066: If You’re “Just” A Volunteer, You Can Do More Than You Think

066: If You’re “Just” A Volunteer, You Can Do More Than You Think

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

Laurie Graham 0:14
Hey, welcome back to another episode of the Small Church Ministry Podcast. I am thrilled to spend a little time with you right now. Whether you are on the treadmill, on your way to work, hanging out at home, maybe doing some dishes, thanks for putting me in your ears. And I just want to let you know that I truly am super grateful to know you, to spend this time with you today. I do pray that you would you know, join our community and get involved and you know, whether it’s the free Facebook community, the conferences we offer, you know, or going all in with the Network and the Academy. We are watching people in small churches not only gain hope about all the influence that God has just ordained for you to have, but also the skills to do ministry with excellence, to have more balance in your life, to just watch relationships go from surface to deep and meaningful, and watch ministries go from doing it all yourself, to developing partnerships and having volunteers that stick around and are invested and are really excited about the ministry that you’re doing.

Now we speak to pastors, to ministry leaders, and to volunteers, but I want to tell you, the biggest part of my heart goes to volunteers. Because I have been in churches as a pastor’s wife, as a ministry leader, and I have just seen volunteers make all the difference. And if you are one of the people that reaches out to me and says, hey, I am just a volunteer, what can I do? I am just a volunteer, I see my ministry leader burnt out. I see my pastor discouraged. I see my church even feeling like it’s going under. If you are just a volunteer, what can you do? And I want to tell you, it is more than you think. If you are a faithful listener of this podcast, and you are a ministry leader, or you are a pastor, you can certainly keep on listening right now because there’s going to be tips and oodles of stuff for you to see that can change your church even just in today’s episode. But if you happen to be one of the people reaching out to me saying I am just a volunteer, I want to tell you, this episode is particularly dedicated to you.

Laurie Graham 2:38
Now, when I hear the phrase, “Just a volunteer,” I want to cringe because I have seen volunteers, “just a volunteer” completely change the culture of a church. And you know what I’m talking about if you’ve been in a small church, that faithful volunteer who shows up and does things behind the scenes, like cleaning that kitchen, making things shine, taking care of a tree that, like is about to fall on top of a car in the parking lot. These things that happen when no one is looking, and honestly, we don’t even know who to give the credit to. Or “just a volunteer,” who is your most faithful creator on a Sunday morning, and brings a smile to everyone’s face, or just that volunteer who’s the one to bend down and welcome a child when they come in. When that child is screaming and making their parents crazy, and that one special, “just volunteer” goes up, and like relieves that parent by making that child smile or by even offering to hold that child or help them come in from a car.

If you are “just a volunteer,” I want to tell you. quit saying that! There is no “just a volunteer,” at least, and especially, not in a small church. Because I want to tell you, just volunteers, you are powering your church. Large churches, it is a little different, and I want to tell you I worked in a church of 3,000. I totally get it. Volunteers there, it’s not the same. Yes, you are still important, please hear me. If you happen to be listening and you’re in a big church, I’m not saying you’re not important, but what I’m saying is in a small church, man, if you are just a volunteer, there is no such thing. Because those very same “just volunteers” may have just helped a pastor decide to stay longer, because you showed up when they were on the verge of quitting. Okay?

Laurie Graham 4:54
So please, if we could just abandon the phrase “just volunteer,” I would love that, but today, what this episode is about, specifically, I am addressing a question that’s come up over and over again, because I talk a lot about recruiting and developing and training volunteers. And as I’ve been talking about that, many people feel like that job goes to ministry leaders and pastors, and they’ve even self-selected themselves out of like, even listening to that training. And I want to tell you, if you are just a volunteer, understanding how to find, and recruit, and develop, and train, and keep volunteers, and appreciate them, it’s for you, too. It’s not something that should be just a job of a pastor or a ministry leader, not in a small church. And in this episode, I’m going to tell you, as just a volunteer, what your responsibility and what your influence can be in this, in this edge of developing volunteers.

