Your Volunteers Are Passionate About What They Do

Welcome back to our series exploring 27 things your volunteers want you to know but might be unwilling to tell you.  We are in the first grouping of things all related to the issue of passion, and the very first thing these volunteers want you  to know is, drum roll please:

#1 – Your Volunteers are Passionate About What They Do

This is an important truth that you should never let go of.  Your volunteers are passionate about what they do!  They are passionate about serving kids and seeing kids enter the kingdom of God.  God may not have called us to full-time paid children’s ministry, but that does not mean that we are less passionate about kids than you or anyone else “on staff.”  In many instances, these volunteers are even more passionate.  After all, they work 40-50-60 hours a week and still dedicate countless hours to children’s ministry.  Never presume that your volunteers are just showing up to do a job.  Recognize that this is their passion and use that passion to your advantage.  Don’t do anything in your role as a leader to negatively impact or dissipate that passion.

Many times I have encountered leaders who failed to recognize this passion.  They assume that their volunteers are there to show up and do what they agreed to do without much more.  They assume that volunteers are not willing to put in the time or the effort to help the ministry and the Kingdom grow.  Don’t fall victim to this way of thinking.  Recognize the gift that God has given you in the form of volunteers who share your passion, oftentimes maybe even exceed your passion, for ministry.  Feed their passion and let their passion feed your own.  The results will be amazing.  We will talk more about using your volunteers passions in the next installment of this series.