Take the time to invest in your people so that when we do get back to our church buildings we’ll have teams that are stronger than they’ve ever been.
Is your production ministry REALLY a ministry? Are you taking the time to pour into the team members to help build connections to Christ and to each other? Believe it or not, now is the perfect time to start moving from a production mentality into a production ministry mentality.
Unfortunately, relationships with volunteers tends to be at the bottom of the “To Do List”.
We have a joke around here that “Sunday’s come with alarming regularity.” You know what I mean. The Sunday’s just keep coming. There’s always more to do. And when you think you’re caught up you quickly realize that you’re not caught up at all. Unfortunately, relationships with volunteers tends to be at the bottom of the “To Do List”.
And yet we’re missing our calling if we’re not equipping our volunteers spiritually and emotionally. Our volunteer teams operate better when the individuals know they are cherished by God and by their team leaders.
Ephesians 4:12-13 (NLT) reminds us that it’s our responsibility “to equip God’s people to do his work and build up the church, the body of Christ. This will continue until we all come to such unity in our faith and knowledge of God’s Son that we will be mature in the Lord, measuring up to the full and complete standard of Christ.”
Whoa. That’s heavy stuff. How in the world do we equip production volunteers?
Frequently the folks who feel called for production are the quirky introverts, the folks who struggle to fit in with other groups.
- Invest in their lives. Take the time to get to know them as people. What do they do outside of church? What are their struggles? What are they celebrating? Do they need prayer?
- Build community. Everyone needs to feel connected. It’s a human need. And it’s one that production volunteers find particularly challenging. Frequently the folks who feel called for production are the quirky introverts, the folks who struggle to fit in with other groups. These are frequently the folks who have been told over and over again in life that they are misfits. They are not misfits. They just haven’t found their “people” yet. Help these volunteers connect with others and their connection with God and the church will grow in amazing ways.
- Offer training. You know what really makes people feel empowered and part of a group? KNOWING WHAT TO DO AND HOW TO DO IT. Take the time to offer training. Knowledge brings confidence and being confident is a sure way to get folks to relax into their roles.
Right now we’re in a quarantine so we face some unique challenges. But you can still work on your ministry. Email your volunteers as a group and individually to start investing in their lives. Show that you care about them and not just about making Sunday services happen. Build a community by connecting the volunteers to each other. This might be a social media platform or by encouraging the volunteers to connect with each other via zoom calls, texts or emails. And now is the perfect time to share online training materials that you’ve found on YouTube or to create your own.
We’re in a unique season right now. We don’t know what God’s working on, but we know He’ll use it for good.
We’re in a unique season right now. We don’t know what God’s working on, but we know He’ll use it for good. Take the time to invest in your people so that when we do get back to our church buildings we’ll have teams that are stronger than they’ve ever been.
