved. Also, contrary to popular belief, you absolutely can fire a volunteer. How about this one? What if I told you that your church actually does not need any more volunteers? Because it’s true. Or what about this one, “There’s no I in team.” The truth is, there is an I in team actually a lot of them. 

I could go on and on. There are so many wrong beliefs that we hang on to, that don’t just affect how we feel. They actually limit us from doing what God has in mind, from serving well, leading well, being His people, from functioning as He called His body–His church to function. If our beliefs aren’t aligned with Him, then guess what else isn’t aligned with Him? Our vision, our attitudes, our behaviors, the way we do ministry, the way we relate to others? They’re not right either. 

So through the upcoming series, we’re actually going to walk through each of these wrong beliefs plus a few more, and not only learn what the truth is, but how to do it better. Steps to take and strategies to put in place that might just change how you find, recruit, and work with volunteers. 

If you’re coming into this podcast frustrated or burned out, I want to encourage you that your level of hope in God at work and your beliefs in His people directly affect how you bring yourself to others. It affects the way you invite others to join. And it also directly impacts their responses to you. I want to increase your hope. 

Laurie Graham 3:34
If you’re listening today, and you’re excited and ready to learn some new tips on how to serve better, I’ve got some great stuff to share. I’m looking forward to not just giving hope to those who need it but giving actionable steps and strategies to join up with God in a new way. So that our churches, no matter what the size, are joining with God in what He’s already doing. 

Over the next few weeks, we’re going to dive deep into so much newness and understanding volunteers that it might actually flip upside down a lot of what you’ve thought about volunteers, how you’ve operated with volunteers or as a volunteer, and maybe even a lot about how you lead. 

I may not tell you what you want to hear in the next few weeks, because we’re not going to talk about how to fix other people, the ones who aren’t getting with the program or aren’t stepping up. We’re going to do something even better. 

We’re going to talk about the one thing that we have total authority over which is us, what we believe, how we think, what we can do to be a light, to have a bigger influence, and to grab on to God’s purpose for us right where we’re planted. I’m actually praying that I give you a lot more than what you’re hoping for. 

Now, as much as I can encourage you in a podcast, a podcast has some real limitations. I can’t hear back from you. We can’t have a conversation. And that would so be my heart to do. If you’re looking for some more specific step by step training and individual feedback, I want to invite you to come join us in The Small Church Academy. We run the only comprehensive ministry training on the planet specific for small churches, and it might be exactly what you need, not just to go to the next level in your ministry, but to walk in the beautiful journey with your small church. You can check out the Small church Academy at thesmallchurchacademy.com, or find the link in the show notes. Let’s get back to the podcast, and the goodness I have for you today. 

Laurie Graham 5:30
We’re talking today about foundational truths and beliefs that you got to catch on to if you’re going to apply all that I have for you. In the weeks to come, we’ll get into more strategy, actionable steps having to do with how we identify and find more volunteers, a better way to invite volunteers into ministry positions, how to involve volunteers in a way that elevates and empowers them, and how to invest in them so they not only serve well but keep serving for a long time. 

But we’re going to start at the beginning. The things that drive everything we do from our thoughts and emotions to our actions and reactions. Here’s our starting point. What do you believe about volunteers? Where might you need to make a few changes to align with God’s truth? 

Here’s the truth. Volunteers don’t exist to do ministry. They are our ministry. One more time: volunteers don’t exist to do ministry, they are our ministry. So think about it. We were never told to go find a bunch of people to do the work of the vision that we have, ever. 

Jesus didn’t walk around the planet, recruiting volunteers. He didn’t. In fact, He made this statement in John 15:15. He said, “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” 

Laurie Graham 7:02
He said, I no longer call you servants, I call you friends. Well, what does this have to do with us? I want to unpack this verse with you because it’s absolutely foundational in how we serve in our churches. In John 15:15, we see the God of the universe literally telling human beings that He created, that He doesn’t call us servants, but He calls us friends. If there has ever been a mic drop, that is it. I literally could think about that one verse for the rest of my days and never fully grasp it. 

The God of the universe is leveling out the playing field, calling us friends? This would be like us speaking to the annoying little ants under our feet saying I don’t call you servants, I call you friends. Do you see how precious we are to the heart of God? This verse blows my mind every time I think about it, not just about how it applies to other people or people I work with, but how it applies to me. It’s truly unbelievable that He would consider me a friend. Talk about God’s ways not being our ways, or His thoughts being higher than our thoughts. 

