When you welcome new members to your church, help them volunteer! It’s not an underhanded recruitment technique. it’s true to scriptural truth and something most new members appreciate. (See “New Members Make Great Volunteers“). Here’s how we do it atRead more…
A Modern Parable of the Talents
“They were in shock. They were overwhelmed. Everyone had a $50 bill in their hand and had to decide what to do with it.” Gladys Jennings is describing what happened at the end of the worship service on April 14,Read more…
Parents as Volunteers
Parents make great volunteers. Most scouting groups and kids’ sports teams are run entirely by parents. Parents are willing to invest time and energy to give their children enriching experiences. So encourage parents to volunteer in your children’s ministries, althoughRead more…
A Culture of Serving: Immanuel, Macomb, MI
“There’s no magic bullet.” Dr. Gary Pawlitz, Minister of Fellowship and Service at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Macomb, Michigan, doesn’t mince words when talking about how churches help their people serve. “No system is perfect. And what works in oneRead more…
St. Peter Lutheran, Arlington Hts, IL: Beginnings
Background: I began working 2 days/week at St. Peter Lutheran Church, Arlington Heights, Illinois, in October 2007, 9 months ago as of this writing. St. Peter had been without a long-term senior pastor for almost a decade until the arrivalRead more…
Volunteering as We Age
Growing old. It isn’t for wimps. In my middle-age years, I experience the indignities of my body changing without my permission. More significantly, I watch and try to help my parents who can no longer do some things they’ve alwaysRead more…
How to Discourage your Church’s Volunteers
(From the Lutheran Witness, March 1998. Reprinted with permission. Print version. Imagine your church with no volunteers for one week. The organist may play the organ, but there are no choir members or other instrumentalists. Everyone eventually finds a worshipRead more…
Our Father Lutheran: Margaret’s Story
How Our Father Lutheran Invites Members into Ministry, part 3 Margaret’s Story: A Musician who loves Volunteers Margaret Hinchey sees her service to her Lord’s church primarily through her music. “I’ve always been involved in music in the church,” sheRead more…
What is Equipping?
Want to understand the basics of equipping? Want an easy way to share those basics with others? These materials introduce the idea of equipping people to serve, and on the difference between a focus on recruiting volunteers and focus onRead more…
Governance Change . . . Volunteerism Change?
Many churches these days are changing their governance, moving from a structure of boards and committees to a policy-based governance related to John Carver’s model. Before such a momentous change, leaders carefully consider its ramifications. But one ramification often isRead more…
Profile of an Equipping Church: Cross Lutheran Church, Yorkville, Illinois
Cross Lutheran equips saints for service by providing many avenues to connect people to serving opportunities, and by emphasizing discipleship-faith in action-rather than membership. Connecting opportunities are coordinated by: Mary Pat Bretthauer, Director of Connect Ministries; [email protected] Her responsibilities: TheRead more…
Lessons of a Book Bee
“I was surprised by large numbers of people who thanked me for letting them be part of this. People want to serve. We [in the church] don’t always describe a clear connection for volunteers between their task and serving GodRead more…
How to Be the Boss
Recently I asked a group of people to consider whether they prefer to be leaders or followers. I had them demonstrate the degree of their preference for one or the other by choosing a place to stand along an imaginaryRead more…
The Seven Deadly Sins of Leadership
Can the right hand learn from the left hand how to use one of its greatest resources? God’s right-hand kingdom, Martin Luther said, is the kingdom of grace and the Gospel, in which we are given his undeserved love andRead more…
Conversation Starters
Start a conversation about volunteering/working for the Lord. What do people really think about serving? What good and bad experiences have they had? What would they really like to do? We’re often too busy ‘doing,’ and too caught up inRead more…