Transforming Volunteers

During the 2005 National Conference on Volunteering and Service in Washington, D.C., rocker Jon Bon Jovi declared, “I’ve done it all. But I got more of a rush when I went to the Northern Home for Children in North Philly and built a playground.”

Yes, volunteerism is becoming hip, but it goes beyond trendy. In 2004, 64.5 million Americans volunteered, an increase of nearly 5 million since 2002.

As non-church people look for a good way to serve, they may see a church’s community-based projects as viable options. Rolling Hills Community Church in Tuatalin, Oregon, found this true during their 2005 Community Food Drive.

“We invited our people to ask their neighbors, co-workers, and friends if they would be willing to fill a sack—as opposed to our people simply going to the store to buy the needed supplies,” says Monte Schmidt. Together, church and community gathered over 77,000 pounds of food to be distributed throughout three counties. Over 1,600 church attendees collected food, but 7,047 people participated. Non-church people stepped up.

While volunteerism is an opportunity to meet physical needs, a serving experience can also be the beginning of a faith experience. Volunteer management expert Don Simmons suggests some essential guidelines.

Six steps for equipping

1. Training. Many churches focus on training leaders, but not volunteers. According to Simmons, “If it is important enough to do, it’s important enough to train volunteers in how to do it!”

2. Affirmation. “We often forget that people need to know that they matter more than what they do,” says Don.

3. Feedback. “Authentic, love-based feedback does much to develop servants into strong leaders,” said Simmons. In her book on volunteers, Marlene Wilson says avoiding feedback opportunities is a big mistake. “You can’t not communicate. Even silence communicates something.”

4. Evaluation. Sometimes confused with feedback, evaluation should be done in teams, and needs a guide or measurement for success. Effective evaluations assess the success of goals achieved as a team.

5. Recognition. “Recognition acknowledges people for what they do,” says Simmons. A recent article in Journal of Volunteer Administration indicates that one of the principal reasons people leave their volunteer positions is that they feel unappreciated and unrecognized.

6. Reflection. Instead of performing a task and walking away, Simmons suggests leaders ask: “What did you learn about the issue you helped to solve through your service? What did you learn about yourself?”

“People decide in the reflection whether they will do this again and if they will let it change their lives,” stresses Simmons.

When volunteers are valued and well-equipped, opportunities arise.

In the summer of 2005, 19 people died in Arizona due to heat, so Word of Grace Church in Mesa worked with community agencies to quickly respond. They opened a temporary day center and announced the need for volunteers and supplies.

“The announcement got a standing ovation in all three of our church services,” says Karl Mueller, outreach pastor. The temporary shelter was open 45 days, saw over 1,000 people visit, and involved 160 volunteers.

Katie Murphy of Word of Grace notes that it met a spiritual need for their volunteers as well as a community need.

Darrell was experiencing depression after being laid off from his job. He decided to volunteer for a change of pace and wound up serving almost every day.

“We saw amazing change in Darrell,” says Murphy. Not only was he encouraged, Darrell brought a friend to serve alongside him. This friend, who is not a Christian, was touched by the outreach and entered into numerous faith conversations. “He had never seen the church demonstrate Jesus in such a practical way.”