Because the thing that I’ve been hearing a few times over the past few months is something like this: I am just a volunteer, I hear what you’re saying, I want to apply it. I’ve tried to share it with my ministry leader or my pastor, but they’re not on the same page, or they’re too busy, or they’re doing so many other things, or putting out other fires, that when I say this, it’s kind of falling on deaf ears. And I would like to say this, if you are hearing me, if you are listening, if you’re coming to the trainings, if you’re part of the Network, if you’re coming to the Academy, and you’re learning all these skills, the skills that I’m giving you to develop and train and just keep volunteers excited and growing, these are skills for you. They are not skills for you to give to your pastor or your ministry leader or other people, they’re for you, because even just as a volunteer, you have influence. So what I’m going to do today is I’m going to break down the steps, if you are just a volunteer, what you can do to help change the volunteer culture at your church, one step at a time, one person at a time, and which steps or which strategies you can put in place, even just as a volunteer.

Laurie Graham 6:06
So let’s get into it. So if you’re listening, and you’re saying I’m not in charge, I’m not the pastor, I’m not the ministry leader, I hear all this stuff, but how do I get them to get more volunteers? How do I get them to train more volunteers? How do I get them to look for the unlikely and overlooked and train them and equip them to be volunteers? How do I get them to get this vision? Okay, if you followed me long enough, you probably already know the first point I’m going to share is you cannot get them to do anything, and it’s not your job! Like, let’s just release you from that responsibility. It is not your job to get the ministry leader or the pastor to do anything. The only authority that God has given each of us as individuals is over ourselves, over what we think, what we believe, what we focus on, what we do, our actions, and our inaction.

Now, if you are wondering how to share best with people around you, whether it’s peers, ministry, leaders. or pastors, you are welcome to share everything we’re learning. In fact, Podcast Episode 22 actually talks about how to best share what you’re learning here in non-threatening, easy ways, not as the expert, but with curiosity, to share episodes or blog posts and start conversations, like we actually tell you how to do that. But today, I’m gonna go beyond that. So, beyond sharing things with other people in your church, what can you do? What can you do to help change the volunteer culture at your church? What can you do to help, find, or equip, or develop other people, even as just a volunteer? Because it can be done, and I really do believe the phrase that I share at the end of the podcast of, “be a light.” I believe if you are hearing this, that you are called to do something with it. I believe that you are, if you are in a small church, you really are an influence to those around you, those above you, those next to you, those following you, everywhere.

Laurie Graham 9:34
Because, if you’re like most people in small churches, you know you need more volunteers. Maybe you’re stretched too thin. Maybe you are doing too much. Maybe you are trying to do things beyond your ability. And let’s just say, if you just want to help your church, there are things you can do as an individual. In fact, if you follow the things that we teach, we give you step-by-step things you can put in place, even if you are “just the volunteer.” One thing that happens a lot in small churches or in our modern church culture, is we assign different roles and different responsibilities to different people. Like, if you’re the pastor, some churches believed the pastor needs to do all the teaching, or all the visitations at the hospitals, or all the leading, or all the recruiting. But many, many small churches are saying that’s not always true. In fact, your church can be stronger if you develop other people to do the hospital visitations, if you develop other people to learn to teach well, and how about this, if you also develop other people to help find, recruit, and train volunteers. Once again, those jobs, those responsibilities in raising up volunteers, this does not have to just be the ministry leader or the pastor.

Okay, so let’s get to it. How do you do it? So the first thing to do if you are just a volunteer, and you want to find volunteers, or help equip them, or you know your church needs to do this, the first thing to do is actually ask and get some permission, or some support, or some backing, if there is someone, like in charge of what you’re doing of your ministry area. Now, I know there isn’t always someone there. I’ve talked to many people in small churches who are just in charge of Sunday school, there is no structure above them, there is no accountability there, they, they literally can just do whatever they want. And if that’s you, then follow the steps that we’ve given to help find volunteers, and we’re going to talk about them here. But if there is a structure, some accountability, there’s a ministry leader over you, there’s a pastor who is involved and has said, hey, you need to get some permission from me before you step out, this is what you want to ask. Don’t ask them if you can start a whole volunteer, you know, I don’t know, new system in your church, just ask this, “Hey, I would like to find an assistant,” or “I would like to find a helper,” or “I would like to train somebody to be able to do what I do when I’m gone.”

