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No church could function without volunteers. But acquiring quality volunteers can prove an ongoing challenge. There are basically two types of church volunteers: those involved in leadership or teaching and those who work in the office or in a support or service role.

Your church could probably use volunteers to do outreach, to stuff envelopes or prepare bulk mailings, run errands, visit the sick, clean the church, deliver packages, or bring meals to seniors.

Recruit with Discretion
Perhaps you've had trouble finding volunteers. The ones you have recruited do less-than-adequate work. Some are inconsistent or unreliable. A few talk too much. One is downright nosy. Perhaps a few share information that should be kept confidential. Maybe one or two take up too much of the pastor's time in social chitchat.

Regardless of the faults of some, the majority of volunteers are dedicated Christians who want to be a blessing. To find and train such people to be valuable members of your church ministry, you must be clear about what kinds of volunteers you need and what you need them for. Try answering the following questions:

1. What do I want volunteers to do? It's difficult for volunteers to be effective if their job descriptions aren't clearly defined. Haphazard or incomplete instructions waste everyone's time because volunteers can't do their work without asking a lot of questions, and answering those questions interrupts the work of employees. A completed work detail form should help everyone get jobs done with a minimum loss of time, energy, and concentration.

2. What is the primary goal for the volunteer? Do you want a job done quickly, or is it more important that it be done neatly and accurately? Are you more concerned about getting people involved in church ministry so they can experience what that means? Do you need volunteers to free you of routine tasks so you can concentrate on other work? However you answer those questions, make the goal for volunteers clear so they can act accordingly.

3. How should I screen volunteers? A simple sign-up sheet is adequate for short-term volunteers. People can also be encouraged to call a contact person or someone in the church office to volunteer for a limited project. Those who'd like to do longer-term volunteer work should probably fill out applications.

Stringent screening is an absolute must if volunteer work involves interaction with babies, children, or young people. Any potential childcare worker must fill out an application. Information on it should be verified and references checked. Preferably, all workers with children and young people in churches should be members of the congregation for at least six months. If they've had some experience working with children or teens, coworkers should be questioned. Then the applicants should be interviewed thoroughly, and all information given during the interview investigated and verified.

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