The Equipper Newsletter
June 22, 2015
Churches Equipping Saints for Service
   
 
 
 Canned Peaches or Fresh Lettuce?
 

I�ve been thinking of keeping a can of peaches and a head of lettuce in my office. Or bringing them to the next staff meeting. Or pulling them out the next time I talk to some ministry leaders about volunteers.

It goes back a few years. Some Sunday school leaders were cleaning out a supply closet and they brought me what they found there: an institution-size can of peaches. We couldn�t figure out how that had been used in Sunday school! Then someone remembered that, years before, that closet had been a pantry for the school kitchen. The lonely can of peaches must have been left behind in the transition. What really surprised and shocked us was that the can of peaches wasn�t yet past its expiration date!

I remember those peaches sometimes when I follow up with leaders who�ve been asked to contact a person who expressed interested in the ministry they lead. Many leaders follow up promptly. Others, however, take 3-4 weeks to make contact. Or they send one email and that�s it. Or, if the ministry is seasonal, like lawn cutting, they say, �I�ll give him a call when we�re ready to start.�

It�s as if volunteers were canned peaches. You can put them on a shelf and when you come back to them months later, they�ll be ready to go. (Continue reading . . .)

 
 
  Good Stuff on the Web
 
 
 
 
 Network Opportunities
 
 
If you're in the Chicago area, join us at our next Equip4Impact network group meeting Sept. 10, 2015, 10am to noon, at Trinity Lutheran Church in Roselle. Contact me for more info.
 
Are you part of a church volunteerism network? Let me know and I'll include your info here.
 

 
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The Equipper Newsletter published monthly by
Karen Kogler, Equipper Church Volunteerism Resources