I was hanging out with my friend the other day when he got a phone call. He looked at the caller ID, scowled, and ignored it. I laughed and asked him who it was.
“It’s the volunteer coordinator at my church. I know they’re going to ask me to volunteer this Sunday, but I don’t want to. I just want to sit in the service for once without having to volunteer.”
It was obvious my friend hated volunteering. But when I suggested he simply stop, he wasn’t willing to deal with the confrontation.
I saw where the scenario was heading. He’d keep volunteering for a few months, dreading each approaching weekend. Then he’d finally stop attending the church because he didn’t want the volunteer coordinator to see him and ask what happened.
I knew it would happen because I’ve seen it a bunch. I actually attend a church now filled with people who have left their churches burnt out from volunteering. Grace Avenue Church seems to be a haven for that type of person.
But I’ve also seen people flourish volunteering at their church. Their relationship with their team affects their relationship with their God.
I’ve found a few keys that impact whether you’ll love volunteering at your church or hate it. Learning these four things will protect you from potential burnout.
1. Learn to say no.
If you’re a good volunteer, people will start asking you to take on more responsibility. That’s the way things work, especially in churches that are often under-staffed and under-resourced.
So the natural tendency for a team leader will be to ask you to commit to more. They’ll often be fun things asked of you, but they can start adding up and become overwhelming. Once those fun things become stressful things, you’re getting close to volunteering becoming a chore instead of a joy.
One of the greatest things you can learn to say in that situation is simply, “No. I’d love to, but I can’t.” Sometimes volunteer leaders make it tough to say no, but I encourage you to say no anyways. I guarantee they’d prefer you to say no now and keep volunteering, than to flake out on the task they requested or stop volunteering altogether.
2. Try new things.
Sometimes you get stuck in one type of volunteer role and you lose perspective on why you’re volunteering in the first place. Handing out bulletins or parking cars can become rather monotonous. I’d encourage you to try new things. Take a break from your usual role one week and serve on a different team.
I usually volunteer in the more glamorous roles like singing or running the light show at churches where I volunteer. But some of my most joyful moments of volunteering were when I was helping set up drinks for an outdoor July 4th celebration or cleaning floors between services. You might be surprised at the different roles that will make you feel alive.
Try new things. And if you find something you love, stick with it. The role you love might not be the role you thought it would be.
3. Assume the best.
In church life in general, assuming the best will help you avoid many battle wounds. Any time you get in a group, people will say things that can be taken the wrong way. They’ll do things that don’t make sense. Unintentional, micro expressions will make you think they hate you.
I’d encourage you to assume the best. Assume there’s something going on behind-the-scenes that would make it all make sense if you were only aware. I’ve even found, even if I assume the best and the person really is actually trying to hurt me, I feel better. Positive thinking might make you look like a fool, but it sure beats assuming everyone’s out to get you.
My dad likes to say that everyone’s doing the best they can under their circumstances. Sometimes their best isn’t very good, but it’s probably the same thing you’d do if you were in their shoes.
4. Don’t let bitterness creep in.
Finally, when you get hurt—and you will get hurt—forgive. Forgive fast. This is one of the simplest truths from Scripture, but it’s also one of the hardest to live.
People will unintentionally and intentionally hurt you. It happens both in the church and outside of the church. But for some reason, it seems to hurt more in the church. Hebrews 12:15 says, “Make sure that no one misses out on God’s grace. Make sure that no root of bitterness grows up that might cause trouble and pollute many people.”
The writer is telling us to extend God’s grace to every single person. Don’t let anyone miss out on your forgiveness—even scoundrels—because bitterness can crop up and ruin everything.
We like to think volunteering at a church will be the perfect experience where we get to share in the beauty of God’s work in the Church. But the Church is filled with imperfect people, so it will be an imperfect experience.
But that’s truly the beauty of the Church: that God uses massively flawed people to accomplish His purposes in the world. How God does it is beyond me. I just want to be part of it.
