Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

With Dr. Tom Cheyney

Acts 6:1-6; Exodus 18:13-27; Acts 15:32-35

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Organization # of Volunteers

Boy Scouts 545,577Girl Scouts 986,000Red Cross 1,000,000 Special Olympics 500,000 Firefighters 1,108,250 in U.S.*  *291,650 (26%) career, 816,600 (74%)

volunteer!!

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

The Early Church in Action: Acts 6:1-7

The leaders could not keep up with the needs (v. 1).

The leaders gathered the disciples to bring clarity to the issue (v. 2).

The pressures of a growing church and ministry priorities required careful selection of others to help with the work of ministry (v. 3).

The leaders were spiritually qualified (vv. 3, 5). The leaders re-focused their attention (v. 4). The plan met with favor (v. 5). The "volunteers" were empowered by the leaders

(v. 6). The church continued to grow (v. 7).

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

An Encouraging Reminder about Volunteers Serving in Ministry:

Volunteering for Ministry is God's design, not ours!

Volunteering for Ministry is a opportunity, not a problem.

Volunteering for Ministry enhances individual growth.

Volunteering for Ministry (service) is pleasurable to God.

Volunteering for Ministry unleashes the power of the Holy Spirit.

Volunteering for Ministry increases the church's potential.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Key thought for all volunteers within any church:

The people within the church are not helping the pastors/ staff do their ministries; we

are helping our church people do their ministries!

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Winning Volunteer teams …

Have great leaders Pick good people Play to win Make other team members

more successful Keep improving

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Volunteerism is not as simple as asking

someone, "Do you want to be an usher?" when you want to transform a life more than you want to fill a slot.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

A serving heart is part of our redeemed nature!

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

God’s people will rise above their weaknesses and tap into a

potential greater than their own when they are believed in and

treated with dignity and respect.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

People will step out in faith in order to live above their fears when challenged with something meaningful.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

People will humble themselves and give themselves away when they

see the power of Christ resident in you as you model a humble

servant's spirit.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

What volunteers repeatedly have said they want and need are:

to be carefully interviewed and appropriately assigned to a meaningful task;

to receive training and supervision to enable them to do that task well;

to be involved in planning and evaluating the program in which they participate;

to receive recognition in a way that is meaningful to them;

to be regarded as persons of uniqueness; to be accepted as a valued member of the team. Source: How to Mobilize Church Volunteers, by

Marlene Wilson

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

In most churches, about 20 percent of the members do 80 percent of the ministry. Why is this? Why don’t more people serve?

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

No one has ever taken the time or the interest to ask them!

They have a fear of responsibility. They suffer from past burnout. They are intimidated by present workers. They are ignorant of the biblical paradigm

for ministry. They have a preoccupation with their

personal agenda ad busyness. They feel untrained, ill-equipped, ill-

prepared, and ungifted. They are unaware of the options available. They do not “own” the cause. They are selfish, lazy, and indifferent.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

So what can be done to mobilize volunteers? Try the following:

Schedule ministry interviews with new people to explain the exciting opportunities that are available in your area of ministry.

Offer training for every position. Model servanthood. Match ministry opportunities with the potential

volunteers spiritual gifts. Constantly publicize available ministry options. Make ministry involvement part of membership. Create several entry-level positions for the new,

apprehensive person. This is where apprenticing really can help you and your church in the long haul.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

So what can be done to mobilize volunteers? Try the following:

Teach and cast vision on the priesthood of the believer – everyone has a gift to use.

Develop realistic commitment blocks for people to share the load. Some can serve for smaller portions of time while others can serve longer.

Rotate as many ministry positions as possible to make room for new people.

Constantly applaud ordinary servants who make a difference!

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Action Activity: Take a minute to list three people you know

who might be potential volunteers for the ministry you serve:

_____________ ______________  ______________ Now name one individual in which you could

begin to pour your life into that might grow as an apprentice to you and eventually help you with the ministry God has called you to:

_______________

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Steps for recruiting include: 1. Recruit from the vision of your

ministry. 2. Pull together a team of recruiters

who are passionate about ministry belongs to the volunteers.

3. Determine the roles for which you need to recruit volunteers.

4. Develop a strategy for making the needs known to the congregation.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Steps for recruiting include: 5. Develop a ministry application for

volunteers to complete. 6. Create opportunities for potential

volunteers to discover their spiritual gifts.

7. Determine how the volunteers will be interviewed and how a security check will be completed.

8. Be prepared with a care structure for the volunteers.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Steps for recruiting include: 9. Once volunteers begin stepping

forward, communicate to them that what they are doing, no matter how small, really counts in a big way to God.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Three Actions that will motivate the individual:

1. Inspire them2.Stretch them 3.Teach them

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of the Allied forces in the Gulf War, was asked, “What’s the greatest lesson you’ve learned out of all this?” He replied:

I think that there is one really fundamental military truth. And that’s that you can add up the correlation of forces, you can look at the number of tanks, you can look at the number of airplanes, you can look at all these factors of military might and put them together. But unless the soldier on the ground, or the airman in the air, has the will to win, has the strength of character to go into battle, believes that his cause is just, and has the support of his country … all the rest of that stuff is irrelevant.

Without each person’s conviction that the cause is worth the price, the battle will never be won, and the team will not succeed. There must be commitment.

Recruiting Volunteers at Hyde Park Baptist Church

Dr. Tom Cheyney

Acts 6:1-6; Exodus 18:13-27; Acts 15:32-35

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