Need Ministry Volunteers? What You Should and Shouldn’t Do.

I hope your church offers opportunities for ministry. Yes, we need to reach the lost and be a beacon for the Gospel. But the local church also needs to be a place of ministry opportunities. God has freely distributed spiritual gifts to every believer and the church is a great place to use and develop them.

I know some churches seem to struggle with not having enough people to get everything done. They quickly jump to the 80/20 rule. “There simply aren’t enough people to do all the tasks in the church”, they say.

I think they’re wrong.

Need more people to do ministry? Check out these points:

• Make it easy. Do your people even know their spiritual gifts? I’d dare say that only a quarter of believers have ever identified their gifts. If people don’t know them or know that there are opportunities, they won’t volunteer. As an aside, if you have the same people doing the same tasks/ministries, all the time; it shapes the perception that others aren’t welcome to “join the team”.
• Encourage. Don’t bribe. Believers should WANT to do ministry. If you let your congregation know the need and you’re teaching the importance of ministry; the right people will step up. Recently, a church I know, is offering people to come to a “ministry-opportunities” night with the possibility to “win a {insert a nice electronic device}“. A church shouldn’t have to do anything more than encourage. If you have to bribe, it’s a sign of deeper issues.
• Listen to them. The people who are on your ministry teams are the backbone to the congregation. I believe they’re more important than paid staff. People who volunteer for ministry should be valued. And listening to them; asking their opinion, is the best way to “value”.

So, how are you doing? If you’re having problems getting volunteers, it’s often not because the qualified people aren’t available.