Faith motivates volunteers engaged in community service

Posted: 11/11/05

Faith motivates volunteers
engaged in community service

By Ken Camp

Managing Editor

WACO–Christians who work in soup kitchens, homeless shelters and other community ministries want meaningful relationships with the people they serve. But their relationship with God motivates them more than any expectation of changing other people, a recent study revealed.

Dean Diana Garland and Associate Dean Dennis Myers from the Baylor University School of Social Work surveyed 7,403 members of 35 churches in six states–including 2,570 active volunteers– to explore the motivations of Christian volunteers in community service programs. They conducted additional surveys of 946 of the volunteers and in-depth interviews with 25 of the volunteers they surveyed.

Garland and Myers identified four categories of motivation–response to God, response to human need, relationship benefits and personal benefits.

Volunteers who serve primarily out of a response to God are motivated by a desire to obey God, to fulfill a sense of calling, and to use their gifts and the resources with which God blessed them, they discovered.

“Especially in those settings that can be very taxing for volunteers and can be difficult to set boundaries, being motivated by one's relationship with God and by a personal sense of calling are more likely to sustain a volunteer over the long term than any expectation for change in service recipients,” Garland and Myers concluded in their study.

Garland expected to see a close link between faith and commitment to service, but even she was surprised by the dedication of volunteers over the long haul and the depth of their faith.

“Service is integral to who we are as Christians. I was surprised by the long-term commitment people make to serve. It's powerful–more than I expected,” Garland acknowledged.

“We're not called to change people; we're called to be faithful. We're called of God to serve; we're not necessarily called to make a difference.”

Even so, while making a difference is not the prime motivation for Christian volunteers, it still is important, and they particularly value having a meaningful relationship with the people they serve–whether they see it as an opportunity for evangelism or for their own personal growth, the researchers discovered.

Politicians who see church-based volunteers as free labor to replace a downsized public network of social services need to understand that finding, Garland and Myers noted.

Dennis Myers

For instance, last year, the Texas Legislature closed one-third of the Health and Human Services community offices on the assumption that volunteers could provide more than 1 million additional hours to help needy people fill out applications and do government-required paperwork.

“There aren't a million volunteer hours in Texas to replace what's being dismantled on the professional service side. It's not good use of volunteers to have them sitting at a desk or computer filling out applications,” Myers said. “It's better to connect them to people.”

Garland and Myers discovered time is a challenge but not a barrier to committed Christian volunteers. Of the 25 volunteers interviewed, only five specifically mentioned time as a challenge, but they described it as something they successfully addressed.

“In short, some volunteers have the time; others consider it is worth sacrificing the time for what they value,” they concluded.

Church leaders often fail to understand volunteer involvement by Christians–not just in church-based programs, but also in other community service–positively affects church members, the researchers noted.

“Some church leaders feel service in the community is something extra for those who feel called to do it, but it's for everyone. There's a false dichotomy between the work done within the congregation and that which is outside the congregation,” Garland said.

“Among leaders, the focus sometimes is on getting the job done, and volunteers may not be the most efficient or easy way. Sometimes the focus is on what is done for the congregation. But people want to be part of a community that makes a difference in the world.”

Volunteer service has the potential of enriching and deepening Christian faith, she added.

“We underestimate how important service is to churches and communities of faith. Service and learning feed one another. Volunteers' service has a profound impact on faith and on the richness of their faith,” she said.

In interviews, volunteers talked about answered prayers, lessons learned and faith strengthened, she noted.

“We saw a thicker description of evangelism. It included living their faith, struggle with community, having a meaningful relationship with others and communicating faith with others,” she said.

Pastors and other church leaders miss a great opportunity when they fail to help volunteers understand their volunteer service in light of their faith experience.

“Churches can help people make the connections back to their faith,” she said. “Teach with an intentional attitude of relating service to the whole life of faith.”