• Invite children in your Sunday school classes to make simple Popsicle flowers by gluing construction paper flowers to the top of craft sticks. Have older children or adults print the name of a staff worker or volunteer on several flower “stems” and then place “bouquets” of flowers in your church’s entryway. Invite worshipers to take a flower (or two or three) and pray for the person who is named on the stem. Cards of encouragement or gratitude may also be sent to let the staff person/volunteer know how much they are appreciated.
• Invite a volunteer to speak briefly after a worship service in order to thank other workers and to inspire more volunteers. The speaker might invite everyone who has volunteered over the past year to stand. Applaud for one another, thanking God for the talents, time, and willingness of each volunteer/staff person. Pray together. Ask the Lord’s blessing on the work each of you will do in the days and months to come.
• It just couldn’t happen without your faithful volunteers! How can you thank them in a special way this year? Why not

• • honor them at the next church potluck dinner?
  • invite them to your home for an evening of conversation and relaxation?
  • present each volunteer with a certificate of thanks printed on your home computer?
  • write a personal note of appreciation?

• Here’s a fresh approach to recruiting volunteers. Each Sunday, devote a few minutes before the service to highlight a different volunteer group. Briefly explain the group’s ministry purpose and highlight the impact the group makes in the lives of individuals. Share specific volunteer needs. Then make it easy for worshipers to volunteer by noting specific contact information in your service folder or bulletin insert. Often, people want to get involved but feel more comfortable volunteering when they know specifically what they can do.
• The church computers have crashed. Whose cell do you dial? The shrubs under the windows in the education wing need trimming. Whom do you ask? The walls in the fellowship hall need to be painted. Whose name comes to mind? Which volunteers always show up for a congregational work day—with a smile? Who brings the tools and sometimes even the snacks? Most important, who brings a Christlike willingness to help?

• • Why not honor these volunteers through the “Rotating Hammer” tradition? Purchase an inexpensive hammer at your local hardware store. Award the hammer to one member of your church property committee this month.
  • Next month, the hammer will pass on to another hardworking volunteer—just like a traveling trophy.
  • Hint: Print the name of each trophy recipient on a self-adhesive label and affix it to the hammer. Keep adding labels until you run out of room. Then retire it and buy a new hammer. Or enlist one of the volunteers to make a permanent display board to honor—by name— winners of the “Rotating Hammer Award.”

• April is the perfect time to surprise a volunteer or staff member with flowers. No, not in a vase—planted in the ground! At a time when you know your recipient won’t be at home, plant a mix of spring flowers around his/her mailbox. Or simply purchase seedlings and set them on the doorstep with a note that reads: “To thank you for truly ‘blooming where you are planted!’ Thanks for serving our congregation!”
• As volunteers step forward to serve, they often receive keys to buildings/rooms at church. Why not give them already attached to one of CTA’s many attractive key chains? Suggest that volunteers keep church keys on this witnessing ring and be encouraged by the message imprinted on each one.
• Grab the sticky notes and a pen and get ready to “stick” some gratitude on your hardworking staff and/or volunteers. For instance, write a thank-you note and place it on your church secretary’s keyboard; put a word of thanks on the lawn mower to thank the guy or gal who so faithfully keeps your church property looking great; hide a note for volunteers to discover when they replace altar candles or flowers; affix a note to the windshield of a volunteer whose car is often parked in the church parking lot. You might even keep a pad of self-stick notes in your purse or glove compartment; you never know when the chance to thank someone will arise!
• Make these yummy treats for the folks who add extra “sparkle” to your ministry: Blend 4 ounces of cream cheese (softened), 2 teaspoons confectioners’ sugar, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract, and 4 teaspoons milk in a medium-size mixing bowl. Mix until creamy, adding more milk if necessary. Holding fresh strawberries by their stems, dip them into the mixture. Finally, roll the berries in colored sugar. Place the sparkly treats on springtime plates and deliver them with a note: “Thanks for being so sweet!”
• Recognize volunteers in your congregation and encourage others to volunteer, too. Here’s how: Decorate six large pieces of poster board, each with one of the letters in the word church. Assign a person to carry each letter to the front of the congregation at your signal—but tell the person with letter U to wait in the back. As the letter posters are arranged in order, be sure to allow space for letter U. Ask congregational members to tell you what’s missing from the word church. Then say, “The church needs you (U)! Volunteers are a vital part of our ministry.” Invite the letter U to come up and stand in position as you have individual volunteers from all facets of your ministry stand to be recognized and thanked. Then ask, “Won’t you (U) join our team of volunteers?” Suggest that people who are interested in volunteering speak to any of the volunteers you just recognized to see how they, too, might help.

You are welcome to copy this devotion for one-time use in your organization as long as you will receive no monetary benefit from it. Please include this copyright line and submit an actual copy of use to CTA, attention Editorial Manager.
Used with permission grant #080509. © 2009 CTA, Inc. No duplication of this devotion is allowed without the express written consent of CTA, PO Box 1205, Fenton, MO 63026. www.CTAinc.com.