Study Guide

COMMENDED TO THE WORD PRODUCT IONS

Seminar and CD Manual

HOW TO MOBILIZE YOUR CHURCH

AT A VERY

PRACTICAL LEVEL

CTW 280 State Park Dr., Aptos, CA 95003

Phone 831.688.2568 • Fax 831.685.3501 www.ctw.coastlands.org

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Introduction

This audio series addresses one of pastors’ most-asked questions: “How can I get more people involved, ser ving in ministr y?”

t a pastors' seminar not long ago, a troubling yet revealing question was put to me by a gentleman in the audience. I do not know if he was a pastor, but I assume he had at least a

close relationship with church leadership. That is why the question floored me: "You use the word disciple in a manner unfamiliar to me,"

he began. "I've only heard it used as a noun before today. What do you mean by the verb to disciple?"

I thought, at first, he was intentionally setting me

up, as a way of graciously encouraging me to explain my material more fully. However, he looked too

puzzled and sincere to have a hidden agenda. Possibly, I read too much into the question. Likely, he was more familiar with the language of "teach all

the nations" from KJV or "make disciples" instead of simply "disciple."

Hopefully, my shock did not register on my face or in my voice. I knew first-hand how easy it is to neglect discipling in favor of the more

pressing demands of public ministry, but I could not help wondering if the lack of disciple-making we all acknowledge in the Church of Jesus is due to a fundamental misunderstanding of more than terminology.

The answer to this most-asked question relates integrally to God’s ultimate plans for our churches as

well as for our own lives as leaders. As with most problems, this one is prophetic and insightful—helping us stay on track with our mission in the world.

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I C O N K E Y

� Valuable information

� Check Scripture

� Paradigm shift

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Process Thinking

We tend to hit the tar get wher e we’r e aiming at far mor e often than one we’r e not even considering . Could that be our problem?

ow we think about something determines, to a large extent,

what we end up thinking about it—and what we do about it. For instance, if we imagine that “church” is essentially a series

of events, meetings and activities taking place at a building, our focus

will be on that building and those programs.

Of course, we want people to attend and be helped by what happens

on site, but most of the evaluation of church will gauge success in terms of attendance during designated hours. If, on the other hand, “church” is seen as a process of tending to people, getting to them and

at them, success gets measured in terms of transformation and development in their lives.

The same can be said of “leadership”: rather than being defined by where a person stands (in front, on a platform, etc.), it can better be seen as a process of tending to the many intangibles in ministry

(casting a vision, charting a course, building credibility, nurturing people, etc.).

Church isn’t over when the lights are finally turned out, and neither do real leaders ever finish leading; they are perpetual processes.

What would happen to our thinking if we

connected our primary frustration with

our primary mandate? (see Matthew 28:19-20 and Ephesians 4:11-12, 16)

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Disciple and Mobilize

Since our personal journey with the Lord is spoken of as a developmental process—walking, maturing, growing—it makes sense that all ministry, whether corporate or individual, ought to engage that

process in others. People who have been affected ought to be infecting others with a passion and determination to affect still others.

Success, then, cannot be measured merely by the number of people who attend church, but by what percent of those who attend are actively engaged,

themselves, in the ongoing process of church—leading others to Christ, and deeper into His ways.

Truly, this is our dream as church leaders; although we do want our churches to grow, what we really want is for them to be effective.

Hence, beneath our lament at the lack of volunteers lies a deeper

anxiety: if we cannot inspire our congregation to labor within the relatively “safe” confines of the church program, is there any real hope

that we have inspired them to labor as harvesters in the world?

And that is precisely where mobilizing your church comes into play. We are desperate for more ministry workers, not only for our church

programs, but also to more effectively reach out to the world.

That is why discipling and mobilizing people are so

closely linked; the better we understand how to mentor individuals, the better we will grasp how to enlist those people in the grand enterprise of impacting the world

through our churches.

A subtle misconception

A mistaken notion seems to keep popping up among the many pastors and church leaders with whom I

interact: pastors are praying for disciples rather than developing them. Leaders wait for mature disciples to miraculously appear in church, forgetting that

disciples are not sent from Heaven but made on Earth.

