There's no such thing as Volunteering in Church.

I said it.

Whenever the travesty took place that put "paid staff" opposite "volunteers" was a dark day in history.

The word volunteer is not biblical. Those who claim to belong to God's community...in other words, those who have had life transformation take place because of the cross are CALLED TO BELONG and COMMISSIONED TO SERVE.

If a church is having trouble with 'recruiting volunteers' its because they have dropped the ball on clearly stating what it means to be part of the church. There are no volunteers. There are PARTNERS. People who follow Christ find a community of faith that they want to be a part of and that they can be blessed and be a blessing at, then they go after it. They partner with the church.

Volunteers are optional. Partners are invested. Volunteers quit when they're tired. Partners see it through to completion. Volunteers hold leverage. Partners surrender themselves to a higher cause.

So...which are you?