 Okay, welcome back everybody to our second lecture on BC310 Church and Ministry Administration. Thank you for being on the class today. We're talking today about volunteer management. We've just gone through an initial part of this lesson. I see a question from Roshan about, a question is, is Stephen in Acts an example of a volunteer? So answer is yes, Roshan. So you'd find in the New Testament, Stephen, the seven leaders who were appointed to serve food in the early church. And then of course, a lot of other people who came alongside Paul. It's very likely they all just volunteered, worked with him. I'm not sure in what way they were provided for. We know that Paul did provide for himself and part of his team. He writes about that in Acts 20 in 1 Thessalonians 2. But then there are also others who just served willingly. And so these people in Acts chapter six were appointed to serve at the tables for most likely just volunteers. Yeah, all right. Any other questions? Any other thoughts here before we move forward? Okay, let's go to the notes. So yeah, so what I was just saying when we were closing off the previous lecture is this whole volunteer thing is a huge blessing to the church. Not only in terms of people doing things at the church, for the church, but it just builds a big sense of community in those teams when people are able to work with each other and spend time with each other. For example, I know, and some of you on the call here actually have been our volunteers at ABC. So you know what it happens. And think of the worship team, all the people who volunteer in the worship team, they have their own times out, they go for their retreats, they go for their things out. So this just builds a sense of community, the setup team, so the people who do all the setup sounds up for them. This is a close community. They go out for lunch and things like that, you know, they work together in the church, but then they all go out and go out for lunch together very often. And then, of course, from the church side, also we encourage that by providing for them certain things. So in many of these teams, because people are working together, it's a big community. The youth leaders, so the youth ministry has a lot of youth leaders, volunteers. So again, they spend time together. They meet in different homes. Sometimes they just meet to worship and so on. And so there's this good, great community. Of course, they're also serving together. So just from what we can observe, volunteer teams are a great place to build community. Of course, people have to be willing to be involved and then they experience a great community happening. All right, let's pick up here now. So once you enlist volunteers, so you get to keep the sign up process very simple. Okay, let me pause here. Let me just go to our church website and just show you the sign up page. Some of you may have already seen it, but I think it's good for me just to quickly share that just for you to get an idea. All right, so if you go to our church website, we have Connect and we have Volunteer. So if you go there, we just have a little, very easy thing, an easy page here to sign up. If you can enter your mobile number and if you're already in your mobile number, your name, your address, email address, sorry, which location you are, what's your age and where do you want to serve? Just click, click, click, click, sign up. So this immediately, this email goes to our service coordinator in that location, which location you choose. And that person will get in touch with you. So very simple, straightforward form for people to sign up and let us know they'd like to serve. Okay, go to the PDF now. So once you, you know, once people sign up, they need to know very clearly what do they need to do? What are the specific tasks? What do they need to have? The skills, the abilities or so on. What are the policies and guidelines? And how do they report and how they're held? How are they going to be held accountable? So example, if you're a, if you sign up, if somebody signs up to be an Usher, you know, the ushering head in that location will, you know, get them enlisted and will explain to them, you know, hey, for the, for the service that starts at 1030, you need to be here by 10 o'clock. And this is how, you know, we organize our teams, the, the hold the ushering team is organized. We need to cover all the sections of the auditorium. And this is what we do. You know, we need to guide people to the front seats, occupy the seats from the front. Then there are the responsibility serving, you know, if you serve communion, if somebody's forgotten, take their communion elements, receiving the offering, giving the welcome, first time visitor bags, if there are new believers, giving them the new believers back, you know, when there is hands or if there's an altar call guiding people down to the altar, taking care of them there, those kinds of things. So these are all the responsibilities of the ushers. So they will be, you know, informed about that other than, you know, just being cordial, kind and gentle, not much other, you know, skills are required from the ushering team, just guiding people. And accountability is, look, if you, you know, whatever time, you know, if you come into once a month or twice a month, you need to be there on those Sundays. If you cannot make it for a reason, you need to find, you know, swap with somebody else. That's your responsibility. You need to keep the team leader informed. So all these things, you know, we've put it down in documents that are available here for various teams. So it's easy now we can just walk them through the document and they will understand, you