There is a commonality that all churches share. It doesn't matter if it is a mega church or a small church, they all have a need for this.
MORE VOLUNTEERS
Without volunteers, a church will stagnate and will not reach their community.
This leads us to the big question - How can you grow your volunteer team?
Let's look at a few reasons why a large percentage of your church members aren't serving. This will help you counteract the reasons why church members are not serving. As we identify the reasons, we can adjust the cause and see more church members begin serving.
Church members are not serving because no one has personally asked them to serve. Did you know that 89% of people who serve do so because someone personally asked them? Don't complain about not having enough volunteers if you are not consistently asking people to serve with you. The best way to build your team is asking people one at a time. When was the last time you asked someone to serve?
Church members are not serving because the church doesn't put an emphasis on serving. There is not an overall church culture of serving. The pastor doesn't emphasize serving. The staff and church leadership does not keep serving at the forefront of the ministry. When people join the church they find out that serving is optional.
When something is important, it will be high-profile in the life of the church.
Church members are not serving because they think they have nothing to offer. They only see the teaching roles or the worship leading roles or roles that require a great knowledge of technology.
Church members are not serving because they are content to sit and soak. When they were kids, they were told to "sit down and be quiet." So that's what they continue to do now as adults...because we told them to do this as children.
Church members are not serving because they had a bad serving experience in the past. Perhaps they were shoved in a room with 30 preschoolers and only one other helper. Perhaps they got burned out by constantly being asked at the last minute to miss church and serve another hour. Perhaps they were placed in an area that did not line up with their gifts and personality test. After awhile they felt like you were just using them and didn't really care about them and their spiritual well being.
Church members are not serving because they think you don't need them. If your church is 300 or larger, they think you have plenty of people to get things done. They think their serving wouldn't make much of a difference.
Church members are not serving because you are begging them to serve. Ads in the bulletin come across as desperate or you try to use a "guilt trip method" to enlist people to serve.
Church members are not serving because they don't realize that it helps them grow spiritually. Serving is a big part of growing in your faith. If you see someone who is not serving, their spiritual growth is probably stagnant. When you become not just a "hearer" of the Word, but become a "doer" of the Word as well, you will begin to grow.
Church members are not serving because they haven't aligned their heart with Jesus' heart. We know that Jesus' heart is for no one to perish. He loves the world. If we are not intentional, we can take our eyes off what matters most to Jesus...the world. Love people. Love people who are far from God.
Now it's your turn.
Here's the question.
How can you prayerfully turn the reasons why people don't serve into reasons whey they are serving?
I want to encourage you as a team to take each of these points. List reasons under each one that can help you implement change in the lives of your volunteers. Then being to work to implement those changes.
It will help you build the volunteer team you have always dreamed about!
Have you read my book "The Formula for Building Great Volunteer Teams?" It has been called the best book ever written on the subject of enlisting and equipping volunteers. It can be a game changer. It contains the steps I took to build a team of over 2,000 volunteers at a local church in 9 years.
You can get the book at this link.
