Do you know how many people volunteer in your church? Even if you don’t know the exact number, I can almost guarantee that every one of you would say not enough. How do I know? Because I’ve never once talked to a pastor who said they had plenty of volunteers. It just doesn’t happen.

Year after year, lack of volunteers and volunteer leaders is one of the top issues churches face. And the problem isn’t a lack of qualified candidates. You have plenty of people in your church who can smile and greet people. You just have to find the means to motivate and invite them to get involved.

Once you see the incredible results that volunteering has in your church, you’ll understand why this is so important.

1. Volunteering connects people to your church. Every statistic you can find will tell you that people who serve in your church are much more likely to keep attending than those who do not. Volunteering helps create ownership, and it also helps to build relationships, which just so happens to be two of the reasons people stay at a church.
2. Volunteers are more likely to give. There are two things churches never have enough of, volunteers and money. It just so happens that they are directly related. If you get more people volunteering, it’s highly likely that you will see an increase in giving. If people are willing to give their time to the church, many of them will also be willing to give their money because they believe in the vision of the church.
3. Volunteers are more likely to join a small group. Joining a small group can be very intimidating if you don’t have any relationships with those in the group. Volunteering helps build those relationships without the awkwardness of showing up to a stranger’s house. Once friendships are formed through serving together, it’s much easier to get involved in a group.
4. Volunteers are more likely to grow in their walk with Christ. We make a mistake when we view volunteering as just a role to be filled to help create an experience on Sunday morning. The reason we want people to serve is because we know that serving helps to grow us spiritually.
5. Serving others was Jesus’s idea for us. Why else would Paul say, “he gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the shepherds and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ?” We do our church members a disservice when we don’t invite and equip them with a place to volunteer.

Volunteering is an area that I believe my church has done an incredible job of over the years, and we’ve seen some incredible results because of it. But, we still need more people serving, and I bet you do too.

How well does your church do in this area? What percentage of your church is serving? Leave a comment, and let me know. If you’d like help in this area, please send me a message, and I’d love to connect.