If the God of the universe calls me a friend and not a servant, what place do I have, thinking that other people are there to serve my wishes, my ministry goals, or my dreams? Now, I know most of us don’t think about recruiting volunteers as finding servants. We’d never say “Hey, come be my servant,” right? But if we’re honest, it is the mindset we often operate from in ministry. So we have a project or a program and we need people to do the stuff. That’s the same as finding servants; “I need you to do this for me. For this to be successful. We need your hands and feet.” They are needed for this goal to be achieved. 

Now we’re separating ourselves even by using the word volunteer. There are the volunteers, and then there’s the ministry leader. I need volunteers. How do we do that? The God of the universe is calling me a friend, and I’m turning around and calling someone else a volunteer. Like what’s up with that? We’re going to talk about the word volunteer in depth in a future episode. But getting back to my point for today. 

Laurie Graham 9:16
Volunteers don’t exist to do ministry, but they are our ministry. When we’re talking about getting people to do stuff for us, and before you say “No, I’m not looking for people to do stuff for me. I’m looking for people to do stuff for God,” I totally get that. But if that’s the case, that we’re finding people to do stuff for God and for His church, then we should be operating a lot like Jesus. 

More often than not, many churches today are trying to do stuff for God. That isn’t necessarily what He wants, or even when He calls us to. We need to be really careful in saying that God wants this nursery ministry, this food pantry, or this community Easter egg hunt because oftentimes we think we’re working for God, but we might not be. This misalignment often shows up in the neglect of our own connection with Him. When we’re not abiding in Him. It’s pretty easy to replace our abiding in Him with this works thing.

These things that we’re doing for Him, right, that aren’t always from Him? If Jesus said, I no longer call you servants, but I call you friends. What if we did the same thing? What if we followed His example? What would happen if we stopped looking at people as volunteers, but as friends? How about this; what would happen if we stopped looking for volunteers, but we just started making more friends? What if we stop looking at volunteers, as people to do ministry, and start looking at volunteers as our ministry, I promise you something would shift.

Imagine pouring into people as Jesus did, being about their needs and developing relationships, serving them as Jesus did. I’m not making this up, this is His example: Do you remember when Jesus took the time in a radical showing of servanthood, to wash the feet of His disciples? It wasn’t just a symbolic gesture, it was physical, He knelt down with a towel. 

Laurie Graham 11:27
How many times are we even tuned in to the needs of our volunteers at church? Or those who don’t volunteer? How often do we approach them instead, with a mindset of being attuned to our own need for volunteers, right? Looking at them as people who should be stepping up or serving God more? Or the church or us? What would happen if we approached people with a heart to see their needs to serve them? What if it’s true that volunteers don’t exist to do ministry, but they are our ministry? What would that change for you? 

Now, if you already pour out your life into others, I am not suggesting that you exhaust yourself doing it more. I totally believe that when Jesus said, My yoke is easy, and My burden is light. I believe that’s true. I believe God wants us healthy and well, full of energy and hope, not depleted, exhausted, burnt out, and at the end of our ropes. 

However, I do want to suggest that many of us need to reorient what we’re doing, our motivations, our beliefs about ministry, about discipleship, and service in the church, and we need to get more aligned with Jesus. God did not define that the local church needs to have a nursery, a kid’s ministry, a youth group, a women’s ministry, a men’s group, an outreach ministry, Sunday services with a worship team, live streaming, a midweek program, a mission committee or anything like that. This is not in the Bible. 

I’m not saying the programs are wrong at all, programs absolutely can meet needs. They can pull a group of people together for a shared goal, learning, and doing amazing things. They can be part of our discipleship, or sharing the word, or extending the love of Christ in the community, to those who don’t know Him and to the ends of the earth. 

Laurie Graham 13:21
But first things need to come first. I’m not sure there’s anything on the planet that can’t be used both for good or for evil, right? And if our programs are lacking volunteers, if we don’t have safe ratios in the children’s ministry, if we’re burning out volunteers, or ourselves, if we’re not showing love and grace to those who aren’t stepping up volunteering, this is not a good thing. It’s not a Godly thing. And it doesn’t make God happy. 

It’s also not the fault of volunteers, or the people who aren’t volunteering. The fault instead might be in faulty programming, human expectations, and even our own pride. We’ll get into how to set programs up for good and not evil in future episodes, but our heart, our motivations, our beliefs are all at the core of being aligned with Christ and abiding in Him. 

When the programs are pushing hearts away from Jesus, causing frustration, relational tension, edging on manipulation, when people are needed for the programs, instead of the programs serving the needs of the people, then I think it’s time to step back and realign and just get a few things into perspective. 

As Jesus walked on the planet, recruiting volunteers, or should I say calling the disciples because that’s what He did. He didn’t say, “Hey, I need you to serve in this position.” He said, “Come follow me. Let’s hang out. Let’s eat. Let’s travel together, let’s learn.” And along the way, He involved them in ministry, as they were ready. He said, “Hey, help me hand out the food, help me gather the people.” But what came first, the friendship or the service? 