Laurie Graham 12:18
I honestly don’t know too many pastors or ministry leaders who would say no way. Don’t do that. That’s not your job. Like, can you imagine? Like, if you approached your ministry leader or a pastor and said, hey, I’d like to find somebody to help me, and I will be in charge of making sure that they are qualified and equipping them. Is that okay with you? I kind of think 99% of pastors and ministry leaders are gonna say, yeah, go for it. Okay. So again, I am not at all suggesting that you, as just a volunteer, overhaul your church with a volunteer program or campaign. I’m not, but I am suggesting that you get started, that you go first. You may need to lead the way, if your church culture is very stuck in the same people doing the same things, and everyone around you is burned out. But what I want you to see is it really can start with you, in your circle of influence, like right where you’re planted. Not you taking over what everyone else is doing, please hear that, but starting with where you’re at. So if you’ve been doing the coffee and the snacks all by yourself for a long time, this is what I’m saying. Find somebody and I’m gonna go through the steps of how to do this well. Find somebody to help. If you are a Sunday school teacher, and you’ve been doing it all by yourself, you do not necessarily need the person in charge of discipleship or your pastor to help you with that. Do you see what I’m saying?

So one thing that happens in small churches, I will just tell you, and I think this is 100% of the time, your pastor is doing a whole lot more than you think. They’re doing a lot more than the meetings you see them at, and Sunday mornings, or Wednesday evenings, okay? There’s a lot going on. There are normally fires they’re putting out, there’s conflicts, they’re handling. There are priorities they are dealing with that you don’t know about. So when you approach them as a pastor and say, I am a burnt out Sunday school teacher, I need volunteers and they say, I can’t do that right now. It’s not because they don’t care. It’s not because they don’t see it as a priority. It’s because they are stretched thin too.

Laurie Graham 14:32
So here’s what I’m suggesting is you as an influence, as a light, as a person who’s been listening to me talk about the four ‘I’s’ of volunteers, and how to watch for people, and how to develop them successfully, you have what you need to find your own assistant, your own ministry partner. Okay. And as you have success in this, let’s say you find one person, do you know what happens when you have success in that? More people are going to start seeing it and say, oh, interesting, she found a volunteer assistant, I can do that. Maybe the person running tech says, oh, my gosh, I can find an assistant, I can train them? Now, you want to set them up to succeed, and you want to do it really well, and here’s where some of our training comes in. Because the last thing we want to do is invite one more person to feel unsuccessful, to feel like a failure, to feel burnt out, and to feel stretched.

So here are some steps before you invite somebody to partner with you. First off, please decide and commit to setting them up to succeed. If your heart is in this, and you are committed to seeing them succeed, it’s going to look a whole lot different than 90% of the volunteer experiences you’ve ever had, and me too, because what would it look like if, before you even ask somebody to come in, that you are completely committed to making sure they succeed? Grab a journal, if you’re not driving, or if you’re not on the treadmill, or you can come back and do it later, but grab a journal and just journal a little bit. Like imagine. And sometimes for me, it helps to think, gosh, if this was, if this was my kid or my best friend, what would I do to set them up? Not just, if this is somebody off the street and I can finally get off, get out of my job, right? Like, because I’m so burned out, I just need help. But really think about it as if it’s somebody you care deeply about. If you were going to invite them into this job, make a list of everything somebody would need to do this job well.