And if we remember that the job of church is essentially to accomplish this great good, then we can start to see the connection between the needs of church. We need

more workers; He wants more disciples. Hmmm.

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����Could it be that a merciful and kind God is giving us the biggest clue imaginable—linking His most basic assignment for us with our most obvious and continuous need?

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Discipleship, like church itself, is a process, an active on-going shaping of one person by another, enabling the disciple to develop in

ways he or she probably could not develop alone—or, at least, not as quickly. Its goal is to "perfect every man in Christ" (Colossians 1:28),

and its means include both public and private admonition.

It forces shifts in priorities, time allocations and basic orientations towards ministry. Therefore, it will require

a rethinking of our entire approach to ministry. But if the pain of not having enough eager volunteers, not

having a solid, ever-expanding group of co-workers in our churches becomes great enough, we might just

rethink our ministry processes in light of what God has actually asked

us to do.

That is my hope, and that is the foundation upon which I offer the

thoughts on these pages. We'll discuss principles and practices, thoughts and techniques to help us better accomplish the primary assignment left to us by our King.

It won't be a "quick fix," a follow-the-formula type of solution. Be patient with the seemingly circuitous route we will take in getting to

those answers—because the journey is as critical as the destination…

That's the focus of this seminar.

We’ll examine: � The connection between discipling and mobilizing people.

� Primary reasons why people Do and DO NOT volunteer.

� What leaders can do to increase the percent of mobilized people in the church.

Mobilizing people and making disciples is an engrossing, all-engaging activity of the heart and of the mind.

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“Why Do You Alone Do Ministry?”

Is the bottl eneck at the top, and the lack of ‘qualif ied laborers’ beneath, r eally as inevitable as i t seems?

A. Taking Jethro's Advice (Exodus 18:13-27)

1. Disciple the people whom God has entrusted to you.

a. "Teach them the statutes"—principles and understandings by which to live and minister.

b. "Make known to them the way to walk"—reference points and guidelines with which to make ministry and life decisions.

2. Delegate ministry authority and responsibility to people with a good track record and a recognized place in the congregation’s eyes.

a. "Select and position leaders over groups of people"— shared leadership for the sake of giving everyone easier access to ones who can help provide answers and decisions.

b. "Let them judge the people all the time"— as the front lines for personal ministry and nurture.

c. "What they cannot handle let them bring to you"—after they have tried and done their best.

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“Church leaders tend to decide for their followers what

those followers are capable of handling. That’s backwards.”

B. Connecting with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:7-20)

1. Lead people to repentance and obedience (“Listening beneath”).

a. Almost all Kingdom truth is learned on the heels of spiritual reconsiderations that truly change our mind and/or our perspective.

b. Seeing how different our ways/works are compared with the Lord’s, we become eager to be open to the Lord’s instruction.

2. Discipleship “curriculum” is supposed to be simple and doable, not intimidating, for normal rank-and-file believers.

a. Rather than trying to teach others everything they will ever need to know, we only have to teach them what we have been taught—especially the more current truths we’re learning.

b. Teach others to obey like we obey—how we go about responding to what the Lord is saying to us.

A discipler is someone who sets about to teach others to

obey what he or she has been taught and has obeyed.

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Unintentional Hindrances to Discipleship

Has our thinking been skewed by our training—and by what we want/need for ourselves—rather than by our assignment?

A. Instructor vs. Mentor Approach

1. Student or teacher vs. Student and mentor

2. Information vs. Transformation

3. Evaluation, grading vs. Development, changing

4. Quantitative #’s vs. Qualitative attributes

B. Transactional vs. Transformational Leadership

1. Transactional leading is based on deal making and trade-offs.

a. Appeals to felt needs and convincing people there is something in it for them; keeping everyone happy.

b. It fosters co-dependence between pastor and followers, rather than a true partnership to make a difference in the world.

c. It hinders leaders from teaching life-altering truths.

