Retrain us to Train

I think that our church desires to train and equip volunteers or leaders in all of the ministry areas of the church, but we have been trained to just fill positions. We need to retrain ourselves, our pastors and our leaders to
- plan and organize ways for lay ministers to serve
- find positions based on a lay person's God-given gifts
- equip our lay ministers for success through simple resources and trainings
- direct & disciple our leaders

I would like to see our church develop a volunteer ministry. This ministry would oversee all volunteers in the congregation. They would help to provide spiritual gifts assessments and seminars in order to invite and place volunteers in the ministry that is best suited for them. This ministry would also oversee volunteer appreciation by recognizing and thanking volunteers on a regular basis. I would love to see a nice dinner once or twice a year in honor of all lay ministers or volunteers to thank them for following God's call and agreeing to serve in the church.