If you’ve been in ministry for very long, you’ve probably heard of the 80/20 rule – 20% of the people connected to your ministry will do 80% of the work. Whether that’s actually true or not is debatable, but it feels like that (or worse) most of the time. The truth is that it doesn’t have to be that way. Making a few changes to how you recruit and manage volunteers can increase engagement and enhance results.
One of the biggest mistakes contributing to the 80/20 rule results is the process of recruiting. Many ministries view positions like Bible class teacher as a slot that needs to be filled with a hopefully somewhat willing body. What often results is that people are trying to fill roles for which they neither have the gifts nor passions to do well. When we can’t accomplish an assigned task with competence or hate doing it, the motivation to go the extra mile or continue in the role is non-existent.
You may be thinking to yourself that all of your professional teachers only want to teach in the summers if at all and you are forced to just find bodies to fill slots. Therein lies the second major mistake ministries make – failing to help Christians identify their gifts. I can almost promise you that you have non-professional educators in your congregation who would make wonderful Bible class teachers. Unfortunately, no one has ever helped them identify, develop and use this hidden gift.
Taking the time to find those with the gift of teaching hidden in your midst may seem like more trouble than it’s worth. The truth is you can’t afford to not find these people. We are losing young people rapidly and part of the problem are Bible classes that don’t help them learn, understand and use what they really need to know to have a strong faith foundation. The best curriculum in the world is practically useless if you don’t have talented teachers.
One way to make the gift identification process a little easier is to offer an adult Bible class for people who think they might like to teach one day. Make it clear that it is a discovery class that they cannot fail and has no hidden commitment to teaching in your ministry if they attend. Those with an interest who attend the class may be more likely to have the hidden talent and passion. As part of the class you can discover if they truly have the gift and begin providing training. Several weeks of the class should be spent shadowing current teachers in their preferred age groups. Each week the teacher being shadowed should give the person being trained more responsibility for planning and executing various parts of the class. By the end of the quarter, the trainee should be able to plan and execute an entire class period.
Will this method take more time? Possibly in the beginning. Over time though, you will have developed a team of well trained, talented volunteers who are passionate and capable of giving your Bible students the spiritual education God wants them to have. This will save you from having to constantly try to find “bodies” to serve and dealing with the fallout and guilt of providing mediocre Bible classes for your students. Even better, you can then adapt the format to accommodate other ministry roles like drama, mentoring, etc. It’s a model that can end the 80/20 rule in your ministry forever.