Laurie Graham 16:43
Now notice, I’m not saying make a list of the person and everything they’d have to be good at to do this well. We’re not going to start with that. I want you to start with, if you brought somebody into this job to help you, to be your assistant, to take over for you, like what would they need to succeed? What would they need to know? What would they need to understand? What would they need to know about your church facilities or about the structure? What would they need in terms of like, where to find resources or websites? Because we’re about developing people. Think about the things they need to know. What are the rules? What are the standards? Where would they find supplies? Where would they find the coffee? Where would they find the snacks? Where would they figure out what to teach from? Maybe this is an area of building maintenance, what do they need to know? So the first thing you’re going to list is what would they need to know or like, be equipped with to do really, really well, to succeed in this job? Whether it’s running the tech, whether it’s teaching the children’s Sunday school, being involved in adult discipleship, running the food pantry, what do they need to know? Make a huge list.

So after you make that list of everything they would need to know or everything they would need to do the job well, then make a list of what obstacles might come up that would prevent them from just being excellent. So this could include things like maybe they need some training, or maybe they don’t know how to do those things on the list, or maybe there would be like, some scheduling issues, maybe they would be too busy. Maybe they would be you know, like Sunday mornings early doesn’t work for them because they need childcare. But think about all the obstacles that might come up for that person to do a good job. And then, after you’ve done a list of what they need, and what obstacles might come up, I want you to make a list of what might bring them joy. So there’s four things we’re going to list. This is number three, what might bring them joy, and make a big list of all the joy that can be found in that position whether it is hospitality, or outreach, or, you know, the food pantries, or teaching. What is the list of all the joy they may receive.

Laurie Graham 19:10
And the fourth thing I want you to make a list of, is how you could support them best. Now, after you’ve done these four things, you’ve imagined what they would need to do the job well, you’ve listed some obstacles that might keep them from doing a great job, you’ve listed what would bring them joy, and you’ve also listed how you might support them. You’ve kind of just created, don’t be scared, you’ve kind of just created a little training guide. Believe it or not! Now, I want you to keep in mind, this is just one person. You don’t have to think about a bunch of volunteers. You don’t have to develop a team. You don’t have to put together a whole training guide for your entire, you know, ministry area. But just by making those lists. You just took your first steps, at adding a volunteer, or a ministry partner, or an assistant, or a helper, and that’s just you. You don’t need your pastor to do that. You don’t need your ministry leader to do that. They certainly can be involved if they want to be. What I’m talking about is when you are just a volunteer, and your ministry leader, or your pastor is too busy, they have too much going on, they’re stretched themselves. So this is what you could do. Like, did you know you could do that?

As I mentioned, it’s pretty much like developing a little volunteer, you know, workbook, training workbook, so that you can get somebody started to be successful helping. If it fits for your position, or your ministry area, you might even want to think about how this person might become your replacement. Can you work yourself out of a job? After you’ve made these four lists of what they need, the second one was what obstacles they might have, the third one where they can find joy in this ministry, and the fourth how you can support them best, you’re actually ready to invite somebody to come join you in ministry.

Laurie Graham 21:05
Now, it doesn’t mean you’re inviting them to be on your team or to be a permanent, you know, member or a permanent partner, but what I want you to do is just invite them to come and check it out, like come and see. One of the biggest mistakes people make with volunteers and churches is we’re inviting people to do a job and we’re asking for commitment way too early. Nobody knows if they’re even going to like it. Nobody really knows what the responsibility is. Nobody knows what they’re signing up for. We don’t want to do that. So this is going to be an invitation like, come and check it out. Like, I’m looking for somebody to help me, can you come and check it out and even see if this is a fit for you? This is a really important way to start.

Now, if you are working in the area of children, or youth ministry, you want to make sure you’re following policies, because there are background checks and safety standards that you should have in place. If you do not have those in place yet, please like, get those in place. You actually can go to our website and see quite a few articles that talk about minimum standards or, I honestly would suggest that you just go ahead and purchase the Children’s or Youth Ministry Bundle. You can find it at smallchurchministry.com, and just click into resources. So if you go into our website, under ‘Resources’, you can grab a Children’s Ministry or Youth Ministry Bundle and it helps you not only get a quick start on like revisioning your ministry, but also those foundational things like safety. So I went off on a little tangent there, but I just wanted to be sure I wasn’t telling you just to invite any person like, back to be with your children. You do want to watch that with safety standards. But generally speaking, as long as you’re following those standards, and in other areas of ministry, it’s great if you’re serving in a food pantry to say, hey, come and help me. It’s great if you’re doing the tech, to say, hey, come and check out what I do. It’s great if you’re involved in a creative team, or an outreach team, or women’s ministry team, or a men’s ministry team to say, hey, come and check out what I do, I really would love it if, maybe this would be a great place for you to help? Okay.

