Articles for tag: Volunteers

January 29, 2013

Christian Standard

How Do You Solve the Leadership Challenge?

By Kent E. Fillinger Quality leaders and effective leadership can make the difference in whether a local church or any organization succeeds or fails. So we asked a few dozen leaders from churches of all sizes to tell us how they develop leaders where they serve. (The 43 congregations surveyed have average attendances from 275 to 8,500.) Most of those surveyed (77 percent) said every staff member is responsible to train leaders and volunteers within each of their ministries. Four of the megachurches surveyed have a staff person focused solely on leadership development, yet these churches still rely on a

January 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Get in the Game! Volunteer Anxiety Disorder

By Craig Wilson I thought God and I had a deal that I would never have to go to a hospital to have any form of surgery. I have a very real fear of being put under anesthesia, cut open, and stitched back up like a teddy bear that”s losing its stuffing. I don”t like the idea of an IV needle in my arm, and had never had to have one. Apparently God was not aware of this deal, because there I was, just two days after my 43rd birthday, lying in a hospital bed with an IV in my

January 28, 2013

Christian Standard

Get in the Game! Values, Vehicles, and Victories

By Jim Probst The Pareto Principle highlights the tendency for 80 percent of the work to be done by 20 percent of the people. We”ve all heard of this 80/20 principle, and we often see it as an inescapable rule inchurch cultures. Our beloved 20 percent have the “curse of competence” . . . or at least the “curse of obligation” . . . that fuels the fire to fill the volunteer void again and again. Meanwhile, the under-responsive masses settle into an uninspired consumer Christianity. As this scenario occurs and reoccurs in our churches, we are left with an

January 27, 2013

Christian Standard

Get in the Game! Why I Love Volunteers!

By Eugene DePorter While visiting a church recently, I heard a young preacher say, “I hate volunteers.” It shocked and distracted me so much I wasn”t able to grasp what he was trying to communicate. In my 26 years of ministry at Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, Kentucky, I have depended greatly on the faithful, unselfish efforts of volunteers. They have contributed to helping many people know Jesus, and I will always be grateful for their impact. Most churches appreciate the value of volunteers, but recruiting these servants is a continual challenge. Jesus told his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but

January 12, 2013

Christian Standard

The Knife Wasn”t Even Sharp

By Robert Kitchen One day Vic came into my office to discuss a construction project at our church. Vic is a retired executive from a large machinery manufacturer, gentleman farmer, elder, and willing volunteer. Me? I”m a semiretired accountant, writer, woodworker, elder, and part-time business manager. I said, “Vic, you”re my friend and a willing volunteer. I need some surgery and I think you can do it. Do you have a pocketknife?” Vic knew my off-the-wall manner, so he played along. He pulled out his knife, held it to the light, and said, “It may need some sharpening.” I was

January 2, 2013

Christian Standard

Church Returns Favor by Helping Victims

By Jennifer Johnson In April 2011, Alabama was hit by more than 170 tornados””one of the largest outbreaks of tornadic storms in the area”s history. Although Huntsville (AL) Christian Church“s building wasn”t affected, its community was. “People went without power for weeks, and we used part of our building as a huge food pantry,” says associate minister Andrew Ellingwood. “We get tornadoes every year, and people always pull together. But this was so big we all needed help. Churches across the country sent food and water, and mission teams visited to participate in the cleanup efforts. Every week there was

August 28, 2012

Christian Standard

Church”s Reading Club Prepares Way for VBS

By Jennifer Johnson New Burlington Church of Christ (Cincinnati, OH) is very small””only 50 or 60 people gather for worship each Sunday. But this little church is making a big impact on its community. In June the church launched its Promise Island Reading Club for children entering kindergarten through third grade. Each Thursday morning for six weeks volunteers led activities, tutored children one-on-one, read stories, and provided snacks. The team also built a children”s library for the new program, with more than 100 books bought secondhand or donated, and gave each child a new book bag in which to carry

August 8, 2012

Christian Standard

Church Outreach Extends to Self-Service Laundries

By Jennifer Taylor Once a month, volunteers from Crossroads Christian Church (Lexington, KY) serve others. But instead of washing feet, they”re washing clothes. Brent Barger, outward focus lead pastor at the church, started Crossroads” “Laundry Love” outreach after successfully implementing it at a church plant in northern Ohio. “It”s simple,” he says. “We visit a local self-service laundry on a Saturday morning and do people”s laundry for free.” Each volunteer has a specific assignment, from welcoming customers to keeping track of each person”s laundry to roaming the room with rolls of quarters. They don”t load laundry into the machines””most of

July 5, 2012

Christian Standard

A Ministry to Immigrants in Canada

By Jennifer Taylor “When you first get here, even the most basic things can be difficult,” says Javier Bustillos, who is originally from Cali, Colombia, and lived in the United States before arriving in Toronto, Canada, in 2003. “You don”t know where to shop for food, what school your children should attend, where to live. It”s a confusing time.” Bustillos and a small group of other Spanish-speaking members from Churchill Meadows Christian Church (also in Toronto) began visiting a local shelter to become friends with the refugees and immigrants. “We didn”t begin with a plan,” he admits. “We just listened

January 5, 2012

Christian Standard

BASH Program Offers After-school Help

By Jennifer Taylor Berean Christian Church (Murphrysboro, IL) began its “BASH” program””Berean After-School Haven“”to provide a safe, fun environment for grade-school kids every Wednesday afternoon and evening. Volunteers pick up participating students at school and bring them back to the church for homework time, snacks, games, and dinner. Parents picking up their children are invited to stay for Wednesday night services. This fall the BASH leaders expanded the program to include middle-schoolers. “We did not want to jeopardize the success of our current efforts by making a change for the wrong reasons, but with the new volunteers and commitment from

