Committed Volunteers

Contributed by:
Eric Dunaway
small group pastor

We have a running joke with the young adults at Threefold about the "maybe" button on Facebook event invitations. It's amazing how many of them always seem to check "maybe," which we all know really means "no." ... well, most of the time it means "no." Ultimately, it seems to be an aversion to commitment.

This past weekend at Pathway, my wife and I showed up at our third service - we even showed up early... that's worth blogging about in and of itself. Especially considering that we had our three children with us, including our 2-year old son, Gibson. Part of the reason we were sure to show up early was because we were meeting some friends from out of town, and wanted to make sure we caught up with before the service started. 

So I took the girls to their classrooms upstairs and hurried down to the lobby to meet Amanda after she dropped Gibson off in the two-year old class. When I found her, however, Gibson was still with her... the 2-year class had reached the maximum child to adult ratio, and they were waiting on more volunteers to show up... no one ever did. 

That meant that Gibson, along with several other children at Pathway that morning, had no class to go to while their parents had hoped to attend the worship service. At that point our options were to take him into the service with us, roam the atrium (along with several other families who were turned away), or go home. We opted to take him into the service with us, which brought on a whole new series of consequences. Gibson was bored (though he did pretty well - at one point, however, he did ask Amanda in a loud whisper if she had to go poo-poo), our ability to engage with the teaching was diminished, and Gibson was a distraction to others around us. On top of all that, in the midst of wrestling with Gibson and keeping him quiet, I forgot my Starbucks coffee thermos under my seat... I have a feeling it's gone forever. 

While I found this whole situation pretty frustrating, I realized it wasn't really about our children's ministry's crazy classroom ratios. Those ratios and policies are put into place to protect our children and create a safe place for them. I appreciate that. These things are not unreasonable... that's not the issue. At the root of this issue is their need for committed volunteers. I found out this morning that several volunteers in KidCity had decided to just not show up on Sunday morning. No phone call... no reasons... they just didn't show up. This sent the KidCity team into a frenzy as they moved volunteers where they could to try and fill some holes. They were able to do that to an extent, but obviously it wasn't enough. And as a result of even just a few volunteers shirking their commitment, several families weren't able to plug into the service this weekend. 

I decided to write this in an effort to raise your awareness to the need for committed volunteers. KidCity needs them; Student Ministries needs them; Journey Groups need them; Worship Arts needs them; First Impressions needs them. And when you serve in one of these areas, it not only enables these ministries to happen each week, but it also becomes a vital part of your spiritual development as you play a key role in the body of Christ. Unfortunately, we find that - when it comes to placing volunteers in these roles - we're competing with a culture that too many times doesn't honor their commitments. And what makes it even worse, they don't see anything wrong with that. 

What can you and your group do to begin serving at Pathway? Could your group - or even part of your group - serve together in KidCity one Service a month? Could your group serve together as greeters for just one service a month? ... or serve communion together? ... or serve students together?

Part of building authentic community is serving together, and I encourage you to take this back to your group. If you're not already serving together in some way, make that a topic of conversation. How will you serve as a group? Where will you serve as a group? When will you serve as a group? And when you do, stand back and watch the impact it will have on the relationships in your group, but also the body as you engage a need together. 

Here are some things to consider as you seek to serve at Pathway - as a group or as individuals:

1. Prayer: Ask God where He wants you to serve. If you have a specific area in which you'd like to serve, ask God to open those doors. Pray for his guidance and direction. And when that guidance and direction comes - when the door is opened - follow it. 
2. Passion: Don't just plug into a role out of obligation or guilt. Pursue a role in an area you're passionate about. Serve in a role that will bring some excitement and fulfillment. 
3. Pace: Don't commit to a schedule that you know you can't honor. Pace yourself. Serving once a month is sometimes an ideal schedule for people. Something else to remember with this is to not let your ministry involvement take you away from being able to participate in a worship service. Pacing yourself means you serve during one service, and you attend a different service on the same weekend. 
4. Promise: Don't say you'll do it unless you mean it. When you step up as a volunteer to serve, that's a commitment. People are counting on you. Honor those commitments. When you don't, that's really just a broken promise. 
5. Phone: We all know that things come up unexpectedly, and sometimes we have no choice but to back out of commitments. When that happens, just pick up the phone and contact your ministry leader. Let them know you won't be able to serve your shift, let them know why, and if possible find someone to replace you.

Here are some people you can contact for more information on how you and your group can get involved by serving together:

• KidCity - Kevin Frauhiger
• Student Ministries - Brad Bullock (High School) & Byron Von Gunten (Middle School)
• First Impressions (Coffee, Greeters, Communion, Etc.) - Deb Parish
• Worship Arts - Gordon Knapp
• Journey Groups - Eric Dunaway
• Care Ministries - Natalie Ward

Have other thoughts, questions or suggestions? Post a comment! We'd love to hear what you have to say.