know, what they're supposed to do for that particular volunteer role. So it makes it very clear they know what to do and whom to report to what is, what they're going to be held responsible for, right? Now, some other thoughts here about volunteers is it's a great way also like we were saying to, you know, strengthen the health of the local church community and wherever possible to engage people across age groups at different generations. Now, you know, it may not be, you know, it may not be available in all settings, but wherever possible, you know, try to mix people together. You know, that is young people and old people, you get them all together, mix them. So then it's a great way to build relationships between all age groups and they're all serving together, they're all working together in that particular ministry area. You know, so I think about it and wherever possible, intentionally bring people from different ages together from even different backgrounds, bring them together so that they could, you know, really build that sense of community, great opportunities for all ages, backgrounds to volunteer and tap into the strengths of each generation, demography. You know, people bring in their different skills, their knowledge, experience. So you tap into that in various areas of ministry. And yeah, and like I said, it's, you know, when we give people opportunity to work together across generations, it's a great experience of learning and mentoring. You know, so just putting them together to serve helps. So think about that, be intentional wherever possible about demographics and strengthening local church community. Part of the orientation, you know, when you're welcoming new volunteers, of course, they're introduced to the team and nowadays, you know, many of them are set up in email groups and WhatsApp groups and that's how team leaders are being coordinated within those teams, so they introduce teams. They understand the values. This is what happens. So for example, for Children's Church once a year, there's a training that happens usually end of May. Where, you know, the pastors of the Children's Church would take all the people who have signed up to volunteer children, so they'll take them through, you know, various guidelines and so on. And this is how we're going to work together. So you're sharing of values and practices and so on. And so this understanding this culture is very important. And also, you know, keep in mind that many of these volunteers are coming from professional backgrounds, so they expect things to be run in a very professional way, right? So if they come to a church volunteer team and they see things poorly done, it could actually turn them off. They'd say like, hey, I can't work in this kind of environment because they are so used to working in a professional environment, but everything's, you know, done efficient, in many cases, things are done efficiently. Things are done well. People are serious about their work. And if they come into a setting where people are very lax, people are very indifferent, they just, then they won't like to serve there. So we need to, that the culture that we create, that look, we are volunteers, but we are striving for excellence. We are volunteers, but we are really committed to what we're doing. We are volunteers, but we really want to, you know, give the best for the congregation, for the people we are serving. So when they come into that kind of a culture, they are also energized. You know, they're like, wow, I love to work in this kind of a team. These people are doing their best. I want to do my best for the Lord. You know, otherwise they may be turned off and they may not come back. So that culture that is established in the volunteer team, among all the volunteer teams, is very important. And, yeah, we already mentioned about the policies and guidelines. We picked them through that. In our volunteer staff guidelines, we emphasize personal life example. That means as a volunteer, your personal example is very important because people are going to be watching you. You know, yes, you're a volunteer, but the moment you decide to serve as a volunteer, you become very visible. People can see you. And so your personal example is very important. Then how you relate to people, other people in the community is very important. So that those relations, and then how do you relate to the leaders? That's also important. So we, in our volunteer guidelines, we address these three areas. Your personal life example, you're relating to the church community and you're relating to the leaders who are appointed in those areas. So they're very clear that this is what is expected of them, that, you know, in these three areas, we've got to be exemplary and, you know, conduct yourself in a certain way. So it's important to clarify these policies. And of course, you can download and modify it for your own local church, but it's available here. And then, like we said, you train volunteers for different things, depending on which area they're going to be involved in, because we want to do everything well. You know, the performance, the quality, the teams need to be trained and they need to pursue excellence. So the training is important. They need to understand everything we do. We have to have excellence. You know, so even if it's the media team doing presentation, you know, I give feedback. If I see a spelling mistake, then Monday they'll get an email from me saying, hey, there was a spelling mistake on one of those things that were projected. Now, I don't do it because I want to knock people down, but I do it because I want to emphasize to them that everything matters. When