Everyone agrees volunteers are vital to the mission of the Church. They are the most important resource a church has – hands down. Not as an end in itself, but to build the Kingdom as a disciple of Jesus.

“Volunteers do not necessarily have the time; they just have the heart.”

This is so true.

One way to make an impact on a volunteer’s heart of service to others (outside of loving, caring, discipling and ministering to them) is to THANK them – sincerely and often.

Yes, there are many ways this can be done, including many things that don’t cost the church money. Do those.

Having said that, DO MORE by making it a priority in your Church Budget to honor their sacrifice. (Even if it means cutting back on programming or events). Whether it’s church-wide or ministry area appreciation events (I recommend both), thank you cards, gift cards, t-shirts and so on, put them in your budget and don’t scrimp. Sure, you may have to start small, but increase it each year as you can. They ARE your most important resource.

I wrote about an idea for a church-wide event that incorporates Ministry & Finance Updates, Vision Casting AND Volunteer Appreciation as part of THIS POST.

See this post and this post for ideas on how you can appreciate your volunteers.

Pastor, champion Volunteer Appreciation by seeing that it’s an integral component of your church’s ministry planning.