We all know churches need strong, committed volunteer teams. Volunteers greet people, take care of infants, teach children, make coffee, lead small groups and much more.

Members of your congregation need the opportunity to serve to develop strong relationships within their church family, grow in their faith and experience the joy that comes from serving others.

If you have any influence over or responsibility for coordinating volunteers at your church, here are a few ways to grow your current team:

1. Make it simple for people to learn about each volunteer role

If you haven't already, consider including a brief job description with each volunteer role posted on your church website. If that's not something you want to do yet, then consider making a one-page summary or small brochure to have at your information booth.

2. Invest in volunteer leaders

As your volunteer team grows, you should have an individual or couple who serves as a team leader for each service or volunteer team.

Make time to invest in these leaders by getting to know them, asking for their input, encouraging them and helping them grow as leaders. This is a great discipleship opportunity plus as they become stronger leaders, you can entrust them with more responsibility.

3. Release more responsibility

When you've built a team, developed the training materials and put your heart into a volunteer program, it's difficult to let go of certain tasks. However, you'll hold your team back and will stifle growth if you're unwilling to delegate.

Let's say you're going to delegate leading a volunteer training session. Here are a few simple steps to ensure success:

• Document the process and your expectations.
• Show the person you're delegating to how to perform the task. In this case, have him assist you in leading a training session.
• Switch roles with you as the assistant and your volunteer leader as the trainer.
• Provide feedback and continue with assisting a few more times as needed until you and your volunteer leader are confident he's ready to go solo.
• Let go (don't attend the next session), but follow up with your volunteer to ask how it went.
• Send a survey out to those who attended the session to get their feedback. Review the results with your volunteer leader.

Leading volunteers isn't always easy, but it can definitely be a fun and rewarding experience. Implement one or more of these tips and watch how these practices strengthen your volunteer team.