we project songs, lyrics, spelling has to be right, you know, or whatever we do, those kinds of things. So constantly in every area, you know, wherever I see something, feedback is given, others are also welcome to give feedback. Team leaders hopefully do give feedback. The worship team doesn't review right there on the stage after the worship team, after the worship time, and they all get together, they review what happened so that they can learn immediately from that whole worship experience, what went right, what went wrong, how did God move, did we follow God in his, as he was saying. So they do that little check. So like that, that whole sense of, look, we got to work together well is created as part of the culture. And, you know, we need to be very aware, especially the volunteer team leaders, you know, what are the skills needed for this role? How can people learn them? How do we impart it to them? And how can we give them the practical learning opportunities, especially, you know, if it has to do with things they have to do hands on, then you give them those opportunities, you know, this is how you set it up, this is how you connect things and also so that those those training, that training needs to happen. So keep in mind that, you know, people learn in, there's just a little side note here, people learn in very different ways. There are those who like to learn through pictures and those who like to learn sound and those who like to hear through listening and those like through doing and those who like reasoning and those who like working in groups and those who like to do it on their own. So they're just this whole range of, you know, learning styles, learning types. So depending on where we are training people, provide as much stimuli as possible so that people can learn well. Now, how do we engage volunteers? You know, keeping volunteers properly engaged is also very important, right? Now, keeping them motivated, they shouldn't come and do it like a job or they shouldn't do it like, oh, man, I'm supposed to do it. So that's why I'm doing it. Now, how do they should come with passion? They should come with seal and they are coming to serve in the church or in the ministry. How do you keep them? So, you know, remember for volunteers that it's an opportunity to engage in Kingdom work and ministry. So this is a big motivator. Hey, I'm actually getting an opportunity to serve God. As a volunteer, that's a big motivator and that needs to be reinforced. We are serving God. We're not serving an organization. We're not serving, yeah, we're not, you know, it's not, there is an organization, but this is beyond organization. This is serving God. This is serving God's Kingdom. So that must be emphasized rather than the local church or the pastor or so on. Then the vision and mission is also important that what they're doing is serving what God has put upon the community. This the mandate God has given that they're connected to it, that I am part of this vision. I'm part of making this happen. You know, so doing things that connect people to that is very important. We'll talk about some ways to do this. And they're contributing meaningfully towards the vision of the organization. They need to see how, you know, what I am doing is making a difference in the overall vision. You know, if you're leading worship, you're greeting people, you're welcoming new people, you're ushering, or you are serving in children's church, you're serving in teens church, you're serving the youth, whatever. And it's contributing towards what's happening and that needs to come from a leader. You know, if you thank them, if you kind of, you know, in a very simple way, it does not be a long sermon, but simple ways that, hey, what you are doing is helping in this, fulfilling this overall vision. Then, you know, they see the connect and that energizes people. Also, you know, it's a growth and a learning for some, for many of them. You know, that means they are learning some new skills, you know, they may come, they may not know how to handle a camera, but as a volunteer and they're saying, hey, I'm willing to learn, they are learning a skill. They are learning how to handle a camera. They are learning how to do live stream. They are learning how to handle audio or whatever, you know, so that is also a great motivator. Hey, I'm learning something which I won't learn in my workplace or I didn't learn in school or college. I'm getting to do something here. And then, for those who are able, they can serve as leaders and they can, you know, bring that expertise in, in making decisions and that's valuable. So, you know, so they volunteer and they're able to share from their learning, their experience and so on. And another thing, it may not be relevant for everybody, but for some people, hey, they start out as volunteers, but it could lead to a full-time paid position in the church. And that's for, you know, for many of our people, many of the staff who are working for the church today, many of them started as volunteers. They were serving as a volunteer and then we just reached out to them and said, hey, would you like to work for the church full-time? And, you know, in many cases, they just transitioned from being a volunteer to being a church staff. So, and, you know, that's something we really like to do because it has given us the opportunity to really understand that person when they were serving as volunteers, you know. And honestly, today when I look at the volunteers, you know, they're like, at least like 15 people, I'd love to hire and say, you know, just work for the church. But I can't do that, of course, because they're all, they're