Leadership

We all know that volunteers are the lifeblood of any church. If churches had to pay each of their children's ministry teachers, small group leaders, women's and men's ministry leaders, and vacation bible school teachers, they'd be up a creek, fast. Some churches keep their staff incredibly lean and rely predominantly on volunteers while other churches have more robust staff members and fewer volunteers; either way, volunteers need to be screened, training, and thanked. Below are five resources aimed at helping your church lean in to the volunteer management process.

The mission of ChurchTechToday is to provide technology resources for today's church. Over the past few months we've been wondering as a staff how we could do that better. We've wrestled with questions about... What should we cover more? What should we cover less? What technologies are we missing? Our goal is to provide resources that meet the needs of the local church, without adding noise to an already busy life. To do that better, we need your help.

Recently I took thirteen Christian undergraduate students on a field trip to Southern California. One morning, after our buffet breakfast at the Best Western, we got together in the hotel foyer and chatted about faith and technology. It provoked at least three observations for me. 1. Technology makes information more accessible and learning less common.

A megachurch is a church that consistently draws more than 2000 people. While not exclusive to the United States, there are about 1600 churches nationwide that fit the profile. While each church is diverse and different, several similarities appear between them. The following infographic looks at some of these commonalities; attendees, campus type and leader.

With Easter just 40 days away, today is Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent. For those, like myself, who did not grow up following the liturgical calendar, Lent may be a foreign thing. In short, Lent is the season of the Christian Year where we focus on simple living, prayer and fasting to grow closer to God.

Changing churches is never easy. For those who are very connected through volunteering, children's ministry, and other aspects of church community, change is rarely sought after. Many people feel called away from their current church for a number of different reasons. Moving to a new state or city is one obvious situation, but there are a slew of other reasons why people leave their church and join another, or quit church altogether. What leads up to this point is perhaps, a can of worms to be opened.

Monday morning starts, just like most mornings start. A cup of coffee, small chat with a few co-workers, and then head to your desk to get the day going. Most likely you do not even think about it. You push the power button on the desktop or tablet, wait a little bit, open a program or two and your church management software is up and running. There are profiles to update, events to create, emails to send, and a host of other responsibilities that you hope your ChMS can handle. You use this software every day, but do you really KNOW your church management software provider?

As I've written before... Volunteers are the life blood of your church. Much of your ministry success rests on the time and talent of those most committed to your church. With Christmas approaching, it seems like a good time to list some ways to bless your volunteers. Making certain they understand the value you place on them.