Helpful Tips for Encouraging Volunteer Work Through Your Church

(Adapted from "Research Briefs from Related Projects Connecting Faith and Service," Baylor University School of Social Work and partners.) 

• Challenge members to get involved in community ministry as a required, not an elective, practice of the Christian faith.  Challenge them from the pulpit, in Christian education, and at every available opportunity.

• Make community ministry an integral part of the life of the church. Serving the community is more important for the faith-life of members than attending a worship service!

• Provide opportunities that move members from one-shot or short-term ministries (great places to begin) into involvement sustained over time.

• Help volunteers to recognize that this is Christian discipleship, an opportunity to learn, and that they should not expect to be the answer to the complexity of problems they may face.

• Always wrap volunteer service with specific prayer for the work. Provide a time for sharing experiences, for reflecting on those experiences with other volunteers and with congregational leaders, and for Bible study related to the work. This is Christian education at its best!

• Provide opportunities in which volunteers meet and develop relationships with people over time, such as mentoring services, classes, or community building projects.

• Encourage relationships with people who come from different backgrounds and experiences, and may make volunteers a bit uncomfortable, at least at first.

• Help volunteers to recognize and respond to the systems that oppress others. Show them how to respond to systemic problems; for example, through community development or emergency relief for persons in poverty. Discuss the impact of these systemic problems in the lives of individuals.

-adapted from a series of Research Briefs from Related Projects, to be released by Baylor University School of Social Work as part of a 30-month research project funded by the Pew Charitable Trusts.  The research reported in this brief was conducted in another research project led by Baylor University and funded by Lilly Endowment, Inc., "Service and Faith: The Impact on Christian Faith and Congregational Life of Organized Community Caring (2000-2003)."  The research team consisted of Diana Garland, Dennis Myers, and David Sherwood (Baylor University); Paula Sheridan (Whittier College); Terry Wolfer (University of South Carolina) and Beryl Hugen (Calvin College).  For more information on this project, contact Diana Garland (Diana_Garland [at] baylor [dot] edu).