So let’s stop calling people to serve until we’ve invited them into relationship. And I just don’t mean relationship with God or the church, I mean relationship with us, calling them friends. We all have people in our churches that we don’t really know, that we don’t care for. I don’t mean, we don’t care for them/ we don’t like them. Although maybe that’s true too. 

Laurie Graham 15:29
What I mean, when I say that we don’t care for, I mean we don’t extend care to, we don’t care for because we don’t even know their needs. And I don’t think that’s very Jesus-like. Here’s a way you can know how much of a friendship you have with people at church: Do you know what their dreams are for their future? What about their fears? If you don’t know what somebody’s dreams are, or what their fears are, their hopes or their struggles, you actually don’t really know them very well. 

When God said sacrifices and offerings I don’t desire, but a broken and contrite heart, I can’t help but think of all the churches around the planet right now. Busting their tails to run programs, frustrated and struggling to run a children’s ministry, people angry at others for not stepping up. People exhausted and bitter for having to do it all, church committees that are filled with strife and disagreement. Pastors’ wives wearing too many hats, crying because they can’t keep up, and pastors feeling like failures. 

I don’t believe for a second that when God sees that He’s looking at us disappointed or calling us failures. You know what I think He sees? I think He sees our messed up hearts. I think He’s up there saying, “Oh, gosh, kids, just stop, take a breath, love each other, care for each other, abide in me, enjoy the sweetness I have for you, the programs will come or they won’t.” 

But first things first, you see, you don’t really need more volunteers. God’s already given you all the volunteers you need to do exactly what He wants done in your church today. This week, and even this month. What He wants from us is to be faithful in what He’s given us. So if you’re looking for more volunteers, maybe quit doing that for a little bit, and start working with what God has already provided. If He hasn’t provided the volunteers for a certain ministry, why are you doing it? It’s not a requirement that He’s put on you. 

Laurie Graham 17:33
So let’s embrace this one thing before we move forward. Because we’re going to move forward, I’m going to walk through steps on getting volunteers, developing them, how to keep them, and build amazing teams. But let’s embrace this one thing first. Volunteers don’t exist to do ministry, they are our ministry. 

And here’s the other solid thing we need to hold on to: God’s already provided you everything you need to do exactly what He has for you to do today. This week and this month be faithful with that. As I mentioned at the beginning of the episode, over the next few weeks, we’re going to be talking about actionable steps and strategies to put into place. 

If you’ve already moved past the truths that I talked about in this episode, and you want practical ideas to use and do, you’ve got it, that’s what’s next. Come back for the upcoming episodes in this series on volunteers, as I share actionable steps to identify and find more volunteers, a better way to invite volunteers into ministry positions, how to involve volunteers in ministry in a way that elevates them and empowers them, and how to invest in them. So they not only serve well, but they keep serving for a long time. 

I’m always cautious not to jump into strategy without talking about our hearts first. Because it’s way too easy to slip back into the habit of doing instead of being, back into the habit of looking for people to fill spots to do stuff. It’s too easy to fall into a pattern of manipulation, where we value program needs over the people that God’s given us to love and serve. It’s too easy to forget. 

If Jesus can call us friends, us peon humans that He created, who are like little ants compared to this inconceivable God, who is so far above us beyond our very understanding. If Jesus can say I no longer call you servants, I call you friends. Then I want to do that too. I think it’s our call to the people in our churches, our current volunteers as well as those who have yet to step up to get involved or to serve in any capacity. We need to shift our minds to align with Him. Volunteers don’t exist to do ministry. They are our ministry.

Laurie Graham 19:58
I’m looking forward to getting into the details next week and sharing some strategies to identify volunteers in your church. Get ready to find volunteers in hiding, and learn how to spot what God sees, maybe some things you’ve been missing. 

And I just want to say thank you to CRJS578423 whoever you are, who left this review. CRJS said this: “Seven episodes into this podcast and I’ve already been encouraged about some of the ways small churches like mine are uniquely suited for God’s work. There’s so much joy and hope in this podcast.” I’m so glad. So thank you CRJS, whoever you are, your review isn’t just an encouragement to me, but it helps other people find this place too. 

We really are the only organization on the planet with a community of small churches who are coming together, not just to share struggles or to whine about lack, but to call each other to better, more fullness, more joy, and more effectively sharing the gospel with those who haven’t even heard yet. So please share this podcast with someone you know in a small church who needs some encouragement and some skills also. And leave a rating or review before you go. It means the world to me. Until we talk next week. Go be a light.