Pastors Edge

Healthy churches grow because their pastors know how to engage and mobilize volunteers for ministry. Effective ministry leaders know how to recruit, train, and motivate lay leaders. Giving the ministry away allows leaders to stay on target with their primary roles without getting exhausted from being spread too thin. You can have the same results in your ministry by implementing three simple rules.

Rule 1: Lay people respond best to pastors who model both humility and zeal. Humility is a characteristic that is nearly impossible to fake. A humble leader isn't concerned with being flashy; instead they are willing to take on most any worthwhile task. No job or responsibility is beneath a person who is humble. The people in the pew long to know that their leader is willing to sacrifice as much, if not more, as they are being asked to give for the cause of the Kingdom.

Zeal, on the other hand, is authentic, overflowing, passion for the ministry and mission of the church. It is sometimes called, "contagious enthusiasm." Zeal gives worth and energy to every task by demonstrating the value of service through showing how faithful service helps to fulfill the overall mission.

Jesus Christ is the best example of a leader who modeled both humility and zeal. Pastor, when you demonstrate these two characteristics you are being like Christ!

Rule 2: Lay people serve best when they are empowered to serve. The very best resources for meeting the needs of your community are sitting in your congregation. However, ministries that are having the best results in maintaining a strong base of volunteers claim that the reason for their success is that volunteers have been empowered to have the same decision making capability in their ministry service as they do in their own employment. These types of lay servants are sometimes referred to as knowledge workers. They are more than helpers, slot fillers, or warm bodies. They invest their giftedness, education, and passion to bring about changed lives.

Churches all across North America have many capable knowledge workers filling their pews. Sadly, many don't reach their full potential because the culture of the church forbids them from having the authority to make decisions. When this occurs, they sit on the sidelines. If that is happening in your congregation work prayerfully to change the culture.

Rule 3: Lay people work best when there is a system to place them in their area of giftedness. This has been a great blessing at CrossPointe Church where a system has been developed that is similar to what Saddleback uses. New members attend an orientation class that walks them through Bible basics and helps them become familiar with the church. The next class helps new members develop as disciples. The third class, however, is all about discovering giftedness and service. This class helps to identify pools of people who have passions for the many ministries of the church.

Bill Hybles on the other hand, develops his volunteer base by encouraging those serving to seek out and recruit someone to join them in their area of ministry. The same person that recruits also does the training and then sets the new worker free for ministry. The idea here is that people know people of similar interest and passions. Also, people who are passionate about ministry are the best people to recruit for ministry.

These systematic processes for enrolling and training workers are having better results than trying to pressure people into ministry by placing want ads in the weekly bulletin or making long pleas from the pulpit. These process intentionally enroll workers to serve in areas that correspond to their passions and gifts instead simply filling a slot with a warm body. This leads to a healthier congregation and an atmosphere for exponential growth.

Healthy congregations are healthy because they are led by men who realize that highly motivated and trained workers is essential for witnessing wide-spread life-change. Because of this realization they model service, empower workers, and constantly enroll others to join in the critical mission of the church.

Feeling overworked and over stretched? Maybe it is time to re-evaluate how your volunteers are recruited, trained, and empowered to serve.

Babbles,George S. and Zigarelli, Michael. The Ministers MBA: Essential Business Tools for Maximum Ministry Success. Nashville: B&H, 2006

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Did you know that Touching Lives is the broadcast ministry for James Merritt? He can be heard on XM radio, numerous satellite stations. To find a complete listing or order any CD's or DVD's visit Touching Lives!

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