Seasonal missions or outreach opportunities arise throughout the year: Vacation Bible School, a mission trip, a partnership event at a local school, a chance to show appreciation to first responders, a service project, a Fall festival, or a Christmas invite event. Every church’s list is different and adapts a little over time. But these planned events that involve many people in your church in a joint effort to share the gospel are vital to the life and witness of your church.
As the event approaches, you make the appeal for people to serve. In a group setting, you get blank looks or people’s eyes dart away from your gaze. If you ask someone individually, you often hear the answer, “I’m too busy.”
Pastors have told us this lack of willingness to engage is the most challenging people dynamic in ministry. Seventy-five percent of pastors say people’s apathy or lack of commitment is challenging for them in ministry.
This frustration is valid. God doesn’t call believers to just be in the same room for an hour each week. He calls us to walk together in following Christ. We’re to cooperate to make disciples.
Rather than continuing to underline the frustration, it’s important we begin to prepare people for future appeals to serve and to address the forces keeping people from saying yes. Can we cultivate a congregation of people who are waiting to serve because we asked them to prepare to do so?
On numerous surveys about specific aspects of the Christian life, busyness comes up as one of the top reasons people don’t engage more in church.
When churchgoers were asked what hinders them from serving in prison ministry, lack of feeling called to serve prisoners (26%) was the top hindrance, followed closely by being too busy with family, work, and life (25%).
When young adults who had attended a Protestant church for at least a year in high school but stopped attending for at least a year between the ages of 18 and 22 were asked why they stopped, 20% said they became too busy, though they still wanted to attend.