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 Delegate
Are you good at delegating? Most of us aren’t. We didn’t go into church work, or become a church volunteer, because we love to delegate. We serve in order to get things done. Delegating tasks may feel like cheating. We,Read more…
How to Fire a Church Volunteer
“You can’t fire a volunteer!” That’s the first thing many people think when reading this title. And their second thought is likely of a certain volunteer or two they’d like to fire. Just as volunteers will, rightly, leave a positionRead more…
The Chip (ministry conversations)
A church ministry fair has both major benefits and side benefits. At a ministry fair, each of the church’s various ministries set up and man a table with information on their ministry. People browse the tables, seeing what the variousRead more…
Go for the Gold
The Olympics are taking place: the stirring Olympic trumpet fanfare is heard, the five interlocking circles are displayed, and athletes are in the spotlight. Hence, today The Olympics are taking place: the stirring Olympic trumpet fanfare is heard, the fiveRead more…
Volunteers Are Not Free
Are volunteers “free labor”? Of course they are. By definition, volunteers perform a task without receiving payment for it. So we find it easy to think of volunteers as free labor, the opposite of staff who are paid to work.Read more…
The Power of Together
When hurricane Katrina hit southeast Louisiana in late August 2005. It remained headline news for many weeks, not only due to the terrible devastation caused by the storm, but also for the aftermath of the inadequate and confused initial response.Read more…