Volunteer Empowerment

I want to write today about a team dynamic that is very important for volunteer organizations like ours.

When I was just starting out in church ministry, I used to plead with people to serve on the team, or serve on a particular Sunday. I would appeal to our relationship, or to duty. I would often use this ploy to get people to serve. But fairly soon I realized that while leaning on friendship or obligation does work, it's not healthy for the team.

The truth is that volunteers and team leaders have different motivations and responsibilities. To be a healthy team, each person needs to be serving and leading from particular motives.

As a leader, I realized it's not my job to "fill spots." My job is to empower people to serve. I release people to give back to God the gifts and talent He gave them, and to use them for His purposes.

Empowering people to serve has two main aspects.

First, it's my responsibility to make sure our serving opportunities are accessible, reasonable, fun, and organized. Volunteering is hard enough with busy schedules, work, family, and other responsibilities. When someone volunteers to serve on the Creative Team, I want them to have a great and successful experience. I want their information and resources to be easily accessible in a reasonable time frame. I want rehearsals and performances to be well organized and efficient so nobody is wasting time.

Second, my job is to inspire. I need to remind the team often that their sacrifice of time and talent is making a difference in the lives of people. I need to remind them that the mission of Crossroads is vital and important, that it makes a dent in the world and it's worth being a part of it. Sometimes it's important to challenge team members to step up, to serve at their highest capacity, or to accept a new or deeper role.

But what about those who volunteer? Most of you reading this are volunteers...what is your motivation and responsibility?

I believe volunteers should serve out of a desire to give back to God the gifts and talents He gave them. Volunteers get pumped about the time they can spend being an active player in the mission and vision of the church. Toward that end, I feel volunteers have the following responsibilities:

1. Make time to serve. If serving is enjoyable, fun, challenging, and makes a difference in the world, it's worth carving out some time for it.
2. Be on time and prepared. These qualities are directly from the Creative Team core values and you can read more about them on the blog.
3. Create reasonable boundaries. Don't overserve...don't underserve. Serve regularly and consistently but not so much that you burn out. There are seasons- sometimes more serving is called for, sometimes less.
4. Protect the team. Build others up and encourage them to be their best. Don't deride or tear down other team members. Help the team by accepting or declining serving opportunities quickly, so all the roles are successfully filled in advance.

So, let me empower you right now- every time you serve at Crossroads, it's much more than just pushing a button, turning on a light, singing a note, or playing a chord. It's setting the stage for hundreds of people to encounter God in a fresh way each Sunday. My challenge to you is to serve out of the motivations and responsibilities listed above.

Together we'll keep the team strong, have a bunch of fun, and advance the mission of God through Crossroads! JIM