September 26, 2011

Christian Standard

NACC Crowd Reaction: “˜Spiritually Uplifting”

By Darrel Rowland James and Deborah Dixon had no plans to attend the North American Christian Convention. In fact, they hadn”t even heard of it. They traveled from their home in Indianapolis to Cincinnati just to get away for a few days after July 4th. But when they saw the people crowded around the convention center, they decided to check it out. “It was very spiritually uplifting,” James Dixon said. The couple attends New Life Worship Center in Indianapolis. It wasn”t just the newbies giving two thumbs up to this year”s NACC. “I thought it was fantastic,” said Rich Bowie

August 31, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Uses Flags to Commemorate 9/11

On Sunday, Aug. 28, volunteers at Eastside Christian Church (Fullerton, CA) planted more than 3,100 small white flags in a dirt plot outside the church building. Each of the flags represents an individual who died on Sept. 11, 2001, at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and the plane crash in Shanksville, PA. Floodlights shine on the crosses at night and a sign at the site invites people to attend Eastside”s community memorial services on Sept. 10 and 11.

August 18, 2011

Christian Standard

Volunteers and Paid Staff Are in the SAME Battle

By Susan Lawrence I”ve been a paid ministry staff member and a volunteer ministry leader, and there are things we need to understand about each other. Ministry isn”t a territorial war. Our battles are side by side, not head-on. ________   I”m a volunteer. I”d like paid staff members to understand . . . I want to be included. Invite me to occasional staff planning meetings. Let me be a part of the decision-making and planning process. It keeps me motivated to do ministry. If you simply tell me what has to be done, or assume I already know, I

May 27, 2011

Christian Standard

Common Ground Site for Uncommon Garden

By Jennifer Taylor A few weeks ago, Common Ground Christian Church (Tampa, FL) broke ground on its new community garden. Urban Farming and Kraft Foods” Triscuit brand are sponsoring the garden, providing all the soil, plants, tools, and other supplies; the organizations are collaborating to plant 65 of these gardens around the country this year. The groups kicked off the groundbreaking with a press release and live simulcast of the event, including connections to Triscuit”s headquarters in New York and a new garden in Los Angeles. Common Ground”s “Green Team” of volunteers will care for the garden, and the church

March 23, 2011

Christian Standard

Soul Food

By Jennifer Taylor   Every Thursday, White River Christian Church (Noblesville, Indiana) gives away free bread””and points hundreds of people to the Bread of Life. A few years ago, the church opened a food pantry”””a storage closet, really,” says senior pastor Tim Brock””staffed by 10 volunteers. Today the “pantry” operates from a huge bowling-alley-turned-warehouse next door and feeds hundreds of people each week. “This is now one of the largest food distribution centers in central Indiana,” Brock says. “And we really value the dignity of the people who come for help, so we created a “˜grocery store” environment that allows

January 12, 2011

Christian Standard

VBS Changes Lives

We all have stories of VBS. We can remember the songs we have sung, the crafts we have made and even many of the Bible stories we learned each year, but do you remember the names of the volunteers who gave up their time to help you learn about Jesus and plant seeds that would blossom years later? Do you remember when you first heard about how Jesus loves us or how we can help others? Was it at VBS? Do you have some stories of how VBS affected you or someone you know? Check out www.vbschangeslives.com to read life

January 1, 2011

Christian Standard

Playing It Forward for Families, Churches

By Jennifer Taylor The team from Cartwheels & Coffee has been asked to open new locations in Colorado, Kentucky, and even Portugal. “The best ideas come from creative solutions to problems,” says Chris Barras, lead pastor at Area 10 Faith Community (Richmond, Virginia). The idea was doubling the use of a rented space to both minimize costs and maximize community engagement. When Barras and his team planted Area 10 in 2008, they were fortunate to score the famous Byrd Theatre as a meeting place. But the location had no room for a children”s ministry. “We wanted to have low overhead

June 27, 2010

Christian Standard

Church Ladies Spotted at Strip Clubs

By Jani Lewis Anyone sitting outside a strip club on Wednesday nights in Lexington, Kentucky, is likely to see three or four women piling out of a van with armloads of food and being welcomed by bouncers who yell, “Here come the church ladies!” For five years the managers and owners of these establishments have allowed us to serve a warm, home-cooked meal to the dancers and staff weekly. Not everyone “gets it”””there are folks in our church who don”t understand why we go, and many people inside the clubs who are just as confused by our presence. We go

January 10, 2010

Christian Standard

VBS Changes Lives

By Joni Sullivan Bakerr Read about “Hero HeadQuarters,” Standard Publishing’s all-new VBS program for 2010 You”d think they”d tire of cleaning cookie crumbs and glitter from every imaginable surface of their churches. Tire of the smell of small sweaty bodies and the stickiness of spilled juice. But anytime you get a handful of VBS warriors together to talk about what they do with VBS at their church, you start hearing stories. Seems like everyone”s got at least one. After listening to them for a while, sharing tender laughter and sometimes a surreptitious tear, you realize what it is about VBS

November 8, 2009

Christian Standard

Three Sides of Community Ministry

By John Sloper It”s the economy . . . well, maybe. At Broadway Christian Church in Mesa, Arizona, three separate ministries to help the economically disadvantaged are in place, and two of them began meeting needs long before the current economic downturn. Each has been responding to real needs on the east side of the Valley of the Sun in Arizona. Food Box Begun in the 1980s (its emphasis at first was clothing exchange), the Food Box Ministry has continued to grow and assisted almost 400 families in July 2009 (almost 1,500 individuals). The need has grown dramatically in the

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