Laurie Graham 23:10
So when you invite people to come back, just remember that there should always be a process before they actually become committed on your team. So if you are “just a volunteer,” and I say that in air quotes, because I don’t believe there’s any such thing as a just a volunteer, you may not have been invited to minister with this process, but this is so important. There should never be a commitment before these steps are taken. The first one is, is when you invite them to come in, they get to watch what you do, then you work through a process of doing it together, and then while they’re doing it, you watch them. And then finally, they do it themselves. Now if you want to unpack this a lot, there’s an entire series on volunteers earlier in, earlier in the podcast, ad we kind of unpack the four “I’s”of volunteering. This I is the one that’s that’s under Involving, involving people in volunteering. It is a four-step process, but it can stretch over months of time or weeks of time. This is not something you just check off a list. It is a process of making sure someone is successful.

And again, the first step is for them just to watch what you do. And can I just say, even if this is just coffee. I don’t even know how many times people in churches like, we set people up to fail at simple things because we think everybody knows how to do that. Everybody knows how to make coffee. Everybody knows how to welcome people. This is not true. We all have many different ways of doing things, and there’s so many things that we don’t even think about when we invite somebody in, that maybe is a way your church does it or your church culture, or is kind of a rule or a standard that you wouldn’t even think to write down, but when you’re doing it, it kind of comes out, right? So, come with me, like, watch me, I’m going to do the coffee in the snacks this morning and they’re watching and you’re talking. And maybe the next time, hey, come help me do it. Let’s do it together, you do this part, I do that part. And the next time, hey, you do it, and I will watch you. I’m there to support you, not to like crack the whip if you do something wrong, but I want to see how you do it and make sure that you’re going to be successful. And then, if these processes go very smoothly, then they can do it.

Laurie Graham 25:30
But with tech, with so many different areas of anything in church ministry, building maintenance, landscaping, repair, Sunday school setup, you know, Awanas, is whatever program you’re doing, these four steps are so important when you get to the place of involving people. Let them watch first, the whole process, then do it together while you’re talking and unpacking. Then after that, they can do it while you are still there as a support. And then after that, like if you’re handing off a job, it takes that long before you should really say okay, I trust you to do it. Because remember, if the job or the role is important, you would do these things. By just saying, hey, can you take this over? When we’re not involving people in training or discussion, or we don’t have any standards written out, you’re really saying it doesn’t matter. And it does matter. If it’s worth their time, if it’s worth your time, it totally matters.

So take your time. And along the way, ask questions, have them ask questions, and as you’re going through understanding, schedules, timing, supplies, all that kind of stuff, I really, also, really invite, you implore you, beg you to write things down. So many times, things in small churches get lost and we are reinventing the wheel because we’ve never taken the time to write something down. And by the way, if you think it takes too much time, takes a whole lot more time to keep remembering over and over again, what wasn’t written down. And again, your volunteer training handbook might end up being you know, a piece of paper that’s put on the back of the doors. So when people leave, they know what should be done. It might be a checklist hung up. Even when you’re talking children and youth ministry registration, like why would people have to look that up? Why not have a little really cute little card posted by the door. Hey, these are our procedures. This is how we register. That could be available for parents as well as the teacher. But any sort of standards or checklists or things like that, there’s no reason those should be hidden. So many times when we put like, volunteer handbooks together, they’re like in a book somewhere, in a binder nobody can find, find them. Why don’t we do that? We can have more creative ways of keeping them on hand tham that. You could even create a little card that’s on a keychain that has the easy checklist of, you know, maybe doing coffee. Wouldn’t that even be a cute little gift to give to somebody or a parking lot greeter, if you have those. They have a little keychain that has stepped 1,2,3. So they have it on hand all the time. Wouldn’t that be fun.

