Volunteams

You’ve heard me speak before about my normal Sunday routine. It involves arriving at 5:00 am on Sunday morning and preparing certain aspects of worship. Also, my early morning arrival is a quiet time of centering and preparation for connection with the Holy. This past Sunday, not so much.

Along with my cohort Melissa Burnham, we coordinate 150+ people each Sunday morning. These aren’t staff people — these are volunteers. These are people who give of their time and their talents to further the ministry of the church. These volunteers take care of many small (and not so small tasks) that staff just can’t get to. From picking up the donuts to running the sound and media, these folks are essential to what gets done.

Well, on Sunday, some of our key volunteers were out. Nothing in particular caused these absences to occur. It was just the normal course of life for these people.  For example, one went to visit their daughter in college and the other had plans to get away for the weekend. Some had worked ahead and helped me out during the week so that their tasks were simplified for execution for Sunday morning. For the most part, most folks didn’t notice anything was different — except me.

I depend on many of these volunteer persons to help out in a crisis. And, each week, there is a minor one. Those persons help ensure that we have only minor issues to address and not major problematic meltdowns. While we didn’t have anything major happen, it was a bit unnerving not having my “go-to” people nearby.

As the morning moved forward, I moved from missing my leadership team to watching in awe how well my volunteer team leaders had developed their own team around them and equipped each to serve.  Each of these “volunteams” functioned smoothly with the tasks that were given them. Some weren’t regular team members but were just filling in for Sunday. Some were a part of the regular group but simply added responsibilities. Not a one of them was a staff member. And, only one task was handed off to me, which I was able to complete with relative ease as most of the others tasks were parceled out. It was just great to watch how each assembled team worked together!

I am convinced that the execution of excellent worship involves excellent “volunteams”  that can a) do regular tasks and b) help out in a pinch.

Are you helping create “volunteams?” If so, share your success stories. If not, why not?