Category: Volunteers

Children's Ministry, leadership, Motherhood & Ministry, Volunteers

Motherhood & Ministry

Dr. Virginia Brennan

Water from the Rock: Exodus 17:1-7

At the opening of Exodus 17, we see the Israelites in the wilderness. God has already completed the 10 plagues, the parting of the Red Sea, and the destruction of the Egyptian army. He has given them fresh water wherever they camp, and has provided manna and quail to eat. God has given them specific instructions on gathering and keeping manna (which the Israelites don’t obey, by the way; Exodus 16:19-20, 27-28). 

In spite of every miracle, sign, and provision from the Lord, the Israelties still grumbled, disobeyed God, and questioned both God and Moses. They could not rest in the goodness and provision of God.

“The people grumbled to Moses, ‘What are we going to drink?’” – Exodus 15:24

“The entire Israelite community grumbled against Moses and Aaron in the wilderness. The Israelites said to them, ‘If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in the land of Egypt, when we sat by pots of meat and ate all the bread we wanted. Instead, you brought us into this wilderness to make this whole assembly die of hunger!’”’ – Exodus 16:2-3

Dear sisters, if Moses himself dealt with ongoing grumbling from the people, do not be surprised when you too face grumbling, even under the most positive of circumstances. Your church can be growing, the ministry flourishing, and there will still be some people who find something to grumble about. 

“So the people complained to Moses, ‘Give us water to drink.‘

‘Why are you complaining to me?’ Moses replied to them. ‘Why are you testing the Lord?’

But the people thirsted there for water and grumbled against Moses.They said, ‘Why did you ever bring us up from Egypt to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?’

Then Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘What should I do with these people? In a little while they will stone me!’” – Exodus 17:2-4 

Reading this passage, I am struck with feelings of desperation and exasperation that are all too familiar. I don’t know if Moses wanted to tear his hair out in frustration, but I have certainly felt that way! 

As we face grumbling, let us be quick to examine our own hearts and ensure that we have not also become the grumblers. Grumbling about the grumblers may feel cathartic in the moment, but it is not constructive, and does not sanctify our hearts or edify the church. Let us watch our own hearts and mouths foremost. 

Then we must turn to God, even if it is in desperation and exasperation, and give God the complaints and fussing of the grumblers. Only the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit can change the grumbler’s heart. No amount of discussion, chastising, or convincing from us can change a person’s heart. That is an internal work of the Holy Spirit and our best weapon is prayer. 

Moreover, when we give to God the situation and the grumbler in prayer, He begins to change our hearts. When we intentionally and thoughtfully pray for another person, God begins to open our eyes, shape our hearts, and pour His love through our lives. It is truly a supernatural work, because our hearts are not inclined to love people who oppose and discourage us. 

Pray, pray, pray. Our most powerful solution for grumbling is to pray and continue trusting the Lord’s provision ourselves. In the coming two weeks, we will revisit the life of Moses for more practical ideas to bear up under the weight of leading a ministry and shepherding God’s people. 

Motherhood & Ministry is a weekly post on Monday mornings to encourage moms who serve in vocational ministry while also serving their families.

Dr. Val and Dr. Virginia share about navigating friendships and leadership in ministry.
Administration, leadership, Volunteers

3 Essentials of Great Volunteer Training

Dr. Virginia Brennan

We all want to host great volunteer training. We want our volunteers feeling valued, coming away with useful tips and ideas, and most of all, we want them to want to come to training! We want training events to be the highlight of their semester, quarter, or year! 

Here are three non-negotiables for great volunteer training:

1) Honor Volunteers’ Time

We honor volunteers’ time by starting on time, ending on time, and filling our time with useful and encouraging content. We don’t want volunteers leaving thinking “this could have been an email.” We want to encourage them, give them practical, applicable strategies to try, and communicate new information in an engaging way. 

If volunteers feel that training is a good and beneficial use of their time, they are more likely to return for future training events and encourage others to attend as well!

2) Honor Diverse Learning Styles

We know that our students have a variety of learning styles and preferences. When we teach our volunteers, we not only want to keep them engaged in our content, but we also have the priceless opportunity to model teaching to diverse learning styles. Using active learning techniques and keeping in mind the three basic learning styles (auditory, visual, and kinesthetic), we can build elements of interaction and diverse activities into our training time.

3) Honor Wisdom, Experience, and Contributions of Volunteers

Most churches have volunteers with a variety of experience levels. You can likely think of some seasoned, rock star volunteers. Give your volunteers opportunities to discuss and problem solve with one another. Allow your experienced leaders the time to encourage and share their wisdom with newer volunteers. I often find that many of the best ideas that come out of training sessions don’t come from me, they come from seasoned volunteers with a passion for ministry. 

Allowing seasoned volunteers to share and encourage others helps them feel valued, appreciated, and seen. 

There are lots of great ideas for volunteer training, but these three essentials can set you on the right course for training events that leaders love!

Dr. Val and Dr. Virginia share some fundamental elements of children’s ministry volunteer training.