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Responding to Volunteers: Part 4
Most of us have had times when we’ve neglected people around us, people who are important to us, people we love. In small churches, this often looks like our core volunteers, founding member families, and pastors too. We’re going to take a look at responding to faithful volunteers in a way that makes the biggest impact while spending zero money! We’re moving beyond appreciation and recognition to talk about two responses that have the potential to transform your ministry culture.
A Change In Perspective
The past few weeks, we’ve been focusing on responding to volunteers, and they’ve been scenarios that we often label as negative. However, this is going to be a shift in scenarios. When people say every challenge is an opportunity, how does that sit with you? I know I sometimes want to roll my eyes at another cute quip that’s supposed to make me feel good, like turning lemons into lemonade. If you’ve followed me long enough, you know that I’m not a frosting kind of person. I don’t gloss over the difficult stuff or pretend that life is always shiny.
The road is hard, challenges come up, and God is good, and there is joy to find in the midst!
I like using the word ‘and’ instead of ‘but. The word ‘but’ actually minimizes the concept before it. When it comes to volunteering, whether you’re managing or developing volunteers, or if you’re a volunteer yourself, I don’t want to minimize the difficulty or struggle of any situation that may feel negative or difficult. I simply want to add an ‘and’. Try adding on ‘and’ what can I learn or ‘and’ how am I experiencing God in the midst of this?
Responding To Faithful Volunteers
As we wrap up this short series on Responding To Volunteers, I want to end with responding to faithful volunteers When they are doing it right and showing up, it is important to acknowledge and celebrate that, even though it’s often neglected. Now, we don’t neglect it on purpose. We neglect people who are serving faithfully because there are fires to put out or urgent things that call for our attention.
However, if you want to live with intention, and grow as a better leader and servant, you need to be careful not to neglect the really important things. We cannot neglect the things that aren’t so urgent, but will absolutely change the trajectory of our ministries. One of those things is responding to faithful volunteers.
Why Should We Be Responding To Faithful Volunteers?
Can you imagine working a job where you’re holding up the company, organization, or project, and no one notices or cares? I bet you can imagine it because most of us have been there. We’ve been in relationships, jobs, families, or volunteer positions where we feel unseen and unrecognized. It’s not a good feeling.
If you’re thinking that no one should be serving for themselves, that we shouldn’t need acknowledgment, or that we should be selfless and give without expecting anything in return, there is some truth to that. Our motivation to serve shouldn’t necessarily be to expect something in return. However, God’s the one that created us to light up when we feel loved. I don’t believe that is a result of the Fall, selfishness, or sin because we experience pure joy when we feel loved.
Why would we not want to give love and appreciation to others we’re serving with? Oftentimes, we don’t let people know how loved or appreciated they are because we let them get crowded out by other urgent demands, or expectations. Responding to faithful volunteers who are doing things well is more important than dealing with those who aren’t because they get better, stay longer, and become partners. When you have someone amazing, prioritize them, know them, and love them. They are like a precious diamond. You will lose them, or at least lose part of their heart or loyalty if you don’t prioritize and value them.
God calls us to see the value of others. Jesus did this and so did God. He constantly called people, gave them new names, and saw value and beauty in people that others often disregarded and overlooked. If you have people serving with you, please respond to them intentionally, thoughtfully, and wholly!
2 Things That Will Have Future Impact On Volunteers
We’re not talking about gifts or an appreciation banquet, although those are definitely great. This won’t cost a single dollar of your budget. However, it will cost a little bit of time and a lot of heart, as well as a possible shift of belief in your ministry area, but it will be so great.
1. See Them, Know Them, And Invest In Them
This isn’t something that happens overnight. It takes time, but is the heart of ministry that Jesus modeled. We need to shift our priority from doing to loving people better, and I believe this happens with your team and the people in your church walls first. So many churches focus primarily on events, programs, and reaching their community when they aren’t even loving their family well. What are we inviting others into if we can’t treat our church family with growing relationships, seeing, knowing, and befriending them? We invite people into a family that isn’t even a team and is full of people doing things independently with very few relationships with each other. No wonder volunteers don’t stay.
We have plenty to do and to keep us busy in this life. Volunteering in church shouldn’t be an invitation just to move your time commitment from school to church, or from busyness at work to busyness at church. Volunteering at church should be an invitation to something more vital, transformational, and life-transforming. This is what we should be inviting people into.
This only happens through deep relationships. So, when I’m talking about responding to faithful volunteers, this means spending time with them, and sharing a conversation or a coffee. Get to know what their loves are and what they’re challenged by. Ask them how you can be praying for them, rather than only asking them to do things for you.
2. Give Them A Break, Give Time Off, And Utilize Sabbaticals
This has the potential to disrupt your way of doing ministry, but it probably has the biggest impact on keeping volunteers healthy and connected with you, the church, and Jesus. There are a few levels to this. Giving your volunteers time off is about releasing them from the burden of serving when they’re sick, have family commitments, or even when they just need a vacation.
People often lose the joy of serving when put in endless volunteer positions with no time off. They become exhausted and burnt out while feeling the incredible pressure that the church would fall apart without them. Please recognize that the church will not fall apart without you or a faithful volunteer, and you need to let them know that.
A really great way to let them know this is by letting them go and giving them time off. Gift them with a break! Yes, this might mean that you don’t have children’s Sunday school for a week or even that you don’t have a preacher in the pulpit for a month. However, this also means that you’re living out the belief that God is bigger, that God is the one we rely on, not our failed, human selves.
Wrapping Your Head Around Sabbaticals
If you’re unfamiliar with sabbaticals, they’re essentially extended rest dedicated to God. Some pastors will take a sabbatical every 7 years of ministry. During this time, they take 3-4 months away from church. This isn’t always done in healthy ways or even with an intended purpose, but amazing results happen when the time is spent unto the Lord. This is the time for them to connect in rest and enjoyment, and reconnect with Jesus and other important relationships. It’s the time for regrouping and truly resting.
What would happen if you had a culture of sabbaticals for your regular volunteers? We have an opportunity to give volunteers a sabbatical from serving every few years. We can teach people how to take sabbaticals, connect deeply with Jesus, and rest in a way that doesn’t just replenish their bodies, but their hearts, minds, and spirits.
God Calls Us To Rest
What keeps us from responding to faithful volunteers with breaks, time off, and sabbaticals? Our views on work and faith are a little messed up. We aren’t leading by example when we say we aren’t saved by our works. Remember that God calls us to rest. Taking the Sabbath is a command. Not only this, but Jesus exampled rest and commanded it too. We are created to need rest.
Another thing that keeps us from giving volunteers and ourselves time off, is the convincing idea that we are that important and that the church can’t survive without us. However, if you keep yourself and your volunteers healthy, your ministry will be healthier. This is the biblical command of being connected to the vine, and it can’t be done without rest. What do you think? When it comes to volunteers who are doing it right, what would happen if you added some new elements into the mix?
Read More:
Increase Commitment, Longevity, & Passion In Service: For Leaders & Volunteers
