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If you’ve ever worked at a church for any amount of time then you know that, along with staff, your church volunteers are truly the lifeblood of your church. From weekly Sunday services to worship, production, children’s ministry, outreach, discipleship, parking, and more, church volunteers are the reason churches can grow and thrive.
In 1 Corinthians 12:12-31, the Apostle Paul powerfully discusses the Body of Christ, and how each person is necessary and important in God’s Kingdom, no matter how large or small of a role they play. And from the book of Acts we see the first Christians of Antoich coming together, serving each other, and living in community.
Many of our heroes of the faith like Paul, Barnabus, Luke, and Aquila and Priscilla were volunteer missionaries and disciplers who ministered to local communities and Christians. The Bible makes it clear that to be a part of the Body of Christ means to contribute in your own unique way to its health and success.
Yet, many churches struggle with maintaining consistent church volunteers, having a healthy volunteer culture, getting people to show up on time, and getting people to contribute as members of the Body.
Why is that? Today we take a deep dive into the world of church volunteering to explore why your church may be struggling to find your best church volunteers—and how to fix it!
When congregants walk in on Sunday mornings, everything seems to be running smoothly week after week! With so many smiling faces, flowing pots of hot coffee, and the same faithful visitors greeting newcomers week after week, there is no clear indication that your church needs more volunteers to thrive; everything seems to be going just fine without more help.
But what they can’t see behind the smiles is the fact that the same people who make the hot coffee, assist with production, and greet visitors are likely the same people who have done it every Sunday simply because there is no one else to take their place. Though many churchgoers report having a desire to serve, few actually do. Eventually, your best church volunteers need a break too… and may give up volunteering altogether.
That’s why it’s crucial for leaders to always be looking for new volunteers, sharing opportunities, and asking for help—even when everything looks good on the surface.
If you’re struggling to know how to recruit volunteers for church, one issue may be that congregants simply don’t know how essential volunteers are at your church. Congregants may be under the impression that your church is primarily run by staff instead of volunteers.
For larger churches, this is a more common assumption simply because they usually have more funds, resulting in more paid staff contributing to the church’s day-to-day operations. Churchgoers may believe there are paid staff everywhere on Sundays—and few volunteers.
Taking time to publicly acknowledge, honor, and celebrate volunteers (individually and collectively) is essential to helping people know who they are and why their work is important. It’s also a great way to inspire new volunteers to sign up!
The pulpit offers a powerful platform for pastors to share about the importance of volunteering at church. When serving others is valued from the top down, a congregation will approach volunteering differently, knowing how much church leadership needs and values everyone’s contributions.
Share messages about how serving is part of the discipleship journey, and lead from a place of encouragement, gratitude, appreciation, and theological reflection. Pastors can also share their own volunteer experiences and the benefits they received from investing into others.
As mentioned above, though many churchgoers want to serve their church, few actually do. In fact, studies show that 66% of churchgoers say they have not volunteered for a charity (church, ministry, or non-ministry) recently. And of those who do serve, many of them are over the age of 65. As a result, the same volunteers serve week after week, putting too much pressure on too few volunteers.
Recruiting and raising up more volunteers will help to solve this problem, taking the pressure off of the faithful few and inviting more people to serve at your church, contributing their gifts, talents, and skillsets.
Learning how to recruit volunteers at church starts with meeting congregants where they’re at. And one major obstacle to keeping consistent good volunteers is working with their schedules.
People today are busier than ever, and people in various life stages face different challenges. For instance, parents of young children are going to find it much more difficult to serve than empty nesters. If your volunteer schedule doesn’t fit with people’s busy schedules, then their participation will naturally drop, no matter how passionate or committed your people may be.
That’s why it’s important to offer multiple times throughout the week for church volunteer opportunities, giving people flexibility to serve when it works best for them and increasing the likelihood that they’ll be consistent.
