11 Practices Of A Healthy Church Volunteer Culture

11 Practices Of A Healthy Church Volunteer Culture

Every church I know wishes to raise the value of volunteers higher and create a more healthy volunteer culture.  The question becomes exactly how do you do that?
This past week I had the privilege of attending an event called ARC Exchange.  ARC stands for Association of Related Churches.  In addition to being some of the smartest church leaders I have ever been around, ARC has a deep passion to equip church planters financially, relationally and with resources like no organization I have come across.
The following 11 Practices Of A Healthy Church Volunteer Culture are the composite learnings I gleaned from Greg Surratt – Lead Pastor of Seacoast Church, Rick Bezet – Lead Pastor of New Life Church, and Randy Bezet – Lead Pastor of Bayside Church.
These principles will help you attract, equip and retain volunteers in your church. 

1. Leadership – The speed of the leader is the speed of the team.  No one can outwork the senior pastor.
2. Focus – Target men.  If you get the man you will get the entire family.
3. Fun – Have it.  Volunteers should be the most joyous people in your church.
4. Personalization – Integrate a person’s life into the church.
5. Your Community – Don’t compete with your city.  Complete your city.  Integrate the community into the church.
6. Gratefulness – What gets rewarded gets repeated.  Consistently reward people and celebrate the stories publically.  Tie praise into the eternal value of what the church is doing.  If you write a note to someone who gave $10K, you also want to write a note to someone who gave 10K minutes.  People want their story known and told.
7. Relationships – Where you volunteer is your small group.
8. Staff – A leaner staff focuses you to develop more and more volunteers.  The help you need is in the congregation.
9. Pain - What am I doing that I do not enjoy doing and someone else could be doing?  Find a volunteer to do it.  The burden for me is a blessing for someone else.
10. Simplicity – Always think simplicity.  Is it easy for the people to volunteer?  People have to trump programs.  Most church programs are very linear.  People’s lives are not linear.  You need to develop a system that is more organic.  The front door of getting people involved in volunteering should be as wide as you can make it.
11. Care – Help your volunteers feel needed and known.  We have to be equally concerned with how they are doing as what they are doing.

If you are interested in church planting and/or multi-site venues, you need to connect with ARC. They are as fun and talented a group of church leaders as you can find.  Click here for more information.