Your volunteers want to quit.
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Okay, not all of them and not all the time. But as a lifelong volunteer and leader of volunteers, I can promise you this is true for at least a few volunteers every Sunday.Â
This is true even if. . .
they love where they serve,
they love you,
and they are regularly appreciated with t-shirts, donuts and custom promotional water bottles.Â
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Even if, like me, volunteering at church is the highlight of their week, there will be times when that nagging voice in their mind is telling them it’s time to “take a break” and they start imagining send you the ever-dreaded volunteer breakup text.
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Let’s be honest, sometimes they should. Every volunteer experiences extenuating life circumstances, job changes, family illness or seasons of burnout that indicate the very best thing they could do is step away. But, that isn’t everybody. For many volunteers the temptation to walk comes down a single tool.
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The “worth-it” meter.
Everybody has one. You checked yours before reading this blog. Our internal “worth-it” meter is constantly telling us whether a task is “worth it.” Is getting out of bed early worth it? What about chasing kindergartners? Is cleaning up after middle school ministry worth it? Or maybe is church camp or VBS really “worth it” when you consider the time and energy it takes to pull it off?
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How a volunteer answers that question is often the difference between showing up again this week and checking out.
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That’s why, as a leader of volunteers, your primary task is to help every volunteer regularly see the why behind what they are doing—to help them reset their “worth it” meter.
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And one of the very best opportunities for a volunteer to reset is Orange Tour.
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This year, we’re making sure every main session is strategically designed to remind a volunteer why it matters to keep faith alive in the next generation and give them practical tools to foster an everyday faith in the kids and teenagers they serve.
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Even better, the age-specific breakouts will focus on the unique developmental needs of kids and teenagers and give volunteers tools to help them win in their role this year. Â
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While our programs and sermons and events matter, the truth is the shortest distance between the church and the home is the volunteer. So, as leaders, the absolute best use of our energy is to equip our volunteers to lead well and help them win.Â
Register for Orange Tour today to help your volunteers understand that what they’re doing is truly worth it.Â