2. A consumer mentality resists discipleship because it will “go elsewhere” whenever it feels unsatisfied or unappreciated.

3. Transformational Leadership seeks to alter people, not to appease them.

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Discipleship: A Process of Invitations

Paul was pleased to share not only the words of the gospel, but also his ver y l i f e. Discipleship cannot work without such an of fering to others.

A. Invitation to Observation

1. Be open and vulnerable, talking openly about the issues and realities of our own lives, and what is really “going on inside.”

a. Welcome people into our lives like inviting them into our homes—letting them look around and comment on how it is arranged/decorated.

b. Be in the habit of imparting not just words, but our very lives (1 Thessalonians 2:8).

2. Since every person has a common composition of being—with the same temptations, fears and struggles—our personal example is hugely useful to others.

a. Pseudo-spirituality—pretending that some have arrived at a higher plane of incorruptibility—destroys true discipleship.

b. Elijah was a man like us; Jesus was clothed in flesh.

c. All temptations are common to humankind. Paul was “taken” by universal sin.

3. Share the patterns of life and thought we utilize in navigating our spiritual journey—on what do we stay focused, how do we handle people/situations?

B. Invitation to Obedience

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1. Be honest about the dealings of God in our lives, and demonstrate accountability to those we lead—especially in the little things.

2. Provide historical sketches and stories about past convictions—pivotal times and seasons when we learned various truths.

3. Give examples of current events and present arrests—places and issues about which Jesus is speaking to us.

4. Demonstrate radical obedience in the midst of normal, everyday life.

a. With normal language, humor and cheerfulness, communicate spiritual possibilities for everyone.

b. Avoid all semblances of religiousness and otherworldliness.

C. Invitation to Significance

1. Nothing is more shaping in someone’s life than love, acceptance and belonging. AGAPE is passionate in welcoming and honoring people.

a. AGAPE is God’s motive and means for working with people, so without it we cannot effectively disciple anyone.

b. People live with rejection and low self-esteem; our privilege is to counter those lies with affirming words and opportunities.

2. Offer people an opportunity for greatness—through participation in something with real purpose.

a. If our church has no great purpose/vision, then we cannot invite people to greatness in our church.

b. We get to think more highly of them than they do of themselves.

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Vital Aspects of Successful Discipleship

The first command—“Be fruitful and multiply”—continues to be our primar y mandate as spiri tual cr eations.

A. Communication of a Promise to Others

1. “Follow Me, and I will make you into something other than what you have been thus far...”

a. Discipleship is proactive, and it implies doing something for people that they cannot necessarily do for themselves.

b. It hints at transformation, not just information.

2. “I know who and what you are today, but I also know who and what God intends for you to become. That is how I will relate to you” (John 1:42).

a. The New Covenant has little interest in who/what people have been; its focus is on their becoming.

b. Discipleship separates people from their “stuff,” so that they can let go of what hinders them.

3. “I can look into your heart and discern your motives” (John 1:47).

a. Discipleship looks beneath the surface at what is going on in minds and hearts.

b. Very often, a discipler will discern factors and unknown weak points in the life of the person being mentored.

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B. Instruction in Kingdom Dynamics

1. “I will show you things in the spiritual dimension that you have never seen before” (John 1:50-51).

a. Discipleship helps open people’s eyes to the full scope of God’s love and power.

b. “He who has ears to hear, let him hear…”

2. “I want you to be with me so that I can prepare you to be sent forth from me” (Mark 3:13-14).

a. The goal of discipleship is not simply to gather people, but to ready them for their eventual, permanent departure from us.

b. Discipleship seeks to “Love, mend, train, send…” people by progressive investment in them.

3. “I will teach you how to speak to people and how to deal with demons” (Mark 3:15).

a. “Our battle is not against flesh and blood” (Ephesians 6)…

b. “Tools of our trade are divinely powerful…” (2 Corinthians 10)

4. “Knowing you will betray my confidence, I still appoint you to ministry responsibility” (Mark 3:19).

a. In the face of certain disappointment and betrayal, discipleship still invests heavily in others.

b. “If you work with volunteers, you will occasionally be disappointed, but it is worth it.”