already doing certain things in life. But I really love to have those people be full-time with church because of the passion in which they serve, because, you know, they're hard towards God and the way they serve, you know. So it's so when people are volunteering, it's a great opportunity to see where they are, to see, of course, the skill, the expertise they have, and at the same time, their passion for God. And then, you know, when you bring them as church staff, you're totally comfortable because you've already got to see them as people. So we, yeah, some other things is, you know, you create opportunities for them to contribute meaningfully, have a clear schedule. And of course, one thing that I always look out for and, you know, tell others to look out for us, we don't want to overwork them, right? We don't want them to feel like man churches tired me out and burnt me out, you know. So, you know, so we try to say, hey, just, you know, maybe volunteer once a month or twice a month, or, you know, just try to look out for them. You don't want people to get burned out, you know. On their own, if they want to do it, you know, volunteer every Sunday, of course, that's their choice. But then you still look out that make sure that they don't get overworked or burnt out, or they shouldn't get spiritually drained while they are serving. So that's something to keep an eye on. Okay. Now, there is software that, you know, that you use to track people, information, so on. We will cover that in, you know, I might show that later this course, or I will definitely look into it in our course next month. The next semester on media and technology, we'll get into that. Now, changing things a little bit, one big area, okay, let me pause to see if there are any questions. Everyone's together? Any questions so far? All good? Okay. So one big thing we have to keep in mind is the relationship between volunteers and staff. So this is an area we have to manage very well, right? So we have staff, people are working for the church full-time, they're 40 hours a week, they are in charge of ministry areas, a lot of things. And then you have volunteers who are coming in, who are serving. They're also wonderful people. But how they work together is so important. And this is a big area to think about and to manage very carefully, right? Because if this breaks down, then I would say it's really bad. It's really bad. You cannot afford to have this relationship between staff and volunteers break down. They need to be working together very well, right? So what are some things to keep in mind? First of all, the church staff should understand volunteers, right? Volunteers come in many different shapes and sizes, meaning that our volunteers are really passionate and they're volunteers like we're half-hearted. And then they are volunteers, sometimes they may have their own personal agendas. So you just have all those kinds of things. And here you have church staff who are already full-time with the church and they have to get things done and they have to work with volunteers. So they need to understand, hey, they are volunteers. You can't push them, this is how much you can expect from them. Take care of them, treat them well, so on and so forth. So that has to go into the understanding of the church staff. And then there has to be trust, respect, and it's honoring each other for their work. So the volunteers should learn to appreciate church staff and the church staff should learn to appreciate the volunteers, right? So there has to be this respect for each other. That's important. And then creating that sense of teamwork, harmony, and so on. So you encourage that by, hey, guys, go out together for lunch. Guys, have a day out or whatever. Different teams can do things or just have lunch together, things like that. So you create that sense of, hey, we are together. Yeah, we have so much of church staff, some are volunteers, but we are a team. So you try to create that understanding. We are together, we have to work. And then communication is very important. That we clearly, meaningfully and in a very transparent way, communicate with staff and volunteers. Now if sometimes we don't communicate with volunteers, we think, hey, they don't need to know. But sometimes if volunteers are well-informed, they feel part of the organization. And then they feel like, okay, I belong. Just the fact that they have been informed makes them feel belonging, belong, that they belong to the organization. So that communication, how we communicate, how we keep them informed, so on, is also very important. And if there is a breakdown, then address the matter as soon as possible. Something goes wrong. Sometimes it's just a little misunderstanding. Sometimes something, some small thing went wrong. Okay, confusion. Immediately address that because you have to protect the relationship between this church staff and the volunteers. It has to be good relationship because everybody has to work together peacefully. Everybody has to work together as a team. And so the moment you find something going wrong, hey, try to sort it out. So as a pastor or as pastors, leaders, this relationship is something that you have to watch over and care for. Now, how can you identify if something is going wrong? Sometimes people don't know who's supposed to do what. And this happens, okay, the volunteers think, hey, church staff, he should do it on a Monday or a Tuesday because he's working full-time. He has to do it. And the staff says, no, no, that volunteer. So there's little confusion. Okay, who's supposed to do it? So that clear assigning of work and responsibility, okay, this has to be done by the