Over the many years that I’ve been involved in various churches, I’ve noticed that one of the major concerns is recruiting qualified and willing people to serve in various church ministries such as teaching Sunday School and singing in the choir. When I’ve been in attendance at a church where I’m not serving as a pastor, there have been a number of times that others have tried to recruit me for various ministries such as these. While it can be difficult I’ve often felt that there were a number of times that the approaches to recruit me were misguided, to say the least.
Often people who serve become more like cogs in a religious machine, and the additional pressure of feeling pressured or coerced. Nor should anyone feel trapped in a ministry commitment if he or she is sensing God leading him or her somewhere else. Ministry in the church of Jesus Christ is not like fulfilling a position in an earthly club or being part of a religious show, but rather it is service in the power of the Holy Spirit, and calls for the servanthood attitude of Christ.
Therefore:
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Make each ministry position which needs someone a matter of united prayer by the leaders. Trust that God will provide the right people for a ministry that he wants done!
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Avoid any kind of high pressure, heavy handed, disrespectful or interfering statements or actions when attempting to recruit someone to serve in a ministry position.
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Be sensitive to the many demands and the complexity of the lives of others when approaching them about a possible ministry in the church.
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Seek to staff positions based on the awareness of God’s leading. Allow others time always to pray and think about ministry involvement.
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Seek to staff positions based on spiritual gifts since these are signs of God’s provision of the ability to fulfill the position.
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Let people leave a ministry position gracefully, without malicious snipes, guilt trips, tormenting them, or blackening their reputations.
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Allow those who are serving who may simply want some time away that time away to recharge themselves spiritually or to attend to personal and family needs.
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Seek to help anyone who has been serving improve and make the best use of his or her gifts and abilities.
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Seek to have appreciation regularly given both publicly and privately to those who serve in ministry positions.
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Keep people always aware of the spiritual qualifications for church leadership from the scriptures. Many positions really need those who have elder, deacon or deaconess qualifications — even if not specifically elected or designated for those positions.
Preaching Point 