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Teacher Enrichment
Volunteers: An Invitation to Ministry!

Why are volunteers so difficult to find these days? There are a variety of reasons: women work outside the home, the need to guard family time, a desire to volunteer in ‘other’ organizations, burnout from church responsibilities, a feeling of not being valued as a volunteer, or perhaps a sense of inadequacy for the task.

The method you use to choose your volunteers and how you treat them upon their commitment to the task may affect whether you have a team of qualified and committed volunteers. Below are some suggestions as to how achieve the goal.

Define the Ministry You need to know yourself the purpose of the ministry you are seeking volunteers for. In order to help potential volunteers understand your church’s vision, describe clearly and concisely the areas of responsibility. Provide written descriptions outlining the qualities, tasks, and expectations for living out the vision. Discern Gifts Choose your people wisely. What are the immediate and anticipated needs? What qualities are needed to fulfill this ministry? Who are the people within your congregation with those gifts? (Do not rule out any person; young, old, single, married, or newcomer.) Spend time in prayer seeking God’s direction. Then, use the church directory to make a list of potential volunteers. Bring your list before God for further discernment. Gently Invite Now it is time to be bold and invite people to be involved in your ministry team. Be specific with your invitation: “After observation, careful prayer, and dialogue in our committee, we believe you are the best match for our ___ ministry. We would like you to consider ___ this year. We have ___ resources for you to use. Here is a written description of our expectations and your responsibilities, the names of the class members, training, support systems, length of term, etc. I will be in touch with you next week for your response.” Offer to meet with the prospective teacher/worker to answer any questions and shape a personalized program for their training and spiritual nurture. Provide Training Treat your volunteers as unpaid staff. Provide training that will enable them to be the best they can be. Offer opportunities for spiritual and ministry growth: seminars, retreats, mentoring, prayer, staff meetings, tapes and books. Support and Affirm Ongoing care is needed in order for a teacher to remain effective. Teacher training is one of the best ways to provide support. But there are many other ‘little’ ways to say you care. Be a listening ear; offer to help when needed; make a substitute teacher list; be supportive of your volunteer’s ‘other’ life (ie. family, work, other issues); pray regularly for your volunteers; small ‘treats’ are always appreciated (ie. coffee, lunch, small gifts or an encouraging note). Evaluate It is a must that you evaluate your volunteers on a regular basis. This is as much for them as for the ministry they are involved in. Be sure to offer help and not to judge. Be open to consider and implement changes the volunteer may suggest.

Accept the Challenge

Take seriously your role as a leader with your volunteers. Be a team leader, coach, community-builder, nurturer, enabler, motivator, guide, listener, mediator, and evaluator. Look to God for the strength and wisdom to be all that you can be.

Adapted from an article written by Eleanor Snyder in The sCEne, Vol 2, No. 2, Winter 1995.

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Last modified October 31, 2000.

Ideabank is a quarterly newsletter published by the Board of Christian Education Ministries, a board of the Canadian Conference of Mennonite Brethren Churches.

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