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Tools and Intentions of Discipleship

Discipleship is a proactive pattern for l i f e and r elationships with others.

A. Discipling must be:

1. Intentional—Since it is job #1 for believers, it should be our focus and bent; rather than being an incidental, accidental by-product of our lives, it should be what we do with our lives.

2. Relational—A discipling relationship must be personal to be meaningful; just as God establishes relationship with us, and works through that intimate context, so should we connect personally with others.

3. Progressive—We measure growth in the Kingdom in terms of developing and maturing: going from glory to glory, learning to eat more solid food, etc.; discipleship simply concentrates on the next lesson for someone to learn.

4. Voluntary—Disciplers invite people to follow, without requiring that they do so; rather than insisting that people do as we say, discipleship offers to help people to grow, to understand or to change.

5. Vulnerable—It always costs the discipler more than it costs the one being discipled, and that means we have to “go first” in establishing the level of trust and openness.

6. Releasing—Rather than being a means of hanging onto people, or keeping them in their place, discipleship makes a place for individuals to act significantly, empowering them with information, opportunity and permission.

7. Restorative—God did not create a generic human prototype: He fashions each of us uniquely and individually. Discipleship seeks to restore individuals to their originally intended design, not to conform them to some stock version of a Christian.

B. Verbal Tools in Jesus' Discipling:

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1. Parables to explain the ways of God in easy-to-grasp analogies. Jesus used everyday examples and stories that made spiritual truth easy to grasp.

2. Questions to seek out the real issues in any situation. Jesus’ questions—whether to the crowd of judgmental men who came to stone the adulteress or to Pilate—always went to the core of people’s thinking.

3. Warnings to point out traps, wrong responses, or dangers. When Jesus warned His friends about the leaven of the Pharisees—their self-righteous pride—alerting them to the ease with which they could fall prey to it.

4. Facts to tell it like it is. Jesus spoke about the ends of the age—and what we could expect; He revealed the number of husbands had by the woman at the well; and, He said no one could enter the Kingdom of God without being born again.

5. Admonitions to remind of helpful things we've temporarily forgotten. “Truly, truly” and “Again I say” are always spoken in love—and understanding that our ways and thoughts are nothing like God’s ways and thoughts.

6. Encouragements to give hope about the future if we obey. “Blessed are those who…” is more than a violin-backed motto. It is what we speak to a pregnant woman: “Congratulations—even though you are uncomfortable now—you’re going to have a baby.”

7. Rebukes to put an immediate end to storms, foolishness and sin. Jesus rebuked the wind, the Pharisees, evil spirits and His own disciples (when they put their own interests above God’s).

8. Forgiveness to release from condemnation and to point to a future free from our past. This is the whole point. If discipleship becomes mostly about “how to be good,” rather than about how to be restored, it lapses into a NT legalism.

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Why Pastors Don't Disciple

Without intentionally disr egarding Jesus’ commission, church leaders have sidestepped the point of ministr y. Why?

A. Past Experiences

1. Personal betrayals and hurts suffered at the hands of trusted people can ‘sour’ any leader on discipling and delegating.

a. Though people may not have been malicious or intentional, the hurts they have caused are still painfully real.

b. We cannot accurately determine, ahead of time, who will hurt us, so investing time and trust in people is always risky.

2. Dropped balls and poor performances by previous disciples can rob us of hope that anyone will be able to be true partners in ministry.

a. The goal is to develop people, not just to accomplish tasks.

b. If our way is the only “right” way, few people will perform well because they are wired to do things differently than would do them.

c. Before jumping to the conclusion that “They blew it,” we might want to ask the question, “Did I give them enough handles with which to carry the ball?”

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3. Having little or no personal experience at being discipled ourselves, we are uncertain how to disciple others and unsure of its legitimacy.

a. One of the biggest sorts of rejection is not being invested in, not being believed in enough to warrant the personal interest in by an authority figure.

b. Having learned to fly solo, pastors presume others should, too.

B. Present Realities

1. Macro-Ministry needs and time-demands keep pastors too busy to spend time developing people.

a. It takes too long to develop a helpful disciple (9-18 mos.), and we need things done now!

b. Most churches have a program designed to run with as few volunteers as possible.

2. Other priorities crowd discipleship out of our agenda.

a. We spend more hours each week developing sermons than people.

b. It is always easier and quicker to do the job ourselves, and the logistical, administrative “work” of ministry too often becomes our first priority.

3. A Pseudo-servanthood mentality tricks us into trying to do everything for others.

a. Our sincere willingness to serve others has brought us to this leadership role, and we find it hard to stop that kind of serving.

b. It is nearly impossible for a football player to be a coach; the team can be better helped if we will leave the field, in favor of others.

4. Viewing church as a production rather than as a process ends up putting too much reliance on events, and viewing the people in our churches as members of the audience, rather than the cast.

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a. Stage productions get watched and reviewed; success is measured by audience size and reaction.

b. Most kingdom activity, on the other hand, transpires in the “secret, quiet places of people’s hearts and minds.”

C. Future Concerns

1. Fear of the cult label—actually having followers or devotees—keeps us on guard against having “too much say” in anyone’s life.

a. The expression, “Those are his/her disciples” conjures up images of mind-control and manipulation.

b. We have unintentionally ennobled the “loner”—the person who can go it alone—as the prototype believer.

2. Having no long-range plan that can only be realized by mobilizing disciples, we target numeric goals such as head-counts, instead of developmental goals like heart-conditions.

3. A people-blurry vision, that sees the program (instead of people) as the goal, fools us into believing “the show must go on” at all costs.

a. People get shaped far more while being significantly involved working on a program, than they do just experiencing the final product.

b. What is our goal for people who have been in our church for several years?

4. Since true disciples end up carrying much of our current ministry load, they will “replace us,” and insecurity about not being needed by everyone for everything can unconsciously sabotage our best intentions.

a. If our identity is tied in with our position, or in how much others depend on us, we will be threatened by the emergence of other care-givers.

b. Even parents—who have a much closer relationship with their kids than we have with the people we disciple—understand that they are to promote their children beyond dependency.

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Reminders About Discipleship

Too r eadily we associate discipleship with particular programs or cur ricula—rather than with a pur pose.

A. Avoid the Dichotomy of:

1. Curriculum or Spontaneous lessons.

2. Public services or Smaller gatherings.

3. Groups or Individuals.

4. Structured meetings or Informal life-settings.

5. Responsive interaction or Pro-active initiation.

6. Care for people or Development of people.

B. The Purpose for Discipling People is to:

1. Increase their love for the Lord and for other people, not just to make them more knowledgeable about theology, scripture and ministry (I Timothy 1:5).

2. Build them up by enlarging and under girding their spiritual foundation, and by shaping their perspectives to more closely match God’s “Kingdom come.”(2 Corinthians 10:8).

3. Mature them and present them to God as more “completed” than when we first began to spend time with them (Colossians 1:28).

4. Teach them so that they can, and will, teach others—emphasizing their responsibility, from the earliest moments when they receive instruction from us, that they are to be passing along what they learn (2 Timothy 2:2).

5. Give them life-patterns to follow, to model the ways of the Lord, and to lead them down the same paths God has taught us to walk (2 Thessalonians 3:9).

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6. Explain how God's administration works—not by us trying on our own (like Moses when he slew the Egyptian) to accomplish His purposes on earth, but by listening to His instructions and following them in faith).

7. Serve their spiritual progress, joy, and faith—not to gain some sort of personal benefit or advantage from those we mentor (Philippians 1:25; 2:17).

8. Establish them by imparting spiritual gifts to them through laying on of hands and prophetic prompting (Romans 1:11; I Timothy 1:18 and 4:14).

9. Shape their inner being to be more like Christ (Galatians 4:19).

10. Challenge their thinking, especially when we see them entrenched in wrong perspectives, habitual distortions of the heart or mind, or any other mental/emotional/spiritual “stronghold” (2 Corinthians 10:3-6).

11. Equip (mend) them to be servants, so that they can become “great” in the Kingdom of God (Matthew 20:20-28; Ephesians 4:12).

12. Etc.

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Inspiring Volunteers

Mobiliz ing disciples is easier than enlisting spectators, but good leaders do mor e than post bulletin announcements to f i l l ministr y vacancies.

A. Create a Conducive Environment

1. Being welcomed and honored (agape) by spiritual leaders.

2. Being loved for who they are, not for what they can do.

3. Being believed in and trusted more than they believe in or trust themselves.

4. Knowing they are accepted and loved, so they do not need to fear instruction or correction as rejection/reproach.

5. Being given safe opportunities to hear of others' mistakes and to confess their own faults and failures.

6. Being encouraged into feeling that they can succeed—against sin and in ministry.

7. Feeling supported and approved of when they step down from ministry.

B. Provide Multi-Dimensional Instruction

1. Theology and doctrine (systematic).

2. Bible study methods and tools.

3. Answers to questions.

4. Questions to answer.

5. Exposure to facets of Kingdom life that they do not already know.

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6. Arranged opportunities to do what they do not think they can do--getting stretched beyond their comfort zone.

7. Guidelines for thought, attitude, behavior, etc.

8. True freedom to talk about situations/assignments, so they learn from others.

9. Encouragement to discover/understand their unique gift mix—including its inherent vulnerabilities.

10. Guidance to learn to hear God personally, and to act on that prompting.

11. Scriptural confirmation or challenge to their thoughts.

12. Training to always ask what the Lord is doing—not to focus so much on what the devil or people are doing.

C. Give Them What They Cannot Give Themselves

1. Having others seek their best so they do not have to seek it themselves; having someone look forward to their future.

2. Seeing role models in real-life situations:

a. People who are living out the principles taught.

b. Mentors who are accessible to questions.

c. Leaders who are open about the true issues.

3. Receiving personal ministry (counsel, prayer, etc.) to deliver them from their stuff.

4. Having someone stand beside them through their traumas and problems.

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Diagnosing Mobilization Problems

If we link our big gest problem with our primar y mandate, what cor r ective clues might we find for our whole church program?

A. Your Mission—the ultimate point for everything you are and do

1. How important are the people of your congregation in your Mission Statement?

2. What will happen to individuals as they help carry out that mission?

3. What will happen through them while doing so?

B. Your Vision—the picture you paint about your future together in ministry

1. How compelling is it—in terms of engaging people’s life energies, and giving them reason to sacrifice?

2. Where are the people in what you see as your church’s future?

3. What motives are you tapping in order to draw your people toward that desired future?

C. Culture—the peculiarities of your collective personality and ministry style

1. How does your church culture encourage volunteering? How are you shaping the elements of the culture to promote servanthood?

2. What has been modeled? What stories do you tell?

3. What are the rites of passage in your church? What do the elders do?

4. What profile would you draw of someone in your church who is “really going for it” as a vital and functioning part of your church?

D. Atmosphere—the prevailing attitudes and feelings within your congregation

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1. How welcoming, fun and trusting does your church feel to individuals in it?

2. What do your people think you think of them?

3. How easy is it to fail? Is your church a team sport like football or an individual sport like track?

4. How normal are shortcomings? Is perfection important? What is the focus of your "pursuit of excellence"?

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Vital Leadership Mentalities for Mobilizing People

Is it possible that we who lead have been thinking about mobiliz ing people naturally, rather than spiritually? What would happen if we changed our thinking?

A. Toward People

1. Loving them.

2. Asking God's heart for them.

3. Having greater ambition for them than for yourself.

4. Believing that the Body has many parts—each as important as another.

5. Being eager to discover their unique giftings and why Jesus called them to your church.

6. Wanting to relieve their burdens.

7. Wanting to fulfill their desires in ministry, and releasing them to those callings, assignments and aspirations when appropriate.

