I was at a worship conference that week that was amazing. One of the things that Mike Slaughter, Lead Pastor at Ginghamsburg UMC, talked about was creating a culture where there are no Volunteers. Rather at GUMC they have teams of unpaid Servants.
The difference he explained is that people who volunteer do it on their time when that have it to spare. Where as unpaid servants are poeple who are serving with their whole selves and doing it the best that they can. This kind of service demands commitment and a mentality to serve the church.
I think this is a wonderful way of looking at the people who give of their time and gifts to ministry. It raises the bar and the expectation level to a place that would then “demand” excellence out of those who serve the church rather than just giving the church your leftovers. I really thought that this was a great perspective and term for those who give to the church.
3 Responses
I was struck by this as well. It’s funny that sometimes it’s the little statements that have little to do with the theme or title of the talk or event that end up striking us the most!
I like the idea too. I am trying to change that idea here at Bel Air, as we celebrate our volunteers on Pentecost Sunday. I have struggled with finding a best way to explain it. I wonder, who are the paid servants? Is that clergy and staff??
Barry,
I think that the paid servants are clergy and staff, but I know that Mike and his team have a HUGE base of people working in incredible ways to push the church to the next level of discipleship. They have unpaid servants that do everything form serve food to helping with sermon prep and daily reflections on blogs. It is really neat.