For many churches, there are simply too many simultaneous needs. When churches are running low on volunteers, congregants may feel like the ask is greater than what they can give. This can scare away volunteers, causing many places in ministry to go unfilled, and causing the cycle to repeat.
To combat this problem, consider recruiting for a few positions that you think will have the most impact at your church. This could include volunteer greeters on Sunday mornings, behind-the-scenes admins, production, or children’s ministry. Start there and get the word out to your congregation. Once those positions are filled, move onto the less vital positions.
Perhaps you think you’ve already communicated your needs with your church and no one is stepping up—but that may not actually be true. With so many visitors walking through the doors, new people just may not know what you need as much as you think they do, or feel unsure if those places have been filled by others yet.
Remember that it may take several touch points, like pulpit announcements, newsletter reminders, bulletin board notices, and face-to-face requests, before someone decides to sign up to serve.
Which leads us to our next barrier–unclear communication! That’s why it’s best to be clear about what you’re looking for. Having a special place on your church app or website about volunteering is crucial. From Sunday morning announcements to digital communications, social media posts, flyers, lobby tables, next steps classes, emails, and slides, your church needs to be consistently clear about your needs.
One simple way to solve this problem is to send out a weekly volunteer newsletter. Let your church know what’s gone on in the past week, what outreach events you held or are coming up, what positions are still needing to be fulfilled, and what areas are most urgent. Clear communication is crucial when it comes to finding and keeping amazing volunteers!
Whatever people are volunteering for, whether it’s children’s ministry, an outreach event, or Sunday morning worship, it’s vital they receive proper training beforehand, including what the expectations are for their behavior, the event, and the outcome.
Your church may consider hosting a volunteer training workshop. Create resources with information about your church’s mission, ethics, protocol, and best practices. Next, ensure your volunteers are properly trained for their particular area with role descriptions and outlined expectations. Provide opportunities to shadow other more seasoned volunteers before they start serving on their own.
One valuable idea is to host volunteer training days at your church! Use this time to answer questions, ensure everyone has the support they need, and even train people on how to use any volunteer software. Whether they’re once a year or once a month, people need to be trained well to know how they can bring their best self to their service time.
Clear communication is vital for your volunteers—and disorganization can be a major barrier to success. Once someone signs up to volunteer, ask questions like:
Improving organization in your church communications and follow through can turn frustrated and confused people into confident and plugged in volunteers.
How volunteers are funneled into your church systems is crucial. From start to finish your church should have a smooth process for ensuring volunteers are added to your system and are trained, prepared, communicated with, and have access to their volunteer schedule.
Without a digital onboarding flow, things can feel clunky, inconsistent, and impersonal. Volunteers might not get the right information when they join, or they may be overlooked entirely. That’s where a platform like Subsplash can make a massive difference:
The bottom line is that a digital onboarding process built on Subsplash ensures that volunteers don’t slip through the cracks. It helps them feel welcomed, informed, and prepared from day one—which dramatically improves retention, engagement, and their overall experience serving at your church.
With so many new people coming to the church for the first time, many may be unaware of what spiritual giftings are, or what spiritual gifts they have. They may not be familiar with the 1 Corinthians passage, or how they contribute to the Body of Christ. Yet we know that every person has beautiful and valuable gifts from God to make a difference for the Kingdom.
To solve this problem, some churches include a spiritual giftings assessment in their next steps classes. This helps congregants become familiar with their own gifts and talents, and better understand where they can make the most impact at church—in a way that fits their needs and your church’s.
It’s well known that some church leaders can have a “control issue”. They’re too worried about controlling every aspect of church life, limiting what congregants are allowed to do and manage at church. As a result, their congregants cannot lead with creativity and innovation.
To encourage buy-in, churches need to allow volunteers to lead and shine. To give you a real illustration, John and Mary were passionate about the Samaritan’s Purse Operation Christmas Child shoebox ministry. Despite being in their 80’s, this was one area they felt confident they could contribute in and were up for the challenge. As a result, their church let them take the lead, including organizing the entire shoebox collection. It was a big task, but John and Mary were super successful year after year, even involving teenagers to help them pack the boxes on packing day. Everyone loved it!
