Three options

I'm part of a large church (by UK standards) and we, like many churches, are challenged by consumerism; that is people approaching church as a consumer asking what can they get from it. This approach has a significant impact on what we can do and how we go about it, in short in how effective the church can be.

If we're going to do something, whether it's a regular Sunday services or a special event, it needs people to do the stuff. The planning, the prep, the actual doing and then the tidying up and cleaning afterwards.

There are essentially three options: we pay people to do the work, members of the church community do the work, or we don't do the thing (whatever it is).

In our case it's a blend of the first two most of the time. We have a staff team. This allows us to do stuff that smaller churches just couldn't do, because we have the financial resources to pay some people to make things happen. But it needs to be a blend of staff and volunteers because whilst, yes we have a staff team, it's a small team who can do the planning and a lot of the prep, manage events and keep things running smoothly, but certainly can't do all the work themselves.

But it isn't just that the small team needs help from volunteers, there's something more fundamental at play. If you're part of a community then you need to find a way to be involved. If you're not involved in your community then you're probably just being a consumer of things that community does.

Everything that happens around where you live needs someone to have done it. But because we pay taxes to local and national government, we can assume that it's someone's job. It might be, but it's amazing how often it isn't. I suspect often what makes the difference between a tired neglected looking area, with rubbish and weeds everywhere, and a beautiful well maintained area with flowers planted and clean streets is whether people in that community bother to make a difference. Whether they actually live in community or just near each other.

I think most people just don't consider what they could do... They only think about what they want to do. This is just consumerism by the back door. So if you're a musician, you'd love to serve in the worship band (because playing your instrument is what you like to do) but you're a parent and can't commit to the rehearsal. You could help with the cleaning one day a month... but you don't want to do that.

Are you only prepared to serve if it's an activity you particularly enjoy?

So step up, or pay up. Maybe you think, genuinely, that your church should employ more cleaners rather than you get involved. If so, you'll need to give a bit more so your church can afford it.

Maybe you already give what you consider to be plenty of money to the work of your church. So because you're paying in money, you don't need to also practically serve... After all you're paying for staff. If that's you, then ask yourself this question: What would you do if all staff left? Would you step up then, expect instant recruitment, or leave for another church that offers a better experience for your money?

Recently I've come across a number complaints from people in my church which, when you get down to it, contain an expectation that someone else will do something. I'm going to come right out and say that I don't consider this to be ok. Share ideas by all means, but if you think that something practical needs to be done, don't contact the staff team (or vicar) with your gripe unless you've first attempted to do something about it, recruited some people or found some funding and are being part of the solution.