Every pastor and ministry leader will tell you volunteer recruitment is important.
They will also admit, with a degree of perplexity, that there are times when volunteer recruitment does not seem to be happening. Why is this the case?
There may be various factors at play.
One factor could be seasonal causes. For example, it may be more challenging to recruit volunteers in the summertime since people are traveling and out of rhythm.
Another factor could be a lack of process. Where clear steps are missing, ministries can devolve into the Wild Wild West of recruitment efforts.
But there is another factor at play, an underrated one: Unhealthy underlying mindsets that debilitate volunteer recruitment efforts.
Here are 3:
1. The Maintenance Mindset
This mindset says, “I already have enough volunteers.”
This is when someone operates out of a volunteer team size they believe is adequate to keep their ministry running. Once they’ve hit their volunteer threshold? They close up recruitment shop.
This thinking initially comes off as being practical but it denies two ongoing realities in the life of a local church:
First, volunteer teams default towards attrition. Volunteer teams never remain in stasis. Teams shrink because life happens. He moves. She needs a break. Therefore, if a leader is not continually pushing the rock of recruitment uphill, he or she will eventually be crushed by the growing needs of the ministry.
Second, a church may grow. If a leader is not recruiting for growth, the volunteer team is already not right-sized for future growth. The baseline shouldn’t be current ministry but the anticipated growth of the whole church.
2. The Crisis Mindset
This thinking says, “There are more pressing concerns in the current season." Because of the pressures of issue X, volunteer recruiting is kicked down the list of priorities.
To be fair, real problems arise in the life of a local church that require a shift in priority. But in most cases? The “current season” talk can become the escape hatch which justifies why ministry recruitment is never a priority.
The Crisis Mindset denies two crucial realities:
First, strong volunteer teams step up in true crisis situations. Doesn’t a leader’s capacity to deal with a crisis increase with a stronger volunteer team? Additionally, think about how a crisis may even be better handled collectively. Our volunteers are often smarter and more capable than us and have expertise in a wider range of fields, raising the overall intelligence of the team to deal with a crisis.
Second, recruiting is inconvenient in every season! Is there ever truly a great time to recruit volunteers? No! It’s always a busy season! There’s always someone to care for! There’s always something to fix! Ministry recruitment occurs in the valleys of conviction, not on the hills of convenience.
3. Vision-Less Mindset
This thinking says, “I don’t want to burden others.”
This mindset is perhaps the most dangerous because it cloaks itself in nobility. “I want to honor people’s times because I know people are busy.” But this sentiment often comes from a lack of conviction about one’s own ministry.
By saying, “I don’t want to burden others, one may actually be saying: “I don’t really believe what I’m doing is very important. In fact, I can’t believe I’m inviting people to help me do this thing for free. I just feel terrible about it.”
The Vision-Less Mindset denies two realities:
First, church leaders have a Biblical mandate to equip God’s people for ministry. Ephesians 4:11-12 lays out the reason why we’re in our roles: It’s to equip God’s people for the work of ministry. Failure to recruit, develop, and deploy is a defiance issue of the heart against the gracious command of the Lord.
Second, God is already writing a development story in the life of every Christian. Every pastor or ministry leader can tell you about how they first started serving. They will tell you about how someone gave them a chance and how God used that to propel them forward in their discipleship journey. Why would the very ones who have benefited in this way then rob others of the same developmental opportunity?
Should pastors be mindful of people not burning out? Absolutely. Is it important for ministry leaders to not mistaken church activity for spiritual growth? Of course. But it’s not our job to be the Holy Spirit for others and assume that’s what’s going to happen.
We have the privilege of stepping aside, making the invitation, and letting the Holy Spirit do His job.
----------
By Steve Bang Lee, Regional Multiplication Pastor and North Irvine Lead Pastor at Mariners Church and co-author of the On the Table and The Image of God Bible studies.