Living Stones Church in Reno, Nev., works hard to best match its members to the type of service that fits their individual personalities and interests. The church also encourages people to shadow veteran volunteers in a particular ministry to see if it’s a good fit for them before they commit.
“It creates a personal connection from day one,” says Downtown Campus Pastor Craig Parish of the mentoring. “Second, it eliminates or decreases intimidation. Lastly, if it doesn’t seem like a good fit, the volunteer doesn’t just get dropped. Instead, the mentor can help connect them to another ministry. Without the shadowing, it’d likely take that volunteer a long time to regain the courage to sign up for another ministry.”
ONLINE: LivingStonesChurches.com. Adapted from an article that appeared in the July/August 2012 issue of Outreach magazine.
