It's a short, straightforward resource that was extremely helpful to our team as we work to understand the principles of volunteer-driven ministry. Valuing volunteerism is one thing. Seeing it as central to the work of the church is an entirely different thing. Volunteer Church stretched us in a lot of ways and we look forward to it bearing fruit in our church!

The Volunteer Church by Leith Anderson and Jill Fox is packed with detailed ideas and storytelling from personal experience. The writing style is analytical with identification of problems and solutions to common volunteer challenges. Many biblical references support the volunteer structures outlined in the book.
This is a terrific book for anyone leading a local church, parachurch, or ministry. A wealth of wisdom is tucked into each chapter for recruiting, training, managing, and terminating volunteers. I've read several books on the subject and so far, this is the best one yet! The authors repeatedly emphasize exploring the spiritual gifts and adjusting the volunteer into positions where the gift are magnified. A reward system is outlined for thank volunteers- beyond the usual coffee mugs and annual thank-you lunch. 
Many levels of volunteer placements are discussed as examples- from the youth ministry, ushers ministry, Bible camps, and small groups. It's a well-rounded point of discussion from the experience of senior church leadership teams.

By the time I finished the book I was so excited I immediately contacted our Director of Leadership and asked her to read it too! Together we are mapping out a plan for our volunteer team based on the Intel gathered from this valuable book. We were able to identify areas of strength and weakness in our existing program and create an action plan for future growth and development. 

As a ministry director, I am exceptionally grateful to the authors for writing this resource handbook. It has already been beneficial to our team and is a handbook we'll continue using in the future.

Favorite Quotes:  
•	Religious organizations led the list of volunteering opportunities…at their core, churches are volunteer organizations.
•	Volunteering is one of the primary ways we become Christ-like.
•	The volunteer church is more than a slogan  or a nice book title. It is God's design, and it's the biblical pattern.


Disclosure: I received this book for free from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

About the Reviewer: Christine Abraham is Founder and Ministry Director at Womens Bible Cafe™