By Mark A. Taylor
Not long after I left ministry in the local church to come to the nine-to-five office environment at Standard Publishing, I had an epiphany.
I had taken for granted the volunteers who had helped me at the church.
When I needed them to come to a meeting, they came. When I asked them to teach a class, they taught. When I recruited them to give up time to keep my latest notion from failing, they were there.
Meanwhile, I counted everything I did for the church as part of the job they were paying me for.
Finish planning a lesson on Saturday morning? No problem. I”d have time off the following week.
Stay out late at an elders meeting or training session? No problem. I could come in late one morning to compensate.
Spend most of the day Sunday at the church? No problem. A day off was coming, with no church responsibilities at all.
But when I got to this new job, everything I did for the local church was on my own time. Soon came the realization: Church members offer a significant gift when they walk away from tasks or pleasures at home to make the church”s ministry happen. And many nine-to-five jobs require much more than 40 hours per week. As families grow and parents age, time pressures multiply. Few volunteers at church give their time because they don”t have anything else to do.
I wish I had worked full-time in the corporate world before joining a church staff. I would have had more insight and sympathy for the demands on those I was asking for help. And I would have been more intentional and vocal in thanking them.
(Likely I would have viewed my paid service at the church a little differently too. If we ask a volunteer to work a full-time job and then give 5-15 hours at the church, how can we tolerate a staff member who feels his duty is done after 40 hours on the job?)
Granted, most of us who teach or sing or call or build or serve in any way through the church find great fulfillment in what we do. Most often, volunteering is joy, not drudgery.
And we volunteers don”t work for applause or notice. But it”s still nice to know our sacrifice has been noticed. It”s nice to feel we”re making a difference. It”s nice to be reminded we”re building the kingdom of God, not just keeping some program running.
It”s nice to discover church leaders who find meaningful and creative ways to tell volunteers they matter. Many are getting very good at that.
As we share some of their ideas at our site this month, it”s with a prayer that volunteers in churches everywhere will know the ministry of their local churches couldn”t happen without them.
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