Adapted from Helping Without Hurting in Benevolence Ministry. Originally published on August 30, 2022.

Imagine: You’ve laid out your plans for a new outreach or mercy ministry at your church or you’ve gotten your parachurch organization off the ground and are ready to begin offering programs. You’ve got your mission, vision, and values mapped out and a strong biblical vision of God’s heart for the materially poor at the core of your ministry design. You may even have a budget and ample funds to begin making significant investment.

It’s usually at this point, though, that you’ll discover that the scarcest resource of all is volunteers who are willing to walk well with people over time. How are you going to find, equip, encourage and retain volunteers to assist in this long term ministry?

Start with Leaders

Discipling a whole congregation to understand the biblical mandate to care for the poor and the relational nature of poverty is a big job—way beyond the scope of a ministry coordinator (who may also be a volunteer!). Getting your pastor and church leaders involved is crucial. You may be in a decision-making role where you can influence the direction of your ministry, or you may have to follow a process and make your case to the key leaders. 

Focus on Prayer

Be realistic about the fact that one motivated crusader doesn’t necessarily make a movement and make prayer a major focus of this work.

Healing the brokenness of material poverty is God’s job. The Holy Spirit is the one who motivates and sustains all of our ministry, not our human efforts. So ask God to change hearts and minds as you faithfully bring up these issues. That being said, there are some practical things that we can do to remove roadblocks that keep people from serving. 

Extend Personal Invitations

Don’t just expect people to sign up for a ministry like this after reading a line in the bulletin. And when you invite people, take an open stance that encourages them to learn and ask questions. Expect to explain and redefine this vision of poverty alleviation multiple times. Be patient and pray for those who don’t seem to be getting it but also be clear that some people may not be cut out for this work. You have to be honest and upfront about what it entails.

As you’re trying to get things off the ground, don’t forget that your church probably already has many ministries and many volunteers for those ministries, some of which you may not even be aware of. So don’t assume that people are lazy or uninterested just because they haven’t responded to your invitation.

You may have to get creative. It could be that existing ministries can be brought under the umbrella of a new and improved poverty alleviation ministry at your church. Are any of them experiencing challenges that working together might help resolve? But tread lightly and be gracious. You may find that you encounter a few sacred cows that will require some wisdom to navigate. It’s very helpful to do a church inventory to find out all the different things going on before you attempt to recruit more volunteers. You may be surprised and encouraged by what you find. So may God bless you with creativity, patience, and the right volunteer that you need for this work.

Train Them Well

Before allowing someone to serve, you want to be clear about the time, commitments, and training they’ll need to undergo. You also need to be clear about what poverty alleviation ministry is and is not. Sometimes this work draws people who want to “fix” people in poverty and come in with all the answers. This is not the attitude you need from your volunteers. We use the term allies to describe the feel you want these long term relationships to have.

Many of Chalmers’ Trainings (Faith & Finances, Work Life, and Helping Without Hurting in Benevolence Ministry) have specially-developed Equipping Allies tools attached to them for introducing new allies to the basic concepts of helping without hurting and prepare them for their role.

Be “Picky”

When we really need volunteers, it’s hard to say “no” to anybody, but not everyone who wants to serve may be the right fit for your program when they first offer to serve.

• Look for volunteers with life experience and time to give. “Empty nesters” and retirees who want to give back often make strong allies. An energetic leader with 3 young children may love the idea of your program, but might not be able to commit to consistent involvement in their season of life.
  
• Invite people who are good encouragers and listeners. Let potential allies know that sharing their personal experiences, laughing, and learning others’ stories are a big part of building the connections that make transformational ministry possible.
  
• Look for the right skills. Some people don’t think they’re qualified to serve as allies because they lack specific skills and experience, but the truth is that their relational skills are far more important than expertise. On the flip side, some people may think they’ve got what your program needs, but lack the emotional intelligence and patience to connect well with the people you’re serving.
  
• Maintain gender balance. Ministry participants often connect more readily with allies who are the same gender. If your ministry is welcoming both men & women, you need both men & women to serve with you!

You need volunteers who are encouraged to be in the trenches for the long haul. The key is to recognize that the work long-term, transformational poverty alleviation is good, but often difficult. Finding the right people and preparing people to serve well is an act of love, both for your volunteers and for the people your church or ministry is serving.