When the church let them lead this ministry, congregants followed—and their ministry had a huge impact. By allowing congregants to take ownership and lead in an area they were passionate about and comfortable with, everyone benefits, volunteers of all ages can feel empowered, and the church leaders and staff only need to be minimally involved, freeing them up for other types of ministry.
Each member of your congregation is unique—no one size fits all. Your congregation is filled with families, but also with single men and women, single parents, childless folks, teenagers, college students, empty nesters, widows and widowers, and more—people walking through all different stages of life.
Some are struggling with the new arrival of an infant and some are struggling through cancer. Some are old, some are young, some have multiple college degrees, and some have none—yet all are significant in the Body of Christ and all have unique gifts to contribute.
That’s why it’s vital you consider your volunteer’s demographics and circumstances as they are looking for a place to serve. With each individual, it’s important to consider their demographics, special circumstances, along with their giftings when setting them up for the best chance at success.
Your church’s mission is important, and volunteers need to know how their efforts reflect the mission of your church. When people aren’t sure what drives your church or what it is trying to accomplish, they will naturally struggle to see how their service fits into the bigger picture. An unclear mission creates an environment where volunteering feels like “extra work” instead of meaningful participation in God’s purposes.
It’s important to ensure that your church’s purpose and vision are highly visible and consistently communicated. Regularly share stories, updates, and examples of how church volunteer work directly advances the church’s mission—both during services and through newsletters, social media, or small group meetings.
Consider creating a simple “volunteer roadmap” that clearly connects each role to specific outcomes in the church’s vision, so volunteers can see the tangible impact of their service. When people understand why the church exists and how their contributions matter, serving becomes inspiring, purposeful, and deeply rewarding.
Whether you know it or not, your church culture affects your volunteers. Culture shapes how valued people feel, how connected they are to the mission, and how motivated they are to participate. When a church environment feels disorganized, overly critical, or burned out, volunteers will sense it immediately—and many won’t stay.
Everything from how leaders communicate to how conflicts are handled and how appreciation is expressed contributes to the overall environment.
A culture that creates a place where volunteers love to serve and invite others to join them is marked by gratitude, clear communication, and genuine care.
You may think your faithful few volunteers always know the difference they’re making—but that may not be the case. Additionally, newer church volunteers may have no clue how their contribution fits into the overall health and ministry of your church.
When possible, volunteers need to know how they’re making a difference! Some creative ideas include:
Many church volunteers give sacrificially, Sunday after Sunday. And sometimes, they go above and beyond to make an event or outreach a huge success. But with the busyness of church life, it’s easy for church leaders to forget to intentionally honor their volunteers and thank them for their service.
While we know volunteers aren’t doing it for the spotlight, a kind word of encouragement and recognition can go a long way.
By awarding a “Volunteer of the Month”, your church can publicly honor those who make such an amazing impact behind the scenes. On one Sunday a month from the pulpit, pastors can take just a few minutes to highlight a volunteer and their impact for the Gospel. Additionally, awarding a gift card and/or letter of appreciation helps them know how much your church cares. Consider putting their name in churchwide communications like emails or newsletters to honor them in print and online too!
Many volunteers don’t stay simply because they feel unseen. In a busy ministry environment, it’s easy for leaders to assume that “no news is good news,” but volunteers often need personal connection to stay engaged.
Beyond public recognition of your volunteer teams, a quick, personal conversation before service, a check-in text during the week, or a moment of prayer after a long Sunday can make a world of difference. When volunteers feel like just another name on a schedule, their motivation fades quickly.
Effective leaders invest relationally—learning their names, noticing their effort, celebrating milestones, and caring about their lives outside of serving—and this leads to volunteers feeling valued, known, and much more likely to stay committed.
