What’s the best way to handle the management of volunteers in a congregation? Is it better for each program area to do its own recruiting and screening (like it’s always been done), or to move to a more centralized approach for the whole church? This question has been posed to Church Volunteer Central frequently, so we decided to help you see the pros and cons so you can decide what’s best for your church.

Decentralized System

This is the traditional system. It worked fairly well when most churches were small and rural, and people rarely moved. When help was needed, the pastor “drafted” someone to fill the slot. This has emerged into moderate-sized churches with more turnover, in which each program area scrambles to fill its own needs with little or no systematic churchwide planning or recruitment. It’s an every-program-on-its-own mentality.

Pros:

• How it’s traditionally been done, so you don’t have to change your system.
• Has worked fairly well in some smaller churches where everyone knows one another.
• Informal; congregational needs and resources are kept in the hands of the pastor and leaders.

Cons:

• Creates competition among programs for volunteers.
• Not all leaders are good recruiters, especially if they’re new.
• Can and does contribute to burnout—too much is done by too few, for too long.
• Recruitment often ends up “filling slots” instead of identifying and using members’ gifts and talents.
• There’s no overall picture of congregational abilities and needs.
• If a volunteer says no to a request, there’s usually no referral to other program areas.
• Too few are asked to be involved—only tried and true (and tired) pillars.

Centralized System

This is a systematic, intentional congregationwide approach to managing member involvement, adapted from best practices in the secular volunteer-management world. The goal is to assess the needs of the whole congregation, define those needs carefully into ministry opportunities, extend the invitation to serve to the whole congregation, and then caringly interview each member to discover their needs, talents, and passions for ministry. The outcome is matching right people to right ministries, rather than warm bodies filling slots. The underlying principle is to care as much about our people as our programs.

Pros:

• Obtains an overall picture of the congregation’s ministry needs and members strengths. Emphasis is on matching the right person to the right job.
• Members get to explore their individual gifts, interests, and passions before saying yes to a need.
• Ministry descriptions are written to assure all volunteer roles are linked to the mission. Helps ensure that people know what they’re saying yes to and for how long (extremely important today!)
• Members have many more options regarding where and how to serve.
• Moves a congregation beyond the ministry of a handful to living the priesthood of all believers.

Cons:

• Requires commitment from the pastor and congregation to invest the time and resources to make this a priority.
• System must be implemented and maintained throughout the congregation.
• Leaders need to be trained in how to write ministry descriptions, interviews, and evaluations.
• Requires someone to be in charge.
• Change is hard!

As you can see, there are costs and benefits to both approaches. The first question I would ask you regarding how your church is presently handling volunteers is, ”Is it working?” If not—or if it only works for a few, some of the time—you may want to consider a change.

I would urge you, no matter whether you centralize or keep the decentralized approach, that you have the following essential processes in place:

Planning: To define the mission of your church and programs, and how volunteers fit in.

Ministry Descriptions: Defining clearly the tasks to be done, the responsibilities and boundaries, the length of commitment, and training required.

Recruitment: Invite the whole congregation to share in service.

Interview: Have one-on-one conversations to get to know the members, their gifts, and their interests.

Training: Equip members, and especially leaders, to succeed.

Supervision and Evaluation: Provide coaching, feedback, and support to volunteers.

Recognition: Let your volunteers know you notice and appreciate them. Make it personal and plentiful.

Risk Management: For all programs working with children and youth, add background checks to the list.

Sounds like a lot of work…and it is. But it’s worth every second to ensure we provide our members the opportunity to serve our Lord with joy and satisfaction and to grow in their faith in the process.

Marlene Wilson has written and trained on volunteer issues for 35 years. More than a quarter of a million people have attended her workshops.

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