You Are Needed!

Vocational ministry is not quite what I expected it to be. Since the age of 12, I wanted to be a worship pastor. Fast forward 18 years to today, and that’s exactly what I am; however, my day-to-day job looks a lot different than what I expected as a pre-teen. Seminary certainly didn’t prepare me for the two words every pastor dreads:

Volunteer Recruitment.

As a worship pastor, I am constantly on the hunt for new volunteers to join our worship ministry. Since COVID-19 hit, this need became especially apparent in our tech department, demanding two sound techs, one Livestream tech, one camera operator, and one ProPresenter operator every Sunday morning to facilitate worship services. If our Livestream tech is out of town, I start to get a bit nervous. If all of our sound techs are out of town, then I start to sweat. Think I’m alone?

According to Barna research, a quarter of pastors see volunteer recruitment as one of their biggest obstacles in ministry.

But it doesn’t have to be this way.

Meet Gerry.

In addition to serving as Associate Pastor of Youth & Worship at Orangeburg Avenue Baptist Church in Modesto, Ryan also joyfully serves on the Board of Directors for YES! Young Enough to Serve. Ryan is married to Hillary, and they are proud parents of Josiah. Ryan is a graduate of Vanguard University and Fuller Seminary.

Gerry is a 62-year-old member of our small, Southern Baptist church in the heart of Modesto, California. When I first met Gerry, he held an iPad in his hand because he liked to use it as his Bible during service. The next real conversation I had with Gerry was about a broken projector in our Kid’s Ministry building. Gerry volunteered in our Kid’s Ministry. Because of his love for technology, he was considered their in-house tech expert.

Naturally, when the Kid’s Ministry projector broke, Gerry came to the rescue. Then Gerry came knocking on my office door. We talked in-depth about whether we should fix the projector or replace it with a new one. At that moment, I knew Gerry could be a rockstar volunteer in our tech department. So, I went in for the ask.

“Gerry, would you be willing to run slides sometime in the future for one of our Sunday morning services?”

Gerry quickly answered, “Sorry, I can’t do that. I am serving in Kid’s ministry during that time.”

A swing and a miss.

A few months later, I sat at the church computer designing and preparing the presentation media and song lyrics for our upcoming Sunday service. It was one of those things I enjoyed doing but could easily be delegated. I was convicted as I thought about Ephesians 4:12; my job as a Pastor isn’t to minister, but “to equip the saints for the work of ministry.” Gerry again came to mind.

The next time I saw him, I asked Gerry if he would be willing to prepare the lyrics and media for Sunday service at a time that worked for him. He agreed.

Now six months later Gerry has become one of our most passionate tech volunteers. He goes far beyond his weekly duty to design the slides. He watches training videos and researches possible fixes/advancements in his free time. He just bought a new computer monitor for the ministry. Yesterday, he brought me a burrito as an excuse to sit down and debrief our Livestream graphics. Today, he’s coming to the church to help mount a TV in our broadcast room. I’m not exaggerating.

Gerry has fully bought in. He is the kind of volunteer every Pastor dreams of; and all I did was ask … twice.

To all my fellow pastors and ministry leaders: there are Gerry’s in your church. They might not be secret tech ninjas, but they are passionate about God and just need a push to start serving in a greater capacity. Don’t give up if they say no at first. Try to pivot and ask them again. They’re worth it. Trust me.

To all you local church members who like Gerry are over 55: you are exactly what your church needs right now. The last thing you need to do is get out of the way of the young people and let them completely take over. We need you.

Be encouraged by Psalm 92: 12-15 (ESV):

“The righteous flourish like the palm tree and grow like a cedar in Lebanon. They are planted in the house of the Lord; they flourish in the courts of our God. They still bear fruit in old age; they are ever full of sap and green, to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.”

God’s plan for the church has never been to hand the keys of ministry to just one generation. Over and over again, the Bible gives us a picture of intergenerational ministry: multiple generations working and growing together to accomplish the mission God has given them. We have the incredible privilege to be a part of this mission.

Eli and Samuel.
Paul and Timothy.
Naomi and Ruth.
Moses and Joshua.
Mordecai and Esther.
Gerry and Ryan.
And last but not least, YOU.