Overflowing with Thanks!
Ideas for Recognizing Staff Workers and Volunteers
We give thanks to God always for you. 1 Thessalonians 1:2
Does your heart overflow with thanksgiving as you pause to consider the blessings that come to you from God through your church’s staff and volunteers?
The Bible itself models and encourages overflowing thankfulness to those who lead by serving us. For example, in nearly every letter the apostle Paul wrote, he names and thanks co-workers who have labored alongside him. Expressing our appreciation to these servants of the church honors our Lord, the one who sends them and equips them to serve. Then, too, celebrating current workers encourages them in their service, and it often cultivates a willingness to serve in the hearts of those who are not yet serving.
Showing Our Thankfulness
You can say “thank you” in dozens, perhaps hundreds, of ways. Here are just a few. Choose one or more of them. Adapt them for your setting,or add your own ideas to the mix. Then watch the smiles on many volunteer faces begin to blossom! See the joy of the Lord overflow as your professional staff workers gain new enthusiasm for the work God has called them to do.
†Develop a brief PowerPoint presentation. Use the theme art from Overflowing with Thanks (available free in the Resource & Idea Center) as the background. Then drop in candid photos of workers interacting with those they serve. Some formal shots are okay, but be sure to include more spontaneous moments, too.If someone in your church has the technical skills to do so, add some background music (for example, “Thank You for Giving to the Lord” or “Generous King”). Use the presentation when everyone is gathered before worship begins or during an informal reception afterward.
†Use the Overflowing with Thankstheme art to decorate a bulletin board in your church fellowship area or outside staff offices. Make marking pens available and encourage people to fill the board with expressions of thanks for the ways Jesus has used church staff and volunteers to help, encourage, and challenge them.
†Choose an Overflowing with Thanks gift for each worker from among the various CTA products with this theme. Distribute the gifts as you recognize your staff and volunteers, perhaps as you’re finishing up a program, on the Sunday before Thanksgiving, or as you observe Clergy Appreciation Month.
†Print up “I Prayed for You” postcards from the Resource & Idea center, adding a note that says, “Your service is out of this world, and our hearts are overflowing with thanks!”Then tuck a Mars or Milky Way candy bar in with each gift.
†Create a prayer team to support your pastor(s), deacons, elders, Sunday school teachers, youth workers, and other ministry groups. Choose prayer warriors mature enough to keep confidential information to themselves. Then invite staff members and volunteers to share specific requests with the prayer partners on a weekly or monthly basis. Give each person on the prayer team copies of “I Prayed for You” postcards from the Resource & Idea Center, and ask them to fill them out to let those people know of their support.
A culture of appreciation generally does not spring up spontaneously in churches. But leaders can plant, tend, and nurture such a culture. The effort takes time, but it will result in more volunteers, more devoted staff members, and more satisfied workers.
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The Scripture quotation is from the King James Version of the Bible.
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