Lessons from "Volunteer Revolution"

Some quotes or paraphrases from Bill Hybels' "Volunteer Revolution." And some thoughts.

-"Too many willing-hearted volunteers have been wounded "on the job." They've responded to an invitiation serve, only to end up in a volunteer position that was poorly conceived, resulting in tasks that few people would find fulfilling. Or they show up to serve and discover they have nothing to do; an unprepared volunteer coordinator has wasted their time, causing them to lose precious hours they had willingly carved out from their busy schedule.
"Some work hard on menial tasks without ever hearing how their efforts serve a grander cause; they're given plenty of work, but no vision. Others have felt overwhelmed by unreasonable demands for which they've not received proper training; rather than being set up to win, they get put on the express lane to frustration and failure."

--Churches must leverage their volunteers; a church's staff must be a enabler for volunteers to be effective. In any church, all team leaders must be active participants in the work, but they must also train and guide all volunteers in that team. Each team member must know what they are doing supports the overall vision of the church, and therefore furthers God's kingdom here on earth. Team leaders must also be prepared when the volunteers arrive so that each volunteer is quickly moved into a task that accomplishes the overall task at hand. Volunteers MUST NEVER stand around wondering if they are needed or just simply in the way. Once the in-the-way thinking starts, there is a good chance they will leave--not just that event, but all events for the organization. The team leader must be both a big picture person and fine detail person all at once. They must see how each team member can contribute most effectively to the overall scheme, but they must also know the details of what must happen to get there. There is a tension there that must be maintained. This type of thinking must be conveyed to the team leaders, both those that have been in a position for a while, and also those team leaders that may have just moved into that role.

-"... a profound truth: the church was designed to be primarily a volunteer organization."

--Hybels goes on to talk about how many attenders of church expect their pastor to act like their doctor and their lawyer: I pay him to do all the work. My version of what a typical attender may say: "I go to church, sit in the seat and get ministered to. The pastor is supposed to preach, counsel, marry, do funerals, feed the poor, tell others about God, and serve. That's what I pay tithes for: so I don't have to do it." The reality is that the pastor is supposed to train up the body of Christ so that we can go do the good works and serve. That's what we were saved for! So, the pastor and the staff of a church must do well when they both train and provide avenues for everyone to be a priest in some way. In fact, this should be their primary role! This is one area that Grace Point is focused on: getting people into serving positions. Devin (lead pastor), always says, "You're never more like Christ than when you're serving."

-A Hard Lesson for Hybels to learn was that while his church was still very yound, the core developed a whatever it takes attitude toward volunteering without finding where their strengths and passions best coincided with the work that needed to be done. This lead to burn-out. Many left the church after five years wounded, tired, and disillusioned. Then the pendulum swung to the other side. They used spiritual gift tests, seminars, strength finders, etc. to make sure that every member found exactly what they were best suited for immediately. This worked sometimes, but often it made people believe that they must be perfect for the role that they first jumped into, which quickly led to discontentment, and volunteer attrition. Hybels' point is that we should try to help people find what their gifts and passions are (tests aren't bad), but allow for experimentation. Let people feel their way around while serving to determine what they're good at and passionate about.

--At Grace Point, we try hard to get people into those serving roles that best suit them. We can continue to get better at funneling people information through the Sunday message and small groups on where they can get involved in service.