Hey Element Church! My post streak on building continues with #4. I think I have one more in me. Like I said. My head’s been filled with this question, and I’ve been processing it for quite some time “To build or not to build?” You can read my other three posts HERE HERE and HERE.
#4 How are your volunteers? First off. I know I came straight at Element full force about volunteering on Sunday, but it had NOTHING to do with the quality of our volunteers and EVERYTHING to do with our rapid growth and need for more of our regular attenders to step it up.
Portable church is VERY tough. It is tough on equipment, staff and volunteers. We could totally do church very bland and vanilla, but I wouldn’t feel like we’re giving it our all. We do church big because that’s how we feel God called us to do it, and with that comes some major set up. I think we do a bang up job on set design, e:kidz areas, lobby, etc. Set up starts at 5:45 for some guys and most show up at 6 or 6:30. Yes, that is AM.
The band shows up at 6:30 to start set up. They lead worship for two services and then tear everything down. We average getting out of the theater by 12:30. That is 6 hours they are there serving God and Element Church. We have a team that shows up at 6:30 to set up all the e:kidz stuff. Volunteers set up a theater we affectionately call “The Locker Room” where we provide child care for early arriving volunteers and a hot breakfast is served with coffee and drinks for all volunteers. We have a hospitality team picking up donuts early and making coffee for us to enjoy. Our e:team is ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! I don’t think most people knows how many people and how much work one Sunday takes.
Out of all the Sundays and the countless hours we’ve been doing portable church I have heard few if any complaints. And I hate to even say complaints. It’s more just the expression of the normal wear and tear of how much work it is. I think most if not all of our volunteers would continue doing this if they had to, but as I see it, it is beginning to wear on everyone. Doesn’t mean we wouldn’t do it, just think we need to be sensitive to that. If the band were not on set up and tear down I think that makes a big difference. If there were multiple set up/tear down teams that does as well. Most of our set up people are there every week rain or shine. That is a HUGE commitment and we praise God for servants like that.
Every church is going to be unique in this. I’ve seen churches be portable for 10 years and be successful. I know of some churches who plan on always being portable. I think one thing we all need to realize is that being portable is not for every church and it’s not for every pastor. I LOVE being portable. I think as a new church there is something very attractive about that, but I think that volunteer burn out is a HUGE risk factor that you must be completely aware of. As a staff at Element we try to show our volunteers how much they are appreciated in practical ways regularly through the year. We always want them to know how much they mean.
Question #4 in looking to build or not to build. How are your volunteers?
Asking,
Jeff