Laurie Graham 28:06
Now, we’ve just talked about making a few different lists, which are totally doable. You can totally do that for whatever job you’re in, as you’re inviting a partner and training a volunteer. But occasionally, when I talk about this with volunteers, there’s kind of a little gut check, almost, that says, wait, why do I have to do this? This isn’t my job. I’m just a volunteer. And I would just like to tell you, you are not just a volunteer. You are a light of Christ, and there is nothing in the Bible or anywhere else that says you are not equipped to invite people to serve, to train up and develop other people to help and be part of ministry. Like, if you do these things, you know what you just did? You just helped your church be better. You just loved someone better. You just set up another person to succeed in ministry. And even if it didn’t work out, you gave them this amazing, you know, opportunity to just grow in skill, to see what’s happening, to build a different relationship with you. So keep it all positive.

Everyone who enters or tries something, they shouldn’t be made to feel like they’re failing if it doesn’t work out. We’re entering this with curiosity. Like, let’s check it out. I think it was yesterday, in the Facebook group someone posted, you know, how can I help people identify their gifts and empower them to use them? And I want to tell you, what I just went over here today, in this episode, is the absolute best way to help people identify gifts and empower them to use them. Because when we try things in an atmosphere where somebody is supporting us, not where we’re going to try and be scared and fail, but an atmosphere where we are supported and somebody has done the work to say hey, you need to know this. These are some obstacles. How can I help? That’s a totally different way. When we try things, try things out in ministry, we see what fits, we see where we could grow. Again, if we’re in an atmosphere of encouragement, an atmosphere where there’s somebody there to support us, that is the best way to know where you’re gifted. It is the best way to develop your abilities, your capabilities that God has put in you, your potential.

Laurie Graham 30:23
Because, I understand that inventories have their place, and I’m not against inventories, like gifts inventories, or spiritual gifts inventories, or interest, you know, kind of surveys, but what they don’t actually get to the bottom of is things you’ve never tried before. And until you’ve tried it, you really don’t know. You may have fear about it. You may have some unseen thoughts or expectations, but until you’ve actually tried it, you won’t know if you enjoy it. I remember when I was short volunteers for a youth trip once, we almost had to cancel the trip because we didn’t have any male volunteers. And I was at a small church in Ohio, and my pastor said, hey, ask Dwayne. And I said Dwayne? So, I didn’t even really know Dwayne, he was a cool guy, had young kids, and I remember when I asked Dwayne, hey, could you come on this trip, his face, just like almost went white. He’s like, I’ve never done that before. I don’t know that I can do that. I don’t think I’d be good at it. And I want to tell you what happened. He came on that youth ministry trip, and he served in youth ministry for years and he was amazing! He was just a solid, relational guy for these young kids that, you know, we’re looking for, just somebody who cared about them, and would listen to them. He was amazing. And you know, what would not have shown up on any interest survey, gifts form, or anything like that? He never, that would not have shown up because he would have shown zero interest, zero aptitude because he’d never done it before. So, oftentimes, for people to know what they’re great at and to know even what God has called them, they just have to get in and try it.

So if you go through that process of just jotting some things down, this doesn’t have to be official, it doesn’t have to be in a workbook, but just make a list of what would somebody need to know, or need to be equipped with to do this position really well. You know, the second thing was, what obstacles could come in their way of being great at this? The third thing, what would give them joy if they did do well at this? The fourth thing, how can you support them best? If you go through that process, and you invite somebody in and just have them check it out, right, and it works? Do you know what? I think your pastor and your ministry leader would probably be really grateful. Not only that, you just started a process, you went first, and you showed people in your church how it can be done. How one person, how one person who’s “just a volunteer,” can find one other volunteer.