B. Toward Serving

1. Most real ministry is ordinary and rather menial, not spectacular.

2. Serving expedites a person's growth and maturity more so than does listening to a sermon.

3. Serving connects people to the church and to one another.

4. Serving—if done in a properly arranged setting—is addictive and habit-forming.

5. People should never be allowed or encouraged to serve out of guilt, frustration, legalism, bitterness or martyrdom.

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6. Serving for most people is a series of successive approximations. Keep them moving to the next step after they hand off their current responsibilities.

C. Toward Reality

1. Time is more precious today than it was 200 years ago.

2. Kingdom advance and harvest are inextricably connected to mobilizing people. They are the one limitless resource in our churches.

3. Volunteers need vision and momentum.

4. People agree to serve mostly on the basis of personal relationship with or appreciation for the one who asks them to serve.

5. People are wired to respond positively to encouragement and affirmation.

6. As with all human beings, volunteers will likely disappoint you—sooner or later—but then, can’t we call it even?

7. It takes more time—initially—to train a volunteer than it does to do the job yourself.

8. It is very difficult for volunteers to oversee other volunteers. Volunteer managers require long-term training and a proving process to succeed.

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‘Feelings’ that Turn Away Volunteers

Have we been unintentionally working against ourselves and our goal to raise up mor e people in ministr y? How do people r eally f eel about us, our church and themselves?

A. General Feelings (not well-defined or articulated)

1. Not much is happening; there is little activity or momentum. The status quo and every-week-is-the-same routine has short-circuited excitement and development. Consequently, people ask, “What difference will it make if I do volunteer?”

2. Somebody else is taking care of things. “They can manage without my involvement.”

3. There aren't many choices about where, when or how to serve. “I wish there was something I was good at or that appealed to me, but I could never do/enjoy serving in that capacity.”

4. Guilt and condemnation. Pressure. Burden. Responsibility. It seems so heavy and thick. “I feel so guilty; I better do something for a while.”

5. Serving is just a way others in the church try to impress the leader. Those who serve do it to "get in" with the pastor. “The leader always asks the same people to do everything.”

B. Feelings About or From the Leader

1. Even the leader isn’t interested; no enthusiasm or excitement for the particular project or for the overall direction of the church. “If the pastor is just coasting along for the ride, why should I exert myself?”

2. The leaders never serve in any capacity other than leading (duh…that’s their ‘day job’). “Hey, they get paid to do the ministry—or, at least, it’s their church. I’ve got a job at work; church isn’t my duty.”

3. No appreciation or thanks expressed by the leader during or after the work.

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4. The volunteer duty is something the leader doesn't want or like to do.

5. The people are treated like those who are capable of only mindless tasks or dot-to-dot ministry.

C. Feelings About Themselves

1. Fear of failure or fear of rejection (disapproval).

2. No hope of success or completion—endless, week after week duty.

3. No sense of interpersonal connection—isolated and lonely.

4. Past efforts have been unappreciated or redone by the leader.

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Keys to Mobilizing People

What specif ic steps can we take, what mentalities can we adopt, what can we communicate to our fol lowers that will inspir e them to more ministr y involvement?

A. Leaders

1. Get excited—Leaders’ excitement about what's happening around the church in general, and about the specific service opportunity being presented, is contagious.

2. Lead well as servants—Leaders who ”go before” the people in both attitude and example, picking up cups, doing the little things and "following the lower road," create tremendous spiritual momentum.

3. Love and respect individuals—People love and respect leaders who love and respect them, and being treated with AGAPE makes them want to help the leaders who love them.

4. Teach servanthood as a Kingdom pathway—Since all Kingdom ways are counter-intuitive, it takes careful, patient, biblical instruction for people to embrace concepts like tithing, forgiving…and serving.

5. Be coaches and cheerleaders—People need help getting unstuck from fear (not knowing if they can do something well) and uncertainty (not knowing how to do something).

6. Be easily accessible—Remember that the point is not having people do the job, but using the job (and all the stuff that it brings up in their life) to “do” (develop) people. The whole process becomes illegitimate unless we are there for clarification and for brief personal ministry.

