Why You Need Church Volunteer Huddles

Churches run on volunteers. The better our volunteers, the better our ministries. In my experience, one of the key ingredients of a strong volunteering program is regular volunteer huddles. 

If you’re unfamiliar, a volunteer huddle is an intentional gathering with volunteers that takes place before serving at church. For most ministries, huddles take place every week. In our church, this is true of volunteers that work in hospitality, student ministry,  children’s ministry volunteers, worship, production, and other ministries. 

If you don’t have volunteer huddles, I think you should! Maybe you’re wondering…so, what do you do in a volunteer huddle?  Here are 5 key components of a great volunteer huddle. My hope is that this post might encourage you to start holding regular huddles or that it might help you build more meaningful huddles. 

1. Connect

One of the values of a volunteer huddle is that it creates space for volunteers to connect with each other relationally. I can’t even count how many times I’ve heard someone say, 

I didn’t really feel connected at church until I started serving as a volunteer. 

Volunteer huddles create space to build relationships. Also, they create a regular environment for staff members to connect with their volunteers. 

2. Encourage

Volunteering in a church isn’t always easy. Sometimes it can be downright discouraging. I remember being a 6^th grade boys small group leader. It was rough! Have you read Lord of the Flies?!?! You might say I needed regular encouragement to stay committed. 

Volunteer huddles provide an opportunity for encouragement, both from staff members to volunteers and also between volunteers. This is huge because volunteers who feel encouraged serve better.  

3. Inspire

Not only do volunteer huddles create space for encouragement, they also provide an opportunity to inspire. It’s a chance for you to remind your volunteers, 

This is why this matters!

It’s an environment where you can remind your volunteers that this is about building the faith of the next generation, or this is about creating a hospitable space so that people can connect with God. 

A volunteer who believes that what they are doing matters is a volunteer who will bring their best to their role. 

4. Equip 

When I was a student pastor, we used volunteer huddles to equip. We would talk to our volunteers about youth culture, or how to know whether something a student shares requires a call to CPS. We would equip our volunteers with tools for sharing the Gospel. 

No matter what the ministry is, volunteer huddles create much needed space for ongoing training and equipping.

5. Eat

Let’s be real. Perhaps the most valuable element of a volunteer huddle is…food. Good food just makes everything better! We always try to include a fun snack or delicious meal in every huddle. It can be as simple as donuts and coffee, but it always adds value. 

Wrap Up 

If you aren’t utilizing volunteer huddles, I would challenge you to add them. Start by adding 20-30 minutes before each volunteering opportunity and start simple: food, connection and one 5-10 minute encouragement, inspiration or equipping moment. Don’t try to do everything in every meeting. Give each huddle a particular focus. Over time, I believe these huddles greatly improve the experience and the effectiveness of your volunteers.