Connect: How to Double Your Number of Volunteers
Overview
What if your church had more volunteers than you knew what to do with? Sound far-fetched? It doesn’t have to be. Connect uncovers the secret to doubling your volunteer base in as little as one day. Yes, you read that right.
This step-by-step guide shows you how to create a culture that attracts, keeps, and grows volunteers. It gives you the practical insight and tools you need to effectively involve people in serving your local church. You’ll learn how to help people see the importance of serving, how to continually raise up new volunteers, how to really delegate, and more.
In the Logos edition, this volume is enhanced by amazing functionality. Scripture citations link directly to English translations, and important terms link to dictionaries, encyclopedias, and a wealth of other resources in your digital library. Perform powerful searches to find exactly what you’re looking for. Take the discussion with you using tablet and mobile apps. With Logos Bible Software, the most efficient and comprehensive research tools are in one place, so you get the most out of your study.
- Offers a volunteer system that maximizes the potential in churches
- Provides a clear, practical approach for getting people connected with the serving opportunities
- Utilizes simple tools and well defined strategies cultivated by 20 years in ministry
- Adopting a Ministry Mindset
- The Significance of Service: What Ministry Looks Like
- Clarifying Your Theology of Ministry: Eight Biblical Principles for an Effective System
- Creating Opportunity
- A First Step into Service: Generating Points of Entry
- The Power of New Beginnings: Recruiting New People for Ministry
- Igniting Involvement: Additional Ways to Mobilize Volunteers
- Cultivating the Ministry Ladder
- Lake and Ladders: Helping Volunteers Take the Next Step
- Lessons Learned the Hard Way: Suggestions, Tips, and Tactics
- Calling Out the Called: Guiding People into Full-Time Vocational Ministry
- Celebrating and Reproducing Servants
- Ongoing Recruitment and Reproduction: The Key to a Constant Flow of Volunteers
- Creating a Culture of Celebration: Showing Gratitude to People Who Serve
I can’t say enough about the volunteer system Nelson outlines in Connect. Before implementing it, I felt like we were always behind in getting people onto volunteer teams each week. But since we launched this system, the constant pressure and weekly chaos have faded. Now, we have over 1,000 excited volunteers show up Sunday after Sunday, ready to serve! For years, our church has experienced uncommon growth trends—something we never could have sustained without a good volunteer system in place. Everywhere I go, I find myself recommending this and all of Nelson’s systems to pastors who truly want to maximize the potential in their churches. Read this book with your team!
—Ryan Meeks, lead pastor, Eastlake Church, Seattle and Bothel, WA
Connect is a great book on volunteering to mobilize your church. Searcy details a clear, practical approach for getting people connected with the serving opportunities that will grow them personally and grow the church as whole. If every church leader read Connect and applied its teaching, the number of people actively engaged in serving God’s kingdom would explode! Just imagine what that could mean for ministry both locally and around the world. I know you will be revisiting these pages time and time again!
—Steve Gladen, pastor of small groups, Saddleback Church, Lake Forest, CA
Nelson Searcy has done it again. With more than 20 years of experience down in the trenches of local church ministry, he has developed a clear and compelling system for moving people into ministry. His simple tools and well-defined strategy are easily transferable, no matter what your ministry setting or challenges. Most importantly, Connect will help you ‘connect’ your people to life-giving service that is meaningful, sustainable, and enjoyable.
—Lance Witt, founder, Replenish Ministries
No one, to my knowledge, is as good at developing systems for recruiting, training, and deploying people in ministry as is Nelson Searcy. In his newest book, Connect, Searcy addresses the principles and theology of volunteer ministry. Just as important, however, he shows the processes and procedures that actually work. Church leaders who are struggling to find volunteers will find Connect a valuable resource.
—Gary L. McIntosh, professor of Christian ministry and leadership, Talbot School of Theology, Biola University
God had grown our church to about three hundred in attendance when it became clear that we would not grow any further than I was able to grow as a leader. God used Nelson’s coaching and systems to grow North Star to 2,000 in attendance. Thanks in particular to the Connect system, our volunteers have outpaced that growth. I don’t have to worry about things getting done because I have such a strong, consistent group of volunteers who are passionate about serving. That takes pressure off of my shoulders and frees me up to focus on teaching and leading. This book is a gift!
—Marty Martin, senior pastor, North Star Church, Panama City, FL
God has called church leaders to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. Connect provides an effective system to make that happen. It is packed with helpful ideas. I am a raving fan of Nelson Searcy and have learned so much from his resources. This book will change your life and those around you.
—Steve Reynolds, lead pastor, Capital Baptist Church, Annandale, VA
- Title: Connect: How to Double Your Number of Volunteers
- Authors: Nelson Searcy, Jennifer Dykes Henson
- Publisher: Baker
- Print Publication Date: 2012
- Logos Release Date: 2013
- Pages: 240
- Language: English
- Resources: 1
- Format: Digital › Logos Research Edition
- Subjects: Lay ministry › Recruiting; Voluntarism › Religious aspects--Christianity; Church work
- ISBNs: 9781441256874, 9780801014673, 1441256873, 0801014670
- Resource ID: LLS:CONNECTSEARCY
- Resource Type: Monograph
- Metadata Last Updated: 2022-09-29T22:57:23Z
Nelson Searcy served as the director of The Purpose Driven Community at Saddleback Church before starting The Journey Church of the City in New York City in 2002. He and his 2,000-member church appear routinely on lists such as The 50 Most Influential Churches and The 25 Most Innovative Leaders. The Journey is a multi-site church with locations across New York City and Boca Raton, Florida. His newsletter for pastors and church leaders, Church Leader Insights, now reaches more than 80,000 subscribers and continues to grow by hundreds each month.
Jennifer Dykes Henson is a freelance writer based in New York City. She has served as a writer/producer and ministry consultant to organizations across the East Coast. Jennifer also worked with Charles Stanley as the manager of marketing communications for In Touch Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia.