Leading a team of volunteers is a big responsibility, and can also be a big challenge. Leading a volunteer team requires intentional leadership because the people on your team have no obligation to be there – they’ve chosen to voluntarily make a sacrifice of their time and energy to build the Church with you.

Here are 4 building blocks to help you to intentionally lead an incredible volunteer team:

1. Communicate the vision and values

Whatever your church’s vision and values may be, consistently communicate this to your team. Whether it’s serving with excellence or having a family environment, remind your team of these values regularly. Ultimately, we can never over-communicate vision.

2. Love your team

As a team leader, you need to love your team. Meet up with them for coffee, celebrate important life events together, and thank them on a regular basis! Make the commitment to actively appreciate and love your team, and ensure that they feel that they are a valuable part of something bigger than themselves.

3. Continue to grow your team

Never settle with where your team is at – there’s always room and opportunity for growth and progress! Continue to encourage people to join your team. Whether it’s through your Connect Group or your conversations in the foyer, be courageous and invite people to take the “next step” in their discipleship journey, by volunteering on a team to help to build the Church.

4. Invest into your team

What are you doing, as a leader, to engage your team members in growing their capacity? We are never about settling for the status quo, so let’s not be afraid to challenge people to grow. In addition to challenging your team, make sure you’re pastoring them as well. Know where they’re at in life – whether it’s their personal, professional and spiritual life – and help them as they navigate through it.

Leading a volunteer team is surely a massive privilege, but remember that the heart behind it all is loving Jesus, loving people, and loving the Church. Let’s not forget what it’s all about as we build incredible teams that serve people, build Church and ultimately glorify God.

This thought was originally shared by our Hillsong Cape Town team discussing Volunteers during an ‘Online Open Week’ webinar in February 2016 hosted by Lourens Krouger. Online Open Week is your opportunity to receive impartation and training direct from the Hillsong team through live webinars.

If you would like to participate in any of the webinars during the upcoming Online Open Week hosted by Hillsong Leadership Network, click below.