Many church leaders struggle with the ongoing responsibility of identifying, training, and supporting ministry volunteers. In my work as director of missions and outreach at Floris United Methodist Church in Herndon, Virginia, I work with dozens of volunteer-led ministries to meet community needs. And I've learned that the mindset I bring and the vocabulary I use when asking people to serve really make a difference.

     When it comes to volunteer recruitment, I'm not a big fan of the word "need." It's not that needs don't arise, because they do. However, "need" shouldn't necessarily be the first word we use in volunteer recruitment. When "need" is overused, it can trigger a number of challenges.

     "Need" implies scarcity. A scarcity mindset leads to statements like these: "We don't have enough volunteers." "We don't have enough money." "We have too few people singing in the choir." But a scarcity mindset doesn't align with the abundance of grace, love, and mercy that the God who created the heavens and the earth bestows upon us. If you consistently project scarcity in recruiting, it will spread in your congregation in other negative ways.

Aztec Does More with Less

Submitted by Pastor Jeff Symonds

 

     Like many other churches and even government agencies, Aztec UMC has had to do more with fewer people to help and less income.  This past year, San Juan county lost 6,000 jobs which led to over 11,000 people leaving the area.  That is on top of several years of losses to the downturn in the oil and gas related economy, the hits to coal mining and the beginnings of closures at our power generating plants. We have had more people than ever before coming to ask for food to feed their families. One man said he went from making $6,000 a month to $600, but the bills remain the same!   That story gets repeated in many forms around here.  Our church members, too, have lost income and several have had to move out of state to find work.

     Thanks to the generosity of Aztec people in the church and from around the community, along with an $800 grant from Albuquerque District Missions, Aztec UMC gives away an average of 5 sacks of groceries to each of the over a dozen families a day that come by the church. We believe that Jesus must still be doing something similar to His loaves and fishes miracles with the articles from our community Post Office Food Drive, because it seems to stretch much further than we could have thought possible. We do supplement that once-a-year bonanza with weekly trips to the ECHO Food Bank in Farmington. We are blessed that a young woman, who is a member of another church in town, goes almost every week and is able to fill her pick-up truck bed for $60 - $80 with meat, cheese, and produce, as well as canned and boxed foods. She also hauls in those heavy boxes and restocks the shelves and freezers for us. People in need find compassionate understanding and enough food for themselves and their pets at Aztec UMC. God is at work through His people here.

United Methodist Men Fall Conference 

Sept. 23 - 25, 2016 

Sacramento C & C Center