Does your church promote a culture that encourages people to serve in ministry? Do the leaders see their job as equippers rather than doers of all significant things? Here’s how you can find out.
Take the following volunteer attitude and behavior survey and reflect on what you discover. Next, copy it and ask some people in your church to complete the survey too. What common themes do you see among responses? Now make this your prayer list—asking God to change attitudes and behaviors that hinder people from finding desirable places of service in your church.
Instructions: Put a check next to each statement that applies to your church as you’ve experienced it. Select statements that reflect what your church actually believes and does, not what they should believe and do.
1___Leaders don’t truly believe that God has called each Christian to do significant ministry.
2___Leaders don’t truly believe that each Christian has a God-given ability, skill, or passion to use in ministry.
3___Paid staff end up doing most of the tasks from the committee meetings they attend.
4___Our church has no organized system for recruiting volunteers and placing them in a role that matches their gifting.
5___Leaders hesitate to work with volunteer because of poor experience in the past.
6___Paid staff members seem to fear that they’ll lose their positions if they don’t do all the work themselves.
7___Church leaders seem to feel that volunteers are unreliable.
8___Our leaders believe that using volunteers creates more work than it’s worth.
9___The church seems unresponsive when it comes to volunteers’ suggestions, input or ideas.
10___Pastors and/or ministry leaders prefer to accomplish tasks on their own.
The items check above may help you determine directions for culture change to make your church more volunteer friendly.