staff and this will be done by the volunteers. Okay, suppose they're not cooperating on joint projects. So you told them, okay, guys, work on this together, but they're actually, sorry, but they're actually not working together. Then there's a problem. Or if they're knocking down each other's ideas, they're not receiving ideas from each other. Okay, or that came from a volunteer staff puts it down. Or that came from a staff volunteer puts it down. So then they're not receiving each other's ideas and suggestions. No, so if you see that kind of a thing, hey, no, let's be open. We need to create a culture where ideas and suggestions can come from anybody, whether it's a staff or a volunteer, everybody's welcome to give their ideas. And if it's a good idea, we will do it. So we have to keep that open and create that kind of a culture. Or if people are having secret meetings amongst themselves, staff go off and they have their own meeting. They don't communicate back to the volunteers and volunteers do their own meeting. They don't communicate back to the staff. Then that's an indication of a problem. They're not sharing information with each other. They're not communicating directly, but they're going through other means. The volunteers are asking the staff as a leader may speak to somebody else, somewhere else to get information. Okay, all these things are indicated that the relationship is broken down. And then using us and them language, the moment I hear our staff talking like that, I say, hey, no, you cannot, you can't talk like that. We are one team. Volunteers and staff, we are one team. It should be us, we. So that's the language we use. Or if they're becoming territorial, this is my territory. You can't come here. I'm doing it. So these are all things, just symptoms that if you see these kinds of things happening, then you know that there's a breakdown in the relationship between the church staff and the volunteers. And you need to address things. Most importantly, don't even let it come to this stage. Shouldn't come down. The moment there's a problem, try to address it, try to sort it out. So as a pastor, you need to be talking to the church staff or the team leaders, checking how things are going to keep a tab on the pulse of what's happening. Yeah, things okay, fine. So regularly, how are things going? How is everybody doing? Teams okay? Any problems? Things like that. So you keep in touch, then you can recognize. If there's anything going wrong, address it. And of course, when there's something wrong, find out what went wrong. Why was the problem? Why was it caused? And how do we fix it? What can we do to fix it? Do it as soon as possible in that situation. Last few thoughts here. It's good to give feedback to the teams on a regular basis. That how people are doing, give feedback, communicate. And so you communicated the same way. So if I find a problem, I treat the staff and the volunteers who are involved the same way. So, hey guys, this is a problem we have to fix. It's not like staff has to fix it or volunteers have to fix it. No, we have to fix it. So that way, like everybody knows that look, the team is considered as a team, whether it's made up of staff or volunteers, they treated equally, they held responsible equally, they shared their blame equally, and they shared the applause equally. Everything is equal. So you commend them equally. If somebody, a team does well, hey, just commend all of them, staff and volunteers. Thank all of them. So that way you're giving them feedback and so on. Then always show appreciation. So some of the things that we do is we have once a year, what we call as a volunteer appreciation day. We've been doing it for many, many years, I guess for a long time now. Once a year, we give a special thank you gift to all the volunteers who served the previous year, six months, at least six months. So we give them a gift just to say thank you. We have a lunch and all of those things. So volunteer appreciation. The other way is you kind of appreciate various teams. So we say, hey, we tell the team leaders, you can take your team out for lunch twice a year, take them out for lunch. Of course, we couldn't do it the last two and a half years, but generally it's okay. Take your teams out for lunch. Just say thank you to them at a team level. Then just different ways on an ongoing, almost every Sunday, just go around walking thanking people. Thank you for serving. Thank you for doing what you're doing. Appreciate it. So at a personal level, people's out there. I'm being appreciated for what I'm doing. And then we have all these big things, the volunteer appreciation day, the lunches for the various teams, their own retreats, their own days out, just to say thank you for what you're doing. It costs money, but if you think about it, whatever you spend for a gift or for a lunch, it's nothing compared to all the hours of effort and energy that people are putting in to serve. So it's more than worth it doing these things. And yeah, so some things to think about in today's world, especially, is that you can leverage technology for volunteers to engage remotely. They can serve. And also when volunteers are serving cross-culturally, you need to sensitize them to local customs and so on, culture and customs. So these are potential opportunities to think about when you, in today's world, especially because of technology, that you could have volunteers serving from different places as well. Okay. So that brings us to the end of this lesson. I'm going to pause here. Let's see if there are any questions, any things we would like to discuss. So today we talked about volunteer management, taking care