Staffing a Small Church with Volunteers
Rev. Dr. Jack L. Daniel
Like the proverbial small school quarterback who plays in the marching band at half-time, the small church pastor has to make quick uniform (and mindset) changes throughout his week. I vividly recall the early days of my one and only pastorate, a 35-year ministry, when the church was small, and we were struggling to come back from the brink of extinction. Along with all of the usual pastoral duties, some Sundays, I would help our elderly custodian shovel the snow, vacuum the carpet, and clean the restrooms. Then, I would lead the singing, conduct the worship service, preach the sermon, and afterward turn off the lights and lock the doors. During the week, I would help our very part-time secretary print newsletters, fold bulletins, stuff envelopes, lick stamps, and then change into work clothes to help paint Sunday school rooms. Of course, none of this is unusual for a small church pastor; it’s just that this is not what we were called to do. While all of these tasks may be necessary in the early days of revitalizing a church, they soon prevent a pastor from doing the real work of revitalizing, which is making disciples and equipping the saints to reach the lost. Like the Apostles in Acts 6, you will realize that “waiting on tables” is keeping you from your true ministry. Eventually, a small church pastor must build a staff who can lead the ministries that will enable the church to fulfill its great commission.
Where to Start
After you have covered the perfunctory roles, such as property management and administration or secretarial, I recommend starting with the essential functions, such as a worship leader and children’s ministry director. I describe these as essential because (1) worship is the primary calling of the body of Christ, and (2) children’s ministry draws young families without whom the church has no future.
How to Start
Obviously, if your church can afford to pay for these first essential staff members. Then do so. However, if you do not (yet) have the resources, recruit volunteers and compensate them in other ways than monetary. Here is how we filled key positions with volunteer staff.
1. Pray. Jesus urged his followers to “pray to the Lord of the harvest to send workers.” Along with your leadership, begin praying earnestly for God to send the workers needed. Often, they come in the form of individuals whom the Lord has specifically drawn to your church in answer to your prayers.
2. Watch. Keep your eyes open to see what your people are already doing well and what they are naturally interested in. An effective pastor must be a keen observer of how his people are identifying, cultivating, and using their gifts.
3. Envision. Most people feel unworthy and incompetent when it comes to serving in a church. Help them envision themselves in the role you have in mind. Tell them why you have confidence in recruiting them. Point out specifically the attributes and skills that you and others have seen in them.
4. Authorize. Endorse gifted, hard-working volunteers by having the leadership vote to “hire” them but make them accountable to you, not to a committee. Give them authority commensurate with their responsibility. For instance, our children’s minister was the chair of the Children’s Ministry committee. As such, she got to choose her committee members—most of whom were either Sunday School teachers or involved parents, all of whom she knew she could work with and rely on. She answered directly to me, and I answered (on her behalf) to the elders. Periodically, she would come to elder meetings and report what God was doing in the ministry.
5. Incentivize. Motivate and support your volunteer staff by letting them set their hours and giving them appropriate titles and realistic job descriptions. Offer adequate on-site workspace and provide the tools they will need. Have an onboarding process before they sign on to help familiarize them with the church’s expectations. Invest in their growth once they start, and budget for continuing education and training opportunities for them.
6. Empower. Inspire volunteer staff by pointing them to Christ and connecting their jobs to the larger ministry and the whole body. Consider the story of the three brick layers who were each asked what he was doing: the first said, “Laying bricks”; the second said, “Building a wall”; the third said, “Creating a cathedral for God.” Cast this broader, higher vision. Have the church leadership commission new staff on a Sunday morning with the laying on of hands, just as in Acts 6:6.
7. Encourage. Build up your volunteer staff; become their CEO, that is, their “chief encouragement officer.” A simple way to do this is to close your routine email or text communications by letting them know concretely and explicitly how well they are doing and how thankful you are for them. Periodically, send handwritten notes of encouragement. At the end of every church year, I would write letters to all of our staff, thanking them for their labors on behalf of Christ and His church. Cite their accomplishments from the pulpit on Sunday mornings (especially do so for those whose service may be “invisible”). Have them take part occasionally in the worship service in appropriate ways so that the congregation gets to know them and see what they are doing.
8. Celebrate. Applaud and commend volunteers by inviting them to regular staff meetings where you hear their reports, coordinate plans, pray with them, and help them troubleshoot problems. Have periodic staff parties at which you just have fun or staff retreats where they are spiritually refreshed. In the early days of our ministry, my wife and I would host a Christmas party at the parsonage for our small staff for fellowship and friendship building. Later, as the staff grew, we organized day-long retreats and an annual overnight staff retreat.
9. Protect. Shield and defend your volunteers from complaints by making it clear to them and the church that they answer to you. Insist that any legitimate concerns come to you first. Never go behind the backs of your team. If you have to discipline someone, do it privately and respectfully, as you would a family member, as Paul wisely says in I Timothy 5:1-2.
10. Challenge. Urge your volunteers to grow their ministries for maximum impact. Our property manager created a team she called “This Old Church,” borrowing from the popular public television show. It was comprised of retired men and women who would gather weekly to maintain our large, 100-year-old building. She had T-shirts and hats printed with the team name and a logo. Every Friday morning, they met over coffee and donuts and then mobilized to tackle repairs and maintenance projects. They clearly enjoyed serving together, and the orderliness of our building gave glory to God.
One of the greatest joys of my ministry was our staff. I especially loved going to church conferences with them. Sometimes, a dozen or more of us would attend a conference together. Other pastors would be amazed and assume that we were a mega-church; little did they know that many, if not most, of our staff were volunteers.
It is not easy to build a good and godly staff in a small church—or any church, for that matter—but it is worth it. When a church staff functions in unity and love as they go about their labors, the result is a powerful testimony to Christ. I believe that unity and love in a church start at the top, among the leadership and the staff, and flow to the membership.
In my next article, I’ll discuss when you need to move from volunteers to paid staff and how to manage the other challenges of staffing a small church.
Jack L. Daniel is Field Director for Overseed, a nonprofit ministry organization whose vision is to revitalize historic New England churches by recruiting, training, and supporting godly pastors to serve in their pulpits. He is Pastor Emeritus of Free Christian Church of Andover and North Andover, MA, a congregational church he pastored for 35 years. Jack holds degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div.) and Andover-Newton Theological School (D.Min. in Pastoral Counseling). Retired from full-time ministry in 2012, he remains passionate about preaching the gospel and coaching younger pastors.
