In this issue:

Setting Goals and Meeting Expectations with a Volunteer Staff

I have heard it said that the closest vocational parallels to pastoral ministry are that of a hospital administrator and a school principal.  This is primarily because schools and hospitals are usually run by a staff of paid employees and a group of volunteers.  Working with both adults and students, I visit both hospitals and schools frequently, so I can confidently say that while I see a few similarities, pastoral ministry is unlike anything else.  I recognize that the helpful woman at the hospital reception desk is most likely a volunteer or the man working the concession stand at the basketball game is part of the booster club, but not much is asked of them, the job is pretty self-explanatory, and the expectations are pretty low.

At the church I serve we estimate that it takes sixty people to “make a Sunday morning happen.”  This is everyone from the guy who unlocks the doors to the man who makes the coffee to those who teach and preach God’s Word.  Now, before you go and say something like, “Hey, I thought this was Average Church that sounds pretty big to me,” don’t worry.  We are not a large church.  It just takes a lot more man-power than most people ever realize to do many of the things that happen at a church.  For us, of our sixty people, only six of them are paid anything to do what they do.  Like you, we depend on volunteers and lay leaders.  Our “staffs” are made up of people with a limited amount of time, varying commitment levels, differing skills and abilities, and wide range of ideas about what success looks like.

All of this leads me to ask the question, “How do you set goals and have expectations when the majority of people working and serving alongside you are volunteers?”  In attempting to answer this question, I will break it into two categories.  First, we will discuss the kinds of expectations we should have for our volunteers and the goals we should set for them.  Secondly, we will see how those expectations and goals translate into ministry and the stewardship of the Gospel.