Generate desires to see churches renewed and strengthened. Through the Generate Renewal Grant, churches can work with experienced consultants to help fuel the health of their church ministries. The following article from one of Generate’s partnering consultants has tips that can help strengthen every church.
By The Unstuck Group
If we leaders want our churches to be healthier and see more growth, then, according to Acts 6, we need to give ministry away.
The account in Acts 6 shows us that God intended church leaders to focus on prayer and teaching the Word. Instead, their time was being pulled into other areas of the ministry. We see in Acts 6 that it’s possible to do the work of God without doing the work God called us to do. In so doing, we also rob members of the church body of opportunities to do the work God has called them to do.
Serving, more than groups, moves people along their discipleship journey. To build a serving culture in our churches, we need to learn to do these three things:
1. Think “volunteers” before “staff.”
When a ministry role needs to be filled, build a volunteer team to do it before considering hiring a staff person. That philosophy shapes the culture of a church into a serve-others culture.
2. Encourage shoulder tapping.
If 100 percent of your recruiting happens on Sunday morning from the platform, you’ll mobilize 20 percent of your church into volunteer roles at best. But if you encourage people (including your ministry leaders!) to tap the shoulders of their friends and personally invite them to serve, you can mobilize three times that many people. People are more likely to serve if someone personally invites them to serve.
Shoulder tapping is critical for leadership roles. Possible leaders will not respond to platform announcements to fill positions. Instead, you need to grab some face-to-face time and make the ask personal. Share the vision. Share the challenge that you’re trying to overcome. Invite people to use their gifts and experience to move the mission forward. Potential leaders will respond to those conversations.
3. Stay focused.
The more ministry programs and events you try to pull off, the more volunteers you will need. You may have a volunteer shortage because you’re trying to do too much.
If you streamline your discipleship path and eliminate any programs that compete with that path, you’ll have fewer volunteer roles to fill. Then, when it comes to building volunteer teams and raising future leaders, you can make sure to give priority to the ministries that are most likely to help people take their next steps toward Christ.
Every church could use more volunteers. They’re crucial to the life of any church. In episode 71 of The Unstuck Church Podcast, Tony Morgan and Amy Anderson discuss five barriers to engaging volunteers and how you can get more volunteers so you can increase your church’s impact. Listen here.
The Unstuck Group helps leaders grow healthy churches by guiding them through experiences that focus vision, strategy, and action. Our core services include ministry health assessments, strategic planning, and staffing and structure reviews.
[/et_pb_text][/et_pb_column][/et_pb_row][/et_pb_section]
