Let me say that the reason that I am bringing these four areas to your attention is not because I’ve done well as a church employee in these areas…but rather, these are areas that I’ve failed in, struggled with, and have had to crash and burn a lot to come to this place of rethinking them.

So I began with meetings on Wednesday.

Today…

VOLUNTEER EXPECTATIONS
Nothing has bothered me more recently than this issue. I think that for the most part, our expectation of volunteers is often unhealthy, and puts them in places of ministry and service without a clear boundary.

Let me keep is short and simple. By this, I mean that we just often ask of our volunteers too much, without taking into consideration the rest of their lives. We assume that they eat, think and breathe church as much as we do, but I have found that is not true. Volunteers actually have a home, family and life outside of church, with lots of other responsibilities. While often our entire job is up at church, thinking of needs we have for volunteers, without much consideration of what is demanded.

When I was single I knew less of what family life required. When I was married I started to gain a better perspective. But when we had a baby, wow, I had a whole new appreciation for the demands of family life, and the necessity to help set clear and appropriate expectations of our volunteers, without asking them to sacrifice their families on the altar of ministry…which unfortunately many of us church employees do. Continue Reading…