If you are just jumping in, we’re in the middle of a series about identifying and involving new leaders. Check out part 1 and part 2 for more background.

It has been my experience in the church that people overwhelmingly want to help, feel good when asked to help, and say “yes” if they can commit. So why do so many in church leadership have a hard time finding enough volunteer leaders?

Many churches struggle to raise up leadership because of systemic issues. Here’s one (certainly not THE) system to begin to identify potential leaders:

First, look for people with growing involvement. Potential volunteer leaders usually are involved in one or more other facets of the life of the organization. Look at these factors:
a) Are they regular attendees in worship?
b) Are their children regularly involved?
c) Are they a part of a community group?
d) Are they giving financially on a regularly or increasing frequency (note I didn’t say anything about an amount)?

Second, keep and use up-to-date, accurate records. You should have some system for tracking group participation, children’s ministry attendance, and financial giving. Compile those records into similarly formatted Excel or Numbers spreadsheets. Come up with a criteria to assess what constitutes regularity (you want to allow guests time to engage and non-Christians or young Christians some time to grow). Then filter and cross reference your lists.

Third, get a second (and third) opinion. Ask another staff person and/ or a couple trusted volunteer leaders to look at your list. Ask for feedback. They may know something that is going on in someone’s life that you don’t, but is a factor. They may also know others that should be on the list that are not on it.

Fourth, divide up the list and begin to make contact. Have staff and trusted leaders call potential leaders to discuss the possibility of becoming a leader. This is also a wonderful way to (re)connect with people in the church, see how life is going, and even share the vision. These calls are part recruiting, part discipleship opportunity, part pastor care, and part vision casting. Remember that you are presenting an opportunity for them to have a front row seat as Jesus changes lives. Don’t be shy!

Check back for part 4 to discuss how to make contact and what to say.

The question that faces many churches is, “How do you find and involve volunteer leaders?” In part 1, we looked at how to identify and ask a leader to serve. But what happens when you’ve exhausted the list of “natural born leaders”?

First, leading is form of discipleship. Those that will be volunteering to lead will grow in their faith as the Holy Spirit uses their preparation and time in their position. Be careful to avoid just asking people to serve because they can do something for you. Serving is a way to help people grow to be with and like Jesus while fulfilling the mission of the church.

Second, assess your current situation. Create a chart in Excel or Numbers, broken out by area, group, and/ or role. Then plug current leaders into that chart. Now you can easily identify immediate needs. But knowing your current situation and where there are holes is only part of the plan.

Third, look down the road six months. Identify and create a chart for what you believe you will need for the next season of ministry. Are you growing? How fast? Do you foresee splitting groups or roles in the near future? Put actual positions (they’ll be blank at this point) into you chart. I like to add my future needed positions to my chart of current leaders. This helps me see it all at once. I just color code or label future needs uniquely.

Forth, evaluate current leadership. This isn’t being mean or judgmental. Take a look at who is serving where and how faith and effective they are. Are they a great fit? Would they be a stronger fit in a different group, role, or even department? I highlight in a specific color those who want or need to move from their current roles.

All of this doesn’t actually get any more leaders into your vacant spots, but at least you have an accurate picture of the current and future situation and needs. Now it’s time to start praying and being a recruiter (as we’ll discuss in the next post- part 3).

One of the questions that I get asked all the time is, “How do you raise up volunteer leaders?” It’s a great question… if we’re all talking about the same thing.

If you just want a warm body in a room of kids to keep them from running off or killing each other, that’s one thing (personally, I’d suggest raising the bar a bit).

A different tactic is needed if you want highly qualified and motivated leaders who will take ownership and really invest in developing relationships with families that will lead them toward a growing relationship with Jesus. This is who we want leading at Access Church. This is who we will focus the next few posts on.

First, leaders are already leading, but maybe not in a formal role in your organization. Look for who is already gathering people together socially, managing projects or people at work, starting a new company or venture, or has unique talents like creativity or detail-orientedness (is that a word?). This requires spending time with and knowing people in your organization.

Second, leaders don’t always volunteer themselves. You may need to build a relationship and then ask them to join the team. Remember that a leader wants to lead and usually leads out of a strong sense of purpose. This means you need to be prepared to articulate a clear mission, purpose, vision, and win so that the leader will be a partner going with you in the same direction. You’ll also need to have a specific role prepared for them.

Don’t forget it means that you’ll need take a risk to trust them to actually lead. It means risking they may fail or they may do things differently than you.

You may also end up surrounded by people who are better than you… how awesome would that be!

Come back for the follow up posts on actual, practical strategies to identify and recruit leaders (we’ll save training them for another discussion).

Each Monday our staff gets together and asks, “What made you feel like you accomplished your win this past week?” Here’s an email I was cc’d on from a mother of an elementary age girl to her daughter’s small group leader…

“…You continue to make a positive difference in the lives of the Ekern family.

So in case you ever wonder…is this worth it…am I making a difference…the answer is YES!… Have a great day!”

