There is almost no church that doesn’t thrive on the services of volunteers.
Working with volunteers is the foundation of the church. From the time Jesus Christ called his disciples to the seven deacons in the book of Acts. Volunteers have always been a part of the church system.
The problem is that most church leaders only get to enjoy the services of these volunteers. They don’t take enough time to know about their volunteers. Knowing more about your volunteers is one of the pillars of proper congregation management. In this post, we will show you why you should learn more about your volunteers.
Why Church Leaders Should Learn More About Their Volunteers
It is not uncommon for church leaders to walk past the volunteers outside the church without knowing them. This is very possible in a large congregation but shouldn’t be the case in smaller congregations. We have come into an age where leading with knowledge has become very important.
This section will show you three reasons why you should learn more about your volunteers at your church.
Shows them that you care
Volunteers in the church should indeed give their all because it is “as unto the Lord.” However, we must not forget that these individuals are humans with needs. Many of these volunteers make huge sacrifices to serve at your church without batting an eyelid.
Spending some time to know them shows them that you care. For example, the people in your church accounting department want to know that you care about them genuinely. Not that you reach out to them only when you want to check the church’s financial report.
Every human being seeks to be loved and thrives more on attention. Ask your volunteers about their welfare. Taking these actions show your volunteers that you genuinely care about them.
Helps them to overcome their weaknesses
An important aspect of church communication requires the leader to engage in conversations with volunteers. The leader should find time to discuss with volunteers to know their weaknesses. This not to bash or spite them, but to help them grow.
Like we mentioned earlier, before they became volunteers, they were humans. The fact that they are volunteers and born again Christians doesn’t mean that they don’t have weaknesses. Getting close to your volunteers exposes you to their weaknesses so that you can help them.
Through a mentorship relationship, you can help these individuals overcome these weaknesses. You should realize that this a journey and may take some time depending on the individual. A lot of patience is required. Jesus Christ showed us the perfect example by being patient with His disciples.
Knowing their weaknesses also helps you to intercede on their behalf and pray with them. You will agree that helping them to deal with their weaknesses is not a function of your ability. It is a function of how much influence the Holy Spirit has on the process. The bottom line here is that the more you know about your volunteers, the easier it is to see their shortcomings. This gives you the ability to help them become better individuals and stewards for the kingdom.
Motivates them to work better
Studies show that when individuals have a great working environment, they are more productive. This third point results from developing a good relationship with your volunteers and dealing with their weaknesses. You are probably wondering how you can develop a relationship with your volunteers in a large congregation.
Not to worry, with a church management software like ChurchPad, it is pretty easy to achieve this feat. You can send them text messages and connect with them via emails as well. When you have a good relationship with your volunteers, they see you as a friend. This gives them a sense of belonging, which inspires them to sacrifice more for the work.
Another way of knowing your volunteers helps to motivate them is that it allows you to know their needs. By needs, we do not mean what they need to serve in the church alone. We are also referring to their personal needs. If you can satisfy these needs, you can rest assured that the volunteers will be motivated to deliver better results.
Importance of having volunteers at your church
When you treat volunteers right, you improve your chances of attracting more volunteers. You may be wondering why you need volunteers at your church. We will discuss a few reasons in this section.
An affordable way to achieve your objectives
Imagine that you had to pay everyone who offered their services at your church. Volunteers offer you an affordable way to achieve your ministry’s objectives. You don’t have to spend money to pay salaries or other kinds of allowances when working with volunteers.
Access to a wide range of skills
Most volunteers in church present you with a wide array of skills. It is not strange to see certain volunteers working across several departments. For example, you can have someone as an instrumentalist doubling as a sound engineer. Imagine you had to hire separate individuals for both tasks; it would cost you a fortune.
Wide reach
Volunteers help you achieve what you couldn’t have by yourself. If you had to handle church management, social media, outreaches, and sermons, you would break down. But with volunteers, you have all of these and more. They help your ministry spread to the community faster at almost no cost on human labor.
Conclusion
The importance of volunteers to the growth of every church cannot be overemphasized. It is also important for church leaders to spend time to know their church volunteers. We have shown you a few reasons why in this post. You can take advantage of different ChurchPad features to get closer to your volunteers.