Laurie Graham 33:03
So when you think about this, who could you come alongside? Who could you set up to succeed? If you’re the only one doing the soundboard, and I hear this so much, would you do me a personal favor? Write down every little step and every little thing you do on a Sunday morning or Wednesday night, and how you could set somebody up to succeed? Even if it seems like there is no one else to step in there, would you please write your processes down? Because here’s the thing. We’re all going to die someday. Me too. It’s just the way God set it up. And you know what else, we don’t know when/ We also might get sick or called away, whether it’s for work or family. And honestly, it is irresponsible for us not to be ready for that. Like, how can we possibly do this job all alone, and not set somebody up to succeed, to take over for us? Maybe if we’re just sick one Sunday. But I’ll tell you one better, it’s even better to get somebody to partner with us before that happens. Doesn’t that sound better? But can you imagine being part of changing your culture, to being a culture that develops people more to serve? It does not have to be a top-down thing that comes straight from your pastor who’s busy doing all these other things, and might also be working another part-time or full-time job.

This process of recruiting, or developing or ,you know, training up volunteers, it does not need to be intimidating. It also doesn’t need to be unusual. It could become the norm for everyone in your church who serving in every area. So bring people alongside, even if they’re not ready to take over. Maybe there’s a 13-year-old and in your church who is bored on Sundays, because there, you know, quite frankly, there aren’t enough kids to have a youth group, and they would love to be trained to do that job you’re doing. Whether it’s greeting, coffee, tech, being on the worship team, being a junior teacher, being involved in church maintenance. We all want to do well. We all want to be needed. We all want to be significant. We all want to have good relationships. And everything I talked about in this podcast can contribute positively to every one of those areas. So if you’ve been tuning in, and you’re like, gosh, I’m just a volunteer, did I just elevate that a little bit? You’re not just a volunteer, you are an influence. You are a developer of people. Why? Because God created you for that.

Laurie Graham 36:01
Before we go today, I just want to give a little shout-out to Peachy Keen. I chuckle a little sometimes when people leave podcast reviews because there’s always like a little name that’s associated with it. So I’m not even sure who Peachy Keen is. Somebody whose username is Peachy Keen left this review on the podcast. They titled it “Can I Give More Than Five Stars?” and this is what they said. They said “This podcast is an absolute game changer. Leaders in small churches often struggle with feeling overwhelmed and under-resourced, but this podcasts have given me practical tips and encouragement. Laurie is so knowledgeable and shares real-life examples.” Amen to that, that was my aside, “and stories that make the content come alive and feel applicable to my own church. Overall, I highly recommend this podcast to anyone involved in small church ministry.” And I love this because this is before this podcast came out right? She said this. She or he said this, “whether you’re a pastor, a volunteer leader, or just someone who cares about the health and growth of small churches, this podcast will equip and inspire you to make a difference in your community.” Thank you Peachy Keen for that review. And if you’re listening today, would you do me a favor? Would you just share this episode with one other person? Like, who from your church or who and your family, or who states away or regions away, would really be encouraged by hearing this podcast? Please share this episode with them.

Small churches are dotting the globe right now. The small churches who find us get encouraged and excited, but I want to tell you there are thousands and thousands of small churches out there who are still feeling discouraged, people in small churches who are feeling less than, pastors in small churches who are feeling like failures and it should not be so because we have the opportunity, the privilege, and the responsibility of doing life-changing ministry right where we’re planted. And honestly, just like Jesus did it. So please share this episode with someone you know.

Laurie Graham 38:14
And I’d keep an eye out because our registration for the Kid Min Conference is coming soon. You can check that out at smallchurchsummit.com. You can see the ‘Coming Soon’ page is there right now. Registration opens pretty soon. But even if you are not involved in the children’s ministry, or if your church does not even have a children’s ministry, and maybe you’re saying we don’t even have kids, please get at least one person from your church to this conference, because it will make a difference. Our live conferences are amazing. All we get is positive reviews and people saying later, I wish I would have known. So let’s get the word out that this conference is coming up, it’s 2023. It’s happening April 29. We have free quarterly conferences for small churches, and they are amazing. So please get the word out and share this podcast with somebody you know. Until next week, be a light.