Tag Archives: volunteer

Is there a place for all? The challenge of creating volunteer positions for all giftedness! Part 1 of 2

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By Kristi

While listening to responses from prospective volunteers, you have probably heard all the excuses under the sun.  But have you really heard these people?  In many cases, individuals are telling you that they can’t envision where they fit in.  Perhaps this relates to their interests and passions.  Maybe their current schedule or life pressures are clouding their vision and they can’t clearly see a fit for themselves in your organization.  Your job is to help them understand how they can fit.  If they get one foot in the door, it is much easier for them to enter the rest of the way through the door at a later date – either when life circumstances change, or when they begin to understand their fit.

Pull out a copy of your staffing chart – the document where you record who is volunteering where.  What are the positions for which you are still seeking volunteers?  We all run the risk of viewing our organization through the lens of “how it’s always been.”  As you evaluate your need for volunteers and strive to connect with volunteers of all types, consider these things:

1.  Look
Look carefully at the positions that are still unfilled.  Does this task have to be done in one particular way? Or at a particular time?  Can it be combined with another job description?  Are you asking the right type of people?

A couple years ago, the volunteer teaching team in one classroom consisted of 3 weekly volunteers and another couple volunteers that rotated through the month.  By the end of the term of commitment, Team Member 1 wanted to move to volunteer with a different age group for family reasons, Team Member 2 had major surgery and was not able to return, and when asked to renew his commitment for another term, Team Member 3 initially declined.  The team he had been part of for several years had dissolved, and he had no desire to start fitting in with a new group of volunteers.

2.  Listen
Listen carefully to the folks who are requesting to volunteer and those that are declining your invitation to join the team.  Is there a recurring theme among the interests or passions of either set of people?    Who are the individuals that are rejecting your pleas for more volunteers?

As I listened to Team Member 3, I was told straight up – “I still love children….”  Through this statement, I knew that his interest was still strong in the area where he previously volunteered.  There wasn’t another area that he wanted to serve in more than the current area.  Moreover, he was a really good and faithful volunteer – one that I really did not want to lose.

3.  Assess
The twenty-first century is moving right along at warp speed.  What are you hearing from people regarding their current schedules and pressures in life?  Is your organization keeping up with changes in society and your immediate culture?

Armed with a bit of information about Team Member 3 – and most importantly, with a relationship of good rapport as a supervisor over his team – it was easy to see that he was moving into a new stage of life.  Some of his Sunday schedule was changing as his children were moving out of one division into programming for older children.  His wife was moving to serve in a different area (a possible life pressure).  If he also really wanted to move to a different area, I wanted to let him.  But I also wanted to capitalize and put his passions and gifts to work.

The question was, “How?”

For the answer, come back for Part 2.

All heart, no skills – Pt 2 – Are skilled, experienced volunteers welcome?

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In Part 1, we looked at the need for “heart” in ministry. When you “love the Lord your God with all your heart” and “love your neighbor as yourself,” God can use you to do great things in spite of your limitations. Paul knew that when he was weak, he was strong in God’s grace (2 Corinthians 12:10).

Too often, though, I hear, “No previous experience is required,” or “Anyone can do this.” It sends 2 messages: (1) experience may not be wanted, and/or (2) experienced people may be working with people that have no idea what they are doing.

Let’s take a look at some examples from the Bible:

In Exodus 26-29, the Lord laid out detailed instructions for Moses to follow in constructing the tabernacle. He told Moses, “You shall speak to all the skillful persons whom I have endowed with the spirit of wisdom” (Ex 29:3a).

Judges 7 tells us about Gideon’s army. Wouldn’t you love to have his problem? 32,000 volunteers! God let the fearful people go home. (What does that say about comfort zones??) But even 10,000 were too many. So He had Gideon set up a test – really, more like a quiz. The 300 men who stayed alert got to stay, but the others were let go.

Before David was king (knowing what God had promised, but still on the run from King Saul), David had men who volunteered to serve under his leadership. About 30 of these men distinguished themselves because of their skills and courage in battle.

Paul is sometimes used as an example of someone who misused his education and training in his misguided zeal to persecute the church. All of that background, though, came into play when it was redirected into teaching the early Christians about the Old Testament prophecies and the role of the Law.

And finally, in Acts 6, the Apostles told the people to select seven men of good reputation, full of the Spirit and of wisdom. If we look carefully, we see that the men needed the people skills of relating and bridge-building. These are called soft skills, but they are skills nonetheless. Lots of people can serve meals; not everyone can calm an angry mob.

So what are the take-aways?
1. Don’t downplay skill or experience. Recruit it. Use it.
2. Don’t dumb-down your ministries. It’s never true that “anyone” can do things.
3. Don’t insult your volunteers. Challenge them to be and do their best.