Dear Church Volunteer

OK – so I’ve lived most of my adult life in full time, paid ministry positions. When my second child came along three months ago, that all changed. While I still work part time (from home) directing GAFA, any involvement I have in a weekend worship service is strictly volunteer. And I just have a few things to say to all of you volunteers out there who give so much of your precious time to the work of the ministry…

• Thank you – The church could NOT function without you! Family time, personal time, work time – it’s all precious and limited and so your gift to the work of the ministry is a valuable one. Thank you for giving what you have and understanding the our amazing God is worth every second that we surrender to Him as an offering of worship.
• Tell someone else how amazing it is to serve! You are the church’s best advertisement for volunteer service. You’ve all heard the annoying and never-ending pleas from the pulpit for more help in the nursery or more singers in the choir. But the truth is, most of us tune out the announcements and they have never given the church great results. (I know, because I’ve made SO many of those desperate announcements!) If you are excited about serving the church – and have found fulfillment in giving your time and talents back to God – then tell someone! Bring someone to serve with you and see them find joy in their service, too!
• Be faithful. A few weeks ago, Don and I had to hire a babysitter to come and watch my babies during pre-service rehearsals because he had to work and I was scheduled to play and sing for the service. Because I have seen both sides of this situation – as the leader of the team and now as a volunteer – I ask you to remember your commitment and do what it takes to fulfill that commitment! It’s not fair to ask your leader to make do with less than the service needs because your schedule has a glitch! Don and I didn’t want to spend $25 on a sitter that morning, but we did because we saw it as another seed that we were planting in the amazing soil of the local church. Basically – if you agree to do something – then just do it! 🙂
• Do more than is expected. We could all “get by” with doing the minimum that is required. Some of us can “fake it” enough so that no one knows you haven’t spent the time to prepare your music or learn your children’s class lesson – but doesn’t God deserve more than that from us? Let me tell you that lack of preparation makes it hard on everyone and I believe that the lost in our cities deserve to be presented only things that are excellent and a whole hearted sacrifice of worship.
• Have a good attitude. I don’t know how many times I presented a new piece of music to my team only to see some in the crowd roll their eyes halfway back into their brains because they didn’t like the new song or thought we should be doing something else. Or how about the team member who gets their underwear all up their crack for being chastised about being late or unprepared. Ummmm – excuse me, but we are called to a higher level of excellence and we are only going to get there with pure hearts and genuine desire give all we have….so do it with a smile, please!
• Respect your leader – God put them there so don’t give them a hard time….
• Serve with passion – the weekend is THE DEAL, people! If we can’t get up on that stage and look like we are excited about our God, then we should find something else to do that will ignite a fire under our butts. Passion inspires passion in other people

There’s more – but I’ll save some for later. Do you volunteer in your church? Leave me a comment and tell us what you’ve learned about serving in the church.

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