LSM Error Message #4

    Employment of any salaried staff in small congregations tends to militate against effective work by volunteers.

    If the paid person has demonstrable professional qualifications for ministry there is usually no problem. It is normal for a skilled and sensitive stipendiary minister to be able to recruit an enthusiastic team of volunteers in a regular parish.

    Mostly, this working relationship can be effective in the small church where the paid person is not full-time but clearly has other responsibilities which will compete for energy and hours. Volunteers can see their contribution is meaningful and valued.
    But in the church of twenty or thirty families where there is no customary minister at all, a group of relatively unqualified people coming into ministry should not have to cope with issues of status. If a decision is made that one or other of them should be paid the others are likely to feel that their contribution is not valued to the same extent.

    It becomes easier for the paid person to be allocated the chores that others don’t want to do. And it becomes harder to recruit new volunteers to replenish the working team. There can develop a trend to pay more people to provide longer hours instead of widening the voluntary team to include more people offering shorter hours.

    Expenses should always be paid to volunteers in Local Shared Ministry, but not wages.