During a consult last week I asked a leader in the church what’s your current biggest challenge. Their one-word answer is “Volunteers”.
She didn’t mean the superabundance of them but the lack of active volunteers in the church.
This is a common refrain amongst church leaders and honestly, it’s a challenge that never diminishes.
An annual recruitment drive is a simple way to get volunteers in church.
However, recruiting volunteers is a year-round event as well as an intentional focus at set times. The need never diminishes and is an unrelenting task for all church leaders.
And that undoubtedly adds pressure.
However, there’s also a huge payoff because there is a direct correlation between the percentage of people volunteering and the health of a church.
As you recruit volunteers for church you also create opportunities for people to grow and become successful support leaders.
If you want to grow a healthy church you need to recruit volunteers for church.
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When I show pastors how to recruit volunteers for church I encourage them to have two focal points.
The Two Focal Points
When recruiting people to serve your two focal points are the needs of your departments and the wirings of your people.
The first focal point is the needs of your departments in your church.
You need volunteers for office administration, youth and children’s ministry, small group leaders, ushers, money counters, welcomers, hosts for guests, hospitality and so on.
ACTION STEP
Audit your departments and discover where the pressure points are and let your church know the various needs within the departments.
Of course, these pressure points should be turned into specific prayer points for your leaders and prayer network.
The second focal point is the wirings of your people. This centres not on the gifts, abilities and passions of the people in your church.
The Five Wirings
When I teach leaders how to recruit volunteers in church I ask them to consider the 5 wirings or skill sets:
1. CREATIVES
These folks are passionate about music, graphic design, dance, drama, art, craft, songwriting, stage design, singing and photography.
2. CONNECTION BUILDERS
These people are natural networkers who are confident with people and thrive on linking people together for a common purpose. Relationship building is their forte.
3. TASK LOVERS
These volunteers generally enjoy behind-the-scenes tasks, practical and usually involving administrative, managerial and organisational skills.
4. TECH HEADS
These people enjoy all things technical whether it be operating computers, sound, lighting, cameras, multi-media or video editing.
5. FRIENDLY FACES
These volunteers enjoy the company of people and excel at welcoming strangers, engaging in conversations, caring for others and being helpful.
Why Give People These Two Doorways Into Volunteering?
People are motivated by self-belief in their competency.
If they think they are great at kid’s ministry they will get involved.
If they think they are an accomplished tech-head they will get involved.
Leaders must understand that if you focus solely on the church’s needs/departments and not on the motivations within people, you will miss out on recruiting some highly skilled and motivated people who cannot see where their skills fit into your departments.
Therefore when you conduct your annual recruitment drive give people an opportunity to sign up either because they want to serve in a specific department or because they have a particular skill set.
Ask everyone to fill out a Volunteers in Church form
Use a well-designed Opportunity to Serve form to sign people up.
In each service ask everyone to fill out your Volunteering Opportunity form.
At the end of the service ask everyone to fill out this simple form that offers them a variety of service options.
Use our template to produce a simple and effective Volunteer Opportunity form.
Google Forms provide an excellent online option.
Download Volunteer Opportunity Template
Get more people serving, quicker
Get recruiting!
And remember you can boost serving in your church with a simple four-step volunteer onboarding process.