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B. Friends in Church

1. Gratitude for what the church (people) has done for their family (spouse, children) gives people an incentive to serve.

2. Watching others serve and hearing them talk about what they did gives people hope that they "can do it too."

3. The sense of family—everyone belonging and pulling together—makes people more inclined to volunteer.

4. Personal invitation from someone they like or admire is usually enough to get people to say "yes."

5. The invitation process—to sit together next week, to go to an activity, to come dinner, to attend ICU, to help serve—casts volunteering as an opportunity, not an obligation.

6. Once people discover that "serving is the birthplace for deeper relationships," they begin to anticipate the next opportunity to serve.

7. Most people are fairly starved for good friends and meaningful conversation. Serving with others provides both, and it bonds people together.

C. The Atmosphere

1. Being involved (serving) must be made to feel fun and appealing.

2. Positive up-beat communication makes people want to serve.

3. There is a place for everyone, and people are encouraged to find their unique niche of fulfillment.

4. Progressive exposure makes it seem like everyone serves; it is a normal experience, not a big deal.

5. There is no caste system—no untouchables or exalted personages, no peons or nobles. When church is run like a co-op, people serve more.

6. The positive, happy attitude of "those who have gone before" is contagious.

7. The constant testimonies of "I'm going to ask Wendy to help me" and "I helped Meridith arrange the supply closet" make serving as unconscious as breathing.

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8. When a lot is happening and people have several choices for involvement, the activity translates into excitement and willingness to serve.

D. Values of the Church Culture

1. Behind the scenes activity is stressed and applauded over and over.

2. The noble place of servanthood, as a basic principle of Christian living, leaves the choice to serve between each person and God—not between the leader and the people.

3. The values of change and stretching beyond self-imposed limitations tend to reduce people's fear of failure and reproach.

4. Emphasizing for the sake of others makes serving very popular and very fulfilling.

5. Accountability leads to lots of casual questions about, "What ‘ya been up to?"

6. When there is the feeling of complete freedom for volunteers to stop their service assignment without any stigma or pressure to continue, they are more willing to begin—and to continue—serving.

E. The Desire to Be Needed

1. People want to be more than an "anyone-will-do-how-about-you" recruit, so the statement "I really need your help," spoken by one volunteer to another member of the church, is almost irresistible.

2. The more people feel a sense of ownership in the whole church and in a specific ministry project, the more they are willing to do for both.

3. People want to leave their signature on things. They want to express their unique style and personality in their service.

4. Making a significant contribution, and having that contribution noted and appreciated by someone they want to please, builds tremendous self-esteem in people.

5. People want stimulating involvement—an opportunity to participate in something bigger than themselves, something that they believe will make a real difference in the world (Kingdom).

6. Helping people pause and reflect back on what they have accomplished trains them to gain hope and satisfaction in the next

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volunteer work process. People love "the final reward of seeing what they have done."

7. When volunteers feel like they are key players on the team, rather than solo players or bench-warmers, they tend to put out more effort in serving.

F. Other Keys

1. Mobilization is a crucial part, but only a part, of the nurturing process.

2. People whom we have nurtured/mended are more willing to mobilize at our request than are people in whom we have invested little.

3. Be convinced that serving is more helpful to them than it is to us. Most pastors and lay-people sorely underestimate the benefits of serving.

4. Make clear what is expected of them. Be as specific as possible about responsibilities, goals, tenure and accountability. This does not necessarily entail formal job descriptions.

5. Determine what kind of person each volunteer is and what kind of support or accountability process he or she will need in order to succeed.

6. Encourage volunteers and staff to have/develop an apprentice whom they can mentor.

7. Cast their role/ministry/service in light of the whole vision of the church. How will their mobilization help accomplish the institutional mission?

8. Trust them. Communicate that trust in what you do, what you say, and how you say it.

9. Mobilize people in areas of their interest, gifts or calling whenever possible, and show them how the job fits who God has designed them to be.

10. Give volunteers a sense of future and hope.