Three Responses To The Volunteer Shortage

by Rev. Mark E. Tidsworth, Founder and Team Leader

“Churches are adjusting to a radically different volunteer base”

-Threshold #6, Chapter 2, ReShape: Emerging Church Practice In A Volatile World, Updated And Expanded Edition, January 2024, M. Tidsworth

Maybe it’s only me, but I don’t often encounter bombshell statistics, providing some radically helpful new insight. Not often, but not never. When they align with lived experience or shine the light on an insight we need, then statistics become extremely helpful. That’s what caught my attention when encountering the following statistic while in a learning experience with the faculty from the Hartford International University, formerly Hartford Seminary. I attended a webinar in April, 2022, wherein researchers shared recent data points from the 15,278 religious communities (mostly churches) they are following over time. Before the pandemic, this large sampling of churches in the USA reported 44% of their people were volunteering in and through their churches. Then, by April, 2022, that percentage shrunk to less than half with 20% volunteering. Yes, read it again if you need to. Less than half of those who volunteer to serve in and through our churches are willing to do so post-pandemic.

I mentioned statistics that align with lived experience… this statistic does (again, there are exceptions). Rather than trace the numerous contributing factors, I want to offer observations about two places this shrinking volunteer base is emerging in church life. First, nominating committees are keenly aware of this. When they contact disciples in their churches, inviting them to serve in or through their church, they receive over twice as many “no” answers as before the pandemic. Please keep nominating committees in your prayers! Second, clergy, church staff persons and lay leaders are feeling the pinch of this new dynamic. Because they love their churches, many of them step up to fill in gaps in service, believing this to be temporary. Yet, most of us know how churches tend to function, with it being more difficult to step away from a position than to start serving in a position. Insightful people recognize this “stop-gap” approach to church functioning contributes to the low-grade fatigue in many churches while also contributing to burn out. If your church has seen a drop in volunteering, you are not alone.

As one can see, the two church responses described above are reactions really, unsustainable over time. Instead, this is an excellent time to strategize, to discern our spiritual guidance for relating to the volunteer shortage. To that end, here are three suggested responses your church and its leadership may consider.

Recognize the discipleship issue embedded in the volunteer shortage.

Consumers or Citizens? Members of an organization who occasionally volunteer or disciples of Jesus who constantly serve? Here’s a brief (perhaps pithy) way to say this:

Members Volunteer. Disciples Serve.

During the pandemic and now in this post-pandemic church context, it’s clear that far too many of us tend to drift toward a consumer mindset and member identity (“rights and privileges” of membership). Volunteering is optional when that’s who we understand ourselves to be. Conversely, when our identity is formed in the Way of Jesus, then we know we are disciples with serving is an integral part of who we are.

One word of caution…

There can be a secondary gain regarding organizational development by talking this way. We risk using our theology for recruiting volunteers to fill slots, employing guilt trips to that end. That’s not discipleship either. So let’s be clear on our motivation. Disciples are always serving since that’s part of disciple identity, sometimes serving in churches while other times serving in the community. The bottom line is that our Christian formation activities are always works in progress, needing a tune up in the post-pandemic church.

Maximize this season of reevaluation to clarify your church’s Why.

Threshold #1, which is not the focus of this article, is relevant here: Churches are in a season of reshaping. In fact, people are reevaluating most everything in their lives here in post-pandemic land, including their faith and their church. Given this, savvy churches recognize the need for a compelling church narrative. In this current context, only compelling versions of church are likely to move forward in mission and ministry.

So, why does your church exist? What’s the anticipated outcome for those who are part of your church? When your church is “successful,” how would you know? Perhaps these questions can get your church leadership started exploring. These are some of the questions we at Pinnacle help churches explore regularly, so I can tell you they will help you focus in on your purpose right quick.

From my perspective (which isn’t prescriptive), I’m hopeful churches claim the calling to partner with God toward helping us form in the Way of Jesus. When we identify this as central to our calling, then we are positioned for the next response.

Refine and align your church’s activities, pursuing essential and compelling church.

Some of us remember when churches had the luxury of continuing programs and activities which were interesting perhaps, but were actually out of alignment with their purpose. We are so far beyond those days now…without capacity for staffing and running superfluous activities.

For churches who believe transforming people into disciples of Jesus is central to their calling, what actions, activities, programs, ministries, or other endeavors contribute to this purpose? Now is the time to gain clarity on this, followed by aligning your church activities and teaching. One year from now, when we can say that we are greater disciples of Jesus than we are now, what is it we will have done in/through our churches that helped this happen? Answer that question and you are on the way to aligning church with your church’s purpose.

This response, aligning church activities with church purpose, directly addresses the volunteer shortage through streamlining or downsizing your church’s menu of activities, along with its structure. Therefore, it takes fewer people to “staff” your church. When we try to continue church with the pre-pandemic paradigm, the volunteer shortage remains a problem. When we align our activities and structures with our purpose, then the disciples in our churches are serving in relevant, mission-congruent ways, minimizing the previous problem.

As the post-pandemic church moves beyond threshold #6, may we courageously embrace the growth and transformation opportunities available to us as we go.