Developing Church Volunteers Through Mentoring and Discipleship
Developing church volunteers takes more than filling ministry positions. Mark A. Taylor explains how mentoring, discipleship, and hands-on experience help people discover their abilities and prepare for Christian service. By intentionally equipping others while carrying out everyday ministry responsibilities, church leaders can develop committed volunteers who are ready to serve and train others.
- Personal mentoring and discipleship can be among the most effective approaches to developing church volunteers.
- Church leaders can equip future volunteers by involving them in ministry tasks, teaching preparation, and small-group leadership.
- Investing time in a few prospective volunteers can produce capable leaders who are prepared to recruit and mentor others.
By Mark A. Taylor
One of the most time-consuming methods for developing volunteers is also one of the most effectiveโand most overlooked.
Some call it discipleship. Lately the popular word has been mentoring. Both terms describe a similar approach: ongoing, individualized attention to a person for the purpose of helping him or her grow spiritually and discover his call to Christian service.
A number of methods, strategies, and approaches are out there. But I’ll never forget the advice Dr. Steven Hancock gave me and the rest of his Christian education students in seminary many years ago.
“Whenever you do anything in ministry, realize you’re doing it for two reasons,” he said. “The first, of course, is the purpose of the task itselfโmake the call, prepare the lesson, lead a Bible study. The second reason, just as important, is to equip someone else to do that same ministry task on his own.”
Equip Future Volunteers Through Everyday Ministry
In other words, don’t call in the hospital or on a visitor by yourself. Take someone with you who one day can confidently visit the sick or newcomers alone. Your example and debriefing will teach him more than any book.
And don’t just teach Sunday school or facilitate a small group. Recruit someone to study the lesson with you and lead some part of it on his own.
One way to use this approach with prospective teachers is to meet weekly with them to study and prepare together.
Focus especially on what impact each Scripture passage should have on the group you’re leading. How should that Scripture affect their daily lives? What should they learn from it?
Use your prospect in the group session. This may start with leading a prayer or reading the Scripture text out loud. After awhile he or she can introduce the study, research and explain Bible background, or share a testimony. In the process he may discover his own ability to teach and lead others. He’ll experience the joy of ministry in others’ lives. And he’s likely to be ready to lead a group of his own.
Investing Time in Volunteers Who Can Equip Others
Admittedly, this is a volunteer-recruiting method that takes time. But it also gets results. Faced with an overwhelming need for volunteers, many recruiters, especially those in larger churches, can’t fill every slot with this method, especially at first. But if they’ll choose a few prospects to nurture and develop this way, soon they’ll have recruited a few workers who are both committed and qualified.
And that’s not all. Such volunteers will be equipped not only to do their ministry, but to recruit others to do it too!
Author: Mark A. Taylor
Mark A. Taylor, who served as Christian Standard editor from 2003 to 2017, retired in June 2017 after almost 41 years with Standard Publishing (Christian Standard Media).
