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Leaders, Keep Volunteering
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When I first accepted Christ, one of the first things I did was volunteer. Fortunately, my parents had instilled it into me prior to that moment, but my natural instinct was to give back as I had been given to.
As I came to Springfield, MO to attend Central Bible College, again my first instinct was to serve. I found a local church to serve within while I was in school so I could match what I was learning in class with how that works in "the real world" (along with the fact that I had so little time in church that if I was going to be help lead one in a couple of years, I needed to have a little bit more experience). As this progressed, I found myself volunteering anywhere and everywhere I could.
Student Ministry.
Media.
Events.
If it needed someone, I would make it happen. Then something crazy happened.
That local church hired me.
Probably one of the coolest things that could happen for a 22 year-old recently graduated Bible College student. Now, all of those things I was doing as a volunteer would have a paycheck attached to it. What a deal!
Yet, the more distance I got from those initial days of volunteering, the more I found a need to return to it. There was something missing as I had begun to give and give, but now that giving had been match with getting.
One of the temptation for ministry leaders is that as you begin to receive a paycheck for doing something you were at one time you were willing to do for free, that you no longer do those things anymore.
I get it. We're all busy. We have lots of events to attend, meetings to go to and a full schedule. Here's what I found out though. So do the volunteers that staff your ministry. Last I checked, they're all busy. They have lots of events to attend to. Lots of meetings to go to. A full schedule. In fact, they are probably busier than us, seeing as they are all that AND a volunteer.
As I've returned to finding time to volunteer, I've also found that it has helped me understanding volunteers again with a new perspective. A lot changes when you are in the throws of it while trying to recruit, implement and deploy.
In the coming days, I'll share more of what I've learned.
As I came to Springfield, MO to attend Central Bible College, again my first instinct was to serve. I found a local church to serve within while I was in school so I could match what I was learning in class with how that works in "the real world" (along with the fact that I had so little time in church that if I was going to be help lead one in a couple of years, I needed to have a little bit more experience). As this progressed, I found myself volunteering anywhere and everywhere I could.
Student Ministry.
Media.
Events.
If it needed someone, I would make it happen. Then something crazy happened.
That local church hired me.
Probably one of the coolest things that could happen for a 22 year-old recently graduated Bible College student. Now, all of those things I was doing as a volunteer would have a paycheck attached to it. What a deal!
Yet, the more distance I got from those initial days of volunteering, the more I found a need to return to it. There was something missing as I had begun to give and give, but now that giving had been match with getting.
One of the temptation for ministry leaders is that as you begin to receive a paycheck for doing something you were at one time you were willing to do for free, that you no longer do those things anymore.
I get it. We're all busy. We have lots of events to attend, meetings to go to and a full schedule. Here's what I found out though. So do the volunteers that staff your ministry. Last I checked, they're all busy. They have lots of events to attend to. Lots of meetings to go to. A full schedule. In fact, they are probably busier than us, seeing as they are all that AND a volunteer.
As I've returned to finding time to volunteer, I've also found that it has helped me understanding volunteers again with a new perspective. A lot changes when you are in the throws of it while trying to recruit, implement and deploy.
In the coming days, I'll share more of what I've learned.
