I’m not a dog person. Due to family allergies, we never owned a dog, much to my sons’ disappointment and my relief. But now my church owns a dog. Last November, in a “passing of the leash” ceremony, we receivedRead more…
Screening Our Volunteers
Two years ago I wrote “Protecting People and Ministry” on how our church, St. Peter Lutheran in Arlington Heights, Illinois, created volunteer screening policies as part of a risk management plan. Implementation took longer than expected, but it taught usRead more…
The Power of Stories
Are you a storyteller? Of course you are. We all are. We naturally share the stories of what’s going on in our lives – the illness, the home improvement project, the cute thing the grandchild did! Stories are part ofRead more…
How I Learned to Look Outward
It’s fall 2009. I’m in Loveland, Colorado, at a church volunteerism conference, with eager anticipation for many of the speakers and sessions. But there must have been a ‘dead’ hour, because I know I didn’t expect much from one particularRead more…
He’s Calling You
How many calls did you get yesterday, through phone or text or email? If you’re a Christian, you get one particular call every day — a call to serve. But you’re probably already serving at church, as volunteer or staff.Read more…
A Question: the Nominating Process
“I’ve got a question.” “I would like some ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ about nominating committees and the election process in churches. Also is it good for a pastor to serve on the nominating committee?” From an anonymous reader November 2012 ResponseRead more…
The Church has Left the Building
Imagine your sanctuary as it looks when people are worshipping on a typical Sunday. Now picture all those people leaving the building. But this time they’re not going home or out for brunch. Instead, they’re heading out to serve inRead more…
A Good Steward of Other’s Gifts
You know you should be a good steward of the gifts God has given you: your time and talents and treasure. Are you a good steward of other people’s gifts? Should you be? If you’re a pastor or church staffRead more…
Video Clip Resources
A picture really is worth a thousand words. We are visual learners, naturally, and more so as the internet and the hundreds of cable TV channels multiply what we can view on a screen. Good communicators are always on theRead more…
Recruiting Tips
For many people in the church, the only thing to know about volunteers is how to recruit them — how to get them to serve where needed. Readers of this newsletter and TheEquipper website know that I advocate a muchRead more…
Surviving as a Team Leader
“Teams are a lot of work.” I sighed heavily with this guilty thought. I’ve promoted the value of teams for years, within and beyond my own church. But I was feeling more frustration than love at the moment. I wasRead more…
Acts of the Non-Apostles
For action-packed drama, read Acts. The early church titled this New Testament book Acts of the Apostles because Luke highlights the ministries of Peter and Paul. But a great many believers other than apostles populate this history of the earlyRead more…
How to Eat an Elephant
How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time. So goes an old joke, making the point that even the biggest of tasks can be accomplished with first one step, then another and another . . . ChangingRead more…
A Question: Percentage of People Serving
I’ve Got a Question “From our database we can run a report finding that 590 people are currently assigned to a position. In order to get the percentage of people serving, what number do I compare that to? Should IRead more…
When My Volunteer is Smarter than Me
I know a thing or two about databases. I love how they organize information and the flexibility they offer over a spreadsheet; I can build a basic Access database. When I was hired as Director of Equipping People to ServeRead more…
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