of our volunteers who serve in church or in the Christian ministry. Let's open this time for questions, discussions. Can I ask Pastor? Go ahead, please. So many come to volunteer, but some come out of their calling, some come out of there just a willingness to serve. But with due course of time as they serve, they lack that commitment or they lack that zeal. And they do because sometimes they feel that they're serving God or they are serving the church. So they don't want to back out, but they don't have that commitment. They continue just because of some personal unsurability or sin. So how can we motivate people who show lack of commitment or they feel a bit weary in their serving? Yeah. So I think what the volunteer team leader should typically, the volunteer team leader is the one who can observe these things. And some of the things that we can do, one is to encourage them to take a break. So sometimes people feel tired and we should encourage them to take a break. And I know over the years, we've told people or people in the worship team, they said, I'm taking a break for three months. I'm taking a break for six months. And it's not bad. It's just that like you said, they may feel very tired or they feel over committed or they may be going through a season in life when a lot of other things are happening in the background in their own life. And so they need to take a break. So that is one thing that can be done if that is the cause that they're just feeling tired, they're feeling burnt out. They're still coming, they're showing up, but they're not there with zeal and passion. Maybe they're tired. Maybe they need spiritual input. So that means they have been so involved in doing work that they have drained themselves out spiritually. And so they need to be refreshed and renewed in just their understanding of God, of His calling, of His kingdom. So then again, we say, hey, you need to do that. So one of the things we emphasize, especially for those who are serving in children's church and teen church, because they tend to miss the main service because they're out there serving. And so I try to write from beginning, I think, right from the early days, 2002, 2003, those years, I should emphasize, please go and listen to the sermons. Please go and keep yourself spiritually built. Because this obvious reason, they miss out on the worship. They miss out on the main where people are together. So sometimes they said they have lost that focus. And they're still coming. But spiritually, because of them missing out on the main service for so long, they could feel a little disconnected and disoriented in that sense. So that's another area. And sometimes it's just that something has changed. In life, life's responsibilities has taken over. And then I think it's good that the team leader recognizes it and advises them to take a break. And of course, if they're not keeping their commitment and it's impacting what's happening, then if they're not really committed, they're not doing it with the wholeheartedly, it will affect the ministry. So again, they're the team leader should lovingly tell them, take a break, come back later when you're able to do this with zeal and passion. So I think the answer is we need to recognize what is the cause, what is the reason? It's not the same for everybody. And then try to encourage them to make time to address that in their lives so that they can renew their passion, they can renew their zeal for that area. Or maybe just that season of life is over and they need to transition to another season. And so they need to let them know that, hey, you move on to something else now. Thank you, Vast. Yeah, you're welcome. Good. Any other questions on volunteers, taking care of volunteers, managing volunteers of the church? Okay. So overall, this is a big area because in almost all church settings, you will have more volunteers than church staff. So at one point, this was before the pandemic, we've, we had maybe just 20 staff, but over 300 volunteers, now, of course, things are coming back together. And so the numbers will slowly come back up. So just a big difference, almost 10 times more. So taking care of the volunteers is so important, overseeing them, managing them, and then resolving problems that happen. All those things are very important. And for the, for the health of the local church or the Christian ministry. Okay. So let's wrap up for today. I just request somebody to pray and then we will dismiss the class. Anybody can pray with us, please? How's it going, Amy? Maybe you should use, couldn't be lost mic or something. Ready? That's all. Okay, go ahead. Can you hear me now? Okay, go ahead, go ahead. Dear God, thank you so much for your love and thank you for everything, Lord. For us, we learned about volunteers and staffs, God, that we will be faithful in a few things that you've given us, Lord, that will make seal because of who you are in your life, God, that we may glorify you in everything with you, God, that thank you so much, God, for giving us the opportunity to learn of how to know what it means to be a volunteer, and that we may encourage each one of you, each one of us to be a future become a volunteer or a staff, God. And I thank you so much, Lord, for best our service, a great blessing over his life, and Lord, that you bring many more people who will be willing to serve and with a heart that is grateful and ready to be content in every area, God. Thank you so much, Lord. In your name we pray, Amen. Amen. Okay, thank you, everyone. Have a great rest of the day. Have a great weekend. I'll see you all next week. God bless. Bye now. Thank you, Pastor. Thank you. Thank you, everybody.