Is your church staff shrinking? Mine is. Long term trends in school enrollment, followed by covid’s financial impact, forced our church leaders to implement two reductions in force in 2020, including a 50% reduction in my hours. It’s not justRead more…
A Dream Volunteer Job, and Why It Doesn’t Work
“Two retired English teachers . . . have solved the mystery of why volunteers like them are rarely invited to help . . .” This column from the Washington Post speaks volumes about a major roadblock for volunteers. It’s asRead more…
A Question: What will a Volunteer Coordinator Do for Me?
The budget of our church’s volunteer program got a substantial bump this year. Thankfully, we are now able to hire a full-time coordinator. What are the most important parts of a volunteer program that we should shift to her, theRead more…
A Question: What Will a Volunteer Coordinator Do For Me?
The budget of our church’s volunteer program got a substantial bump this year. Thankfully, we are now able to hire a full-time coordinator. What are the most important parts of a volunteer program that we should shift to her, theRead more…
Good stuff: Settling for less?
Are You Settling for Less? Do those of us who are employed by, or volunteering for, churches settle for less when it comes to our own needs? When we, or our ministry we lead, has a need, and there’s aRead more…
Good Stuff: Motivating Volunteers
Good stuff from the United Kingdom: a short and to-the-point (and free!) downloadable guide on motivating volunteers; part of a series on guides on volunteerism basics. Although not specifically geared toward church volunteers, virtually all of it applies in churchRead more…
The value of volunteering for job seekers
According to LinkedIn, 41% of hiring managers say volunteer work is just as valuable as paid work on a CV,” says a Volunteer Match blog post.
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…
Remember Middle Management
Your pastor supports equipping volunteers to serve. You have a designated person and team that helps people serve. You’ve got a great start. But for real change, don’t forget the middle — the “middle management.” In From the Top Down, authorRead 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…
Volunteer Ministry Entrepreneurship
Rich Kirkpatrick related (in an article no longer on the internet as of 2014) an incident that occurred when he attended a conference at Saddleback, Pastor Rick Warren’s mega-church in southern California. At a nearby coffee shop he met anRead more…
How to Improve Volunteerism
Do you agree? Virtually all church leaders want to improve volunteerism at their church. Virtually all church leaders do little or nothing to improve volunteerism at their church. Perhaps those statements are a bit strong, but they are true inRead more…