If you serve in Family Ministry and ever wonder if you are really making a difference, you are! Don’t believe the deceiver’s lies that you are just a volunteer or that you don’t matter or that you’re not good at what you do. You are chosen, called, and being used by our great God and Savior, Jesus, as he redeems families!

If you aren’t serving at Access or in your local church, please take the leap of faith to get involved. I promise you won’t regret it!

I don’t think I’ve talked to anyone recently who has said, “I have way too much time on my hands and not enough to do.” We all seem to be incredibly busy… busy doing the best things is a whole other discussion for another time. So many of us seem to be doing a ton of things, but are we pursuing the most important things? Are we going after things that make us feel strong (Marcus Buckingham)?

If you’re like me, I imagine you find yourself saying, “I don’t have time to ___________”

I don’t have time to…
…exercise, pray daily, eat well, play with my kids, go on a date with my spouse, cultivate friendships, get all the home projects done, relax, have a hobby, read a book (or The Book), do everything I have to do at work, or volunteer.

Two things that I’ve said that I don’t have time for (professionally speaking) is reading/ studying and taking time to think/ dream. Jeff Henderson, Campus Pastor at Buckhead Church, talked about the importance of those two things at a meeting I was at a few weeks ago.

I love how those two things were things I had written down weeks earlier as needing to spend time on, but feeling like I had no time to do them in my day.

So I just put them into my iCal as repeating appointments each week. And guess what, I’ve had time to do them! All it took was permission to do them (thanks Jeff) and the tools to make them a priority (thanks Apple).

Try this:
1. Write down two things that you believe are important to your job, family, or quality of life that you aren’t currently doing each week?
2. Hear me say, that you have permission to pursue those critical aspects or tasks.
3. Go put them into your calendar so that the time is blocked out and your will be reminded of them.
4. Tell someone your doing this. Accountability is huge!
5. Just do it.

Send us all a link to your latest pics.

No, there is no dilemma over whether to let Gavin & Sophie trick-or-treat this weekend. The real question is whether you think costumes should be “store-bought” or “homemade”. We’re a homemade costume family. Gavin and I are making his costume- a jet plane. We still have to paint it. Sophie is some mix of a ballerina/ princess.

So, which is it? Are you a homemade or store-bought costume crew? What are you or your kids going as this year?

Bonus question: what kind of candy do you give out? Who gives out full size candy bars?

In the medieval times, the Roman Catholic Church said “there is no salvation outside of the church.” This came to be understood that apart from the Roman Church, one was not saved. The implications of this have been that some believed that salvation was primarily mediated by the church, not by Jesus. The scriptural reference made is to Matthew 16:17-19. This is often where the Roman Church goes to substantiate Peter as the first pope.

As the world moved into the late 15th and early 16th centuries, modernism, rationalism, and scientific methodological thought began to take hold culturally. The reformers began to question if salvation was primarily tied to the Church or to Jesus. Romans 3:21-26 and other passages clarified biblical teaching pointed to salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone as taught in scripture alone.

Though correct theologically, many were influenced culturally that you could be a Christian without the church. We see this even today. It is often taken to the post-modern extreme that all that matters is that “I believe” without regard to a community of faith or any particular faith. This led many people to argue they could know and follow Jesus without having to be a part of a church.

The question is, if the Bible describes Jesus a the Head of the Church and the Church as his body, can you have the head without the body?

Anatomically speaking, that’s impossible. Any head without a body is either dead or a carnival, freak show. Either way, you can’t have a growing, healthy life with a head and body separated. The church (the body) cannot exist apart from Jesus (the Head), and the Head does not exist apart from the body.

So, yes, you can technically believe in Jesus and go to heaven without being involved in a church. But its impossible to be a Christian and ignore the body of Christ. If your goal is to get to heaven, then sure, I guess you could have the Head without the body. But you’ll miss out on a John 10:10 life here and now. You’ll miss out on so many aspects of Jesus’ grace for you now. And you’ll miss out on being used by God for his glory in the redemption of this world by his mission through his Church.

Bottom line: I can’t imagine having the head without the body. I can’t imagine loving Jesus and not his bride. I can’t imagine being with Jesus and not his people. I don’t want to go to church without YOU!

What do you do when you get frustrated?
- Bottle it up and pretend its ok?
- Make yourself physically sick?
- Get irritable and snap at people for little things?
- Go into “git ‘er done” mode?

Have you ever laid it on the line with God? Have you ever told him how you really felt? Have you put aside all of the churchy formulas and old English language, and just put it all out there?

I’m not saying to be disrespectful to God. But if I’m not telling God the whole story, if I’m not saying it how it really feels, then I’m withholding, playing games, and being dishonest with God. I’m covering up and actually lying directly to God. Do you think God wants to be lied to or met honestly and openly?

The Psalms are a great example of this. Take a look at Psalm 109:9-19 for a particular example.

I don’t know what may have you frustrated today. Maybe its time to get honest with ourselves and our Heavenly Father about it. Because of Jesus we have full access to God that is based on faith, not acting or sounding good.