A principal economic law at work in the kingdom of God seems to be that the demand for ministry always exceeds the supply of workers.

Marlene Wilson works on the supply side of this law.

For more than twenty-five years, she has led workshops on how to train volunteers. For the past ten, she has focused on helping churches develop volunteer ministries. A Lutheran (elca), Wilson has written The Effective Management of Volunteer Programs; Survival Skills for Managers;How to Mobilize Church Volunteers; and You Can Make a Difference. She has served as faculty director for twenty-five years of the volunteer management program for the University of Colorado in Boulder.

What motivates a pewsitter to stay in the pew?

Marlene Wilson: Often it is a feeling that ministry is the turf of the pastor and the present church leadership. Many people in the church have professional or technical skills of some kind. Yet I've heard pastors say, "I know what this person does outside the church. But ...