Ah, the day has finally come. Your team of volunteers once sat before you fresh and eager, leaning forward to hear about your new outreach campaign. You launched into the vision, sketched diagrams on the whiteboard, spoke in word pictures, and sparked a fire of enthusiasm. Excitement spread throughout the congregation.
However, four months later at a team meeting, something has changed. The energy is gone. Fewer people show up. Several arrive late. They don’t speak much. You hear complaints over trivial stuff. A few arguments break out.
What happened between the first meeting and this one?
The heart of a volunteer has an uncanny way of turning from passion to ambivalence. Let’s look at how to treat three early symptoms before they have a chance to douse people’s zeal.
1. Seeking Credit
Just listen to volunteers and staff and you will better understand their hearts. You’ll know the spark is starting to dim if you hear “That was my idea” or “Why didn’t you mention me when you thanked Janetta from the podium?”
Many volunteers who come from the marketplace are looking for fulfillment in ministry service. If they can’t get ego satisfaction on the job, they look for it in other groups they belong to (lucky you).
An employee named Shawn recently came into my office complaining he wasn’t getting credit for his ideas. Rather than try to persuade him otherwise, I started giving him credit myself in meetings. This seemed to work.
But unfortunately Shawn wants more. I’m starting to see a second symptom creep into his heart.
2. Seeking Control
As he grows and builds confidence in his place in the group, Shawn has been dipping a foot into the second trap that ensnares many workers: he’s becoming a turf protector. He wants responsibilities that are his own, not shared projects. He’s starting to grab his own power and running into conflict as a result.
People become turf protectors when they say “I” more than “we.” “I’ll do that myself.” “This work I’m doing is taking a lot of my time.”
My business partner says, “No man is an island.” When a team is no longer a single body but instead a cluster of self-concerned individuals, jealousy, resentment, and bitterness set in.
If you hear something like, “That’s my responsibility! I’ve always done that. Why are you giving it to her?” then it may be time to give everyone a spoonful of medicine.
This medicine is simply “change.” Change the venue, assignments, team makeup, or pace. People seeking control don’t like change because it negates control. If someone is too comfortable in his committee chair role, combine his group with another one and give him shared leadership. Or insert yourself into his committee for a while to diffuse his pursuit of power.
3. Lack of Excellence
When administrative details fall through the cracks, event plans go awry, or worship music is unpracticed, the pastor usually gets the blame. Too often, church leaders take unfair hits for the shortcomings of people under them.
Volunteers should live up to a standard of excellence in their work. But many of them view their service as a hobby to be done if and when they feel like it. Winston Churchill said, “I am easily satisfied with the very best.” We should be satisfied with nothing less from people, especially as they serve the Lord.
If otherwise smart or talented volunteers suddenly stop performing, find out if they’re having a bad day or even dealing with some larger personal issue. If not, their ambivalence could be linked to an unsatisfied ego.
When volunteers lose interest in serving, you might notice any number of mini-symptoms. They’ll give lame excuses for missing meetings, “forget” to do their assigned tasks, or give an overall weak effort. If this persists, releasing them from their commitment will free them to move on.
But removing a volunteer from service is risky. Besides hurting the person’s feelings, the rest of the team may lose momentum and motivation, especially if they see their friend ousted. This must be a last resort.
Instead, you can ask your volunteers to commit more formally to the ministry. Since you’re asking everyone to reconsider their involvement, the team may expect one or two volunteers to resign. Consequently, the people who already want to leave can do so without losing face or causing a scene. This process can revitalize a team.
The wise pastor remembers, however, that not all volunteers who fail to keep commitments suffer from an inflated ego. Being a volunteer isn’t easy. In addition to serving at the church, many of them juggle full-time jobs, family, church activities, and other volunteer positions.
Plus, human nature isn’t the only force working to derail ministries. Any congregation doing the work of God’s kingdom is a big, bright target for our common enemy. We shouldn’t be alarmed when our volunteers present challenges. But we also must be careful in determining the causes.
Tom Harper is publisher of ChurchCentral.com. © 2009 ChurchCentral.com
