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Church Video Ideas: When Volunteers Take Ownership

Orginally published on Thursday, May 31, 2007 at 6:40 AM
by Greg Atkinson

One thing that I love about my church is how we love on, shepherd, train and empower volunteers. I’ve never seen or been a part of a church quite like my current church. The volunteers that make up the Technical Arts Ministry of my church truly take ownership of the ministry and continually prove it through their amazing devotion and commitment.

I wish I could take credit for it, but I’ve only been on staff here for 4 months – this was something that is in the church’s DNA and was fostered and encouraged long before I came aboard. One of the reasons that I “clicked” with this church and felt a strong calling to serve here was because of the emphasis that the leadership placed on volunteer-led ministry (something that I’ve been a proponent for, for years).

Last week I spoke at the Moody Bible Pastors’ Conference. I was doing classes on media ministry and communication. My classes were made up of Senior Pastors. One pastor asked about his authority and right as the Senior Pastor to change the background on the screen if he wasn’t crazy about it – this began a great discussion. I told him that he absolutely had the right and authority to tell the volunteer who had put together the slides to change the slide background. However, I strongly cautioned him to rarely pull that card. The more times you, as a Senior Pastor, play the trump card, the more likely the volunteer is to get frustrated and eventually quit serving.

If you truly want your volunteers to lead and take ownership in the ministry, then you’ve got to allow them to have control over things like that. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed a moving background in our rehearsal that I thought was cheesy. I was thinking of asking them to pull it, but I first asked someone near me what they thought of it. The person I asked said he liked it. I decided that it was not worth saying anything to the graphics person and let it go. You’ve got to choose your battles, so to speak. Of course if a background really offended you or you felt it was inappropriate, then by all means speak your mind and convey your feelings. But I think for the most part, it comes down to opinion and one’s matter of taste, for which everyone is different. If you are the one who puts together the slides each week, then you are welcome to use any that you want. If you are asking a volunteer to put together the slides, I’d encourage you to not constantly change what they worked on.

It’s not a myth, nor a fairy-tale. Volunteers that are dedicated to the church’s ministry and really take ownership do exist and are out there in your church. You simply need to find them, train them, encourage them and then give the freedom to fail, lead and succeed. It’s a beautiful thing to see in action!

Greg Atkinson lives in Dallas with his wife and their three small children. Greg served previously as the Director of WorshipHouse Media, after having served as a worship pastor for 11 years. Greg is now the Technical Arts Director at Bent Tree Bible Fellowship and continues to consult, teach and write about worship, media and creative communication. You can connect with him through his daily blog, Church Video Ideas, his podcast, Creative Synergy, or his email: .

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