Don Simmons on Volunteerism

Don Simmons teaches at Fresno State and was a professor at Golden Gate Theological Seminary. He was instrumental in the One by One Leadership program. He is head of Creative Potential, Consulting and Training.

The whole focus of the training today is why do people serve and why do people volunteer. There is a lot of focus internally when there is so much work to do outward. If you are not making disciples in volunteering you are not getting the most out of the service. We have a mountain of things to do, but doing them is our responsibility. Discipleship is the leadership responsibility. It is experiential discipleship - "follow me and I will teach you to become." In the process things happen. It isn't about how many but how to invest in those that say "yes."

Language matters. If you want to change the culture, change the language. Start calling things what they are. When the Chinese took over Mongolia, they outlawed the local language and said they had to speak Mandarin. One way we measure other Christians is in what they say. We have problematic words. The root of volunteer is "I choose." It's my choice. We want peole who are gifted, called, commissioned. Do you know the difference between a volunteer and one who is called? The volunteer looks at the difficulties and the called looks at the service. Don helped to write a book called Some Do Care in which they did 1000 interviews of people who were doing amazing service tutoring the blind. When asked why they did it, they responded that they had to, it was their life and who they were. Most volunteer models guilt, beg, plead and pressure into service. We say it is okay if we spiritualize. Rather than volunteers we should call them servants.

Another word that doesnt' belong in the church is "recruit." Jesus never recruited. He knew who they were and knew when he was speaking to them that he was interupting their life. He invited them personally by name - not by mass blitz or plea. He asked and invited. If he sensed they were not ready, he had another conversation with them. We think we need to move with speed and volume, but the church was not built for efficiency. We have a problem called sin.

A statistic done in 2008 said that 93% of all people do not have the personality to be self-initiators. The other 7% have a very high flake or freak factor. Of those 2% are likely to decide they don't like it. They sign up for everything and then quit. One participant of the conference asked Don what happens we they have a need but they don't want to guilt. Don said they need to back up and look at whole structure and be willing to change it. Also, what can they do to maximize and supplement with partnerships? What can they pay? You may not be able to do for free. We get people for all the wrong reasons. Don prays the LORD will protect the church when they say they need everybody. There should be some spectators that grow to it.

What are we doing to help the 93%? The pool of invitors is too small, and they are not the right people. If you are paid to do the ministry, you are not the right person to ask for volunteers who are not paid. A better is approach is to ask volunteers to ask other volunteers to serve with them.

Don was recently part of Extreme Makeover in Fresno, CA. The only benefit the volunteers received was that a family got to have a new house. They needed 1000 people, and the way they got the volunteers was for people to invite friends. 4000 people showed up at each shift. We need to teach people how to invite. Pulpit pleas and ministry expositions don't work.

There are three steps to engaging people. First, you Identify the right people. Pay attention to people. Ask people if they know people who can...

People appreciate organization. The more clearly you can describe the task, the more likely they will be to come back. They will be thinking more about what difference does this make rather than what am I doing. Give them a clear description of what they are to do and not do.

The next step is to Inform them of the opportunities.

Third, you are to Invite. Learn how to invite people. Invite them specifically with a sketched out ministry description. Ask them if they can commit to a set amount of time. Invite them peer to peer. Invite them to the team. Sign-ups don't work.

If you don't recruit there are two ways to gain servants. First you identify the need and pray. Make an honest commitment to not say you need anything, but give the church stories of those who are serving and how it is impacting their life and the lives of others. People respond to the stories. There was a church that for sixteen weeks wove stories of service in the youth program by the parents and children into every sermon. The people overwhelmingly responded to the stories. People come to church to see life changed when people tell stories of such. The second way to gain servants is to ask people you currently know in service who they know who can serve.

It is about servanthood rather than giftedness and a responsibility to the body even when you are not crazy about doing the work. It is not volunteering but rather servanthood, family, ministry, and church. It is not just social work with Bible verses.