Healthy accountability is a key ingredient for strong volunteer teams. Volunteers who repeatedly show up late, cancel last minute, or fail to complete tasks can unintentionally derail the entire team’s momentum if no one is addressing it. When these volunteers aren’t held to clear expectations, roles can become inconsistent, communication breaks down, and dependable people may feel frustrated when others don’t follow through.
Accountability isn’t about being harsh—it’s about providing clarity, follow-up, and gentle correction when needed. When leaders model and reinforce accountability with grace and consistency, volunteers feel supported, teams function smoothly, and everyone can serve with confidence.
Feedback is vital in the life of your church—and volunteers are frequently on the front lines, becoming eyes and ears in amazing ways. Sometimes, their feedback is wonderful, like amazing testimonials and words of affirmation. Other times, volunteers are witnessing areas in your church that need health or growth.
That’s why it’s so important to listen to your volunteers. Some questions you could ask them include:
Conflict is a part of life, including church life. Even the most dedicated church volunteers can grow discouraged when conflicts arise and aren’t addressed. Tensions between team members, misunderstandings about responsibilities, or disagreements over ministry direction can quietly erode morale if left unresolved.
Be sure to have a conflict resolution form or complaint process in place to ensure fairness and a pathway for learning about potential problems or even liabilities. Effective conflict resolution means creating a culture where concerns can be voiced respectfully, leaders step in promptly to mediate, and relationships are restored with humility and understanding.
Your congregation is likely filled with some extremely talented people, including experienced and motivated leaders like CEO’s, entrepreneurs, and business owners. For them, they may love the challenge of a big project and can handle huge responsibility very well.
If your church volunteer opportunities are just too simple, they may be less motivated to be involved at your church. These types of people may be able to handle much more than you thought possible, allowing your church leadership to completely hand off important tasks and place them in their capable hands. What an amazing gift! That’s why it’s so important to make sure that the challenge isn’t too small. Some people love a good challenge and without which they feel unmotivated to be involved.
The sad fact is that people are just incredibly busy today. On top of staying busy, many people are overly distracted by their phones, spending upwards of 5 hours on their mobile devices every day.
But the church offers something more than just keeping people busy. Instead, congregants are invited to be involved in God’s story for their lives! Consider starting small—ask your volunteers to commit to serving just once a week or month. This minimal investment will encourage them to get involved.
Volunteers are often motivated by a desire to make a difference, but if their service isn’t explicitly tied to discipleship for the Gospel, they may miss the deeper spiritual purpose behind their work. When ministry tasks are presented as just “getting things done” rather than opportunities to share God’s love and fulfill the Great Commission, volunteers can feel like their efforts are functional rather than transformational.
By regularly showing how each role impacts lives spiritually, whether through sharing stories of changed hearts, teaching Biblical principles, or highlighting how their work points people to Jesus, volunteers begin to see their service as an act of worship. It’s important to connect the dots theologically and help people understand how their efforts can lead to discipleship and sharing the Gospel.
At the end of the day, church volunteers aren’t just helpers or free staff—they are vital members of the Body of Christ, uniquely gifted and called to build up the Church. When churches struggle to recruit or retain volunteers, it’s rarely because people don’t care. More often, it’s because systems need strengthening, communication needs clarity, or culture needs intentional shaping.
The good news? Every one of these challenges is fixable.
As church leaders, you have the incredible opportunity to create an environment where people feel known, valued, equipped, and spiritually inspired to serve. When you communicate clearly, onboard well, offer meaningful roles, honor your people, and connect their service to the heart of the Gospel, something powerful happens—volunteers flourish, ministries grow stronger, and your entire church becomes healthier and more mission-focused.
By taking practical steps to support church volunteers and cultivate a culture of discipleship, your church can experience renewed energy, increased participation, and a thriving volunteer community that reflects the love and unity of Christ. And in the end, that’s what it’s all about: God’s people joyfully working together to advance His Kingdom and make an eternal impact.
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