- as printed in the Novemeber 2026 issue of the 'Anglican Diocese of Huron Church News'
LEAVING a volunteer position in the church can seem difficult.
First of all, churches really need all volunteers they can get! Volunteers provide extremely important roles in a parish family. Keeping the church doors open requires a skilled management team. Providing good worship requires faithful discernment and commitment. Gardens and building repairs are essential to a safe and happy home. Outreach volunteers are the hands and feet of our Lord in this
world. Sunday school and youth leaders are planting the seeds of the gospel. The bakers and the vendors provide the bond of community life, as well as funds for the mortar that holds the bricks
together, and on and on goes the list of essential volunteers in any parish family.
In an ideal volunteer situation within a faith organization, we have already planned our exit from this volunteer position before we even entered it. Established term limitations are helpful. Yet, most of us are not thinking of quitting a position when we sign up for one.
We usually approach our new volunteer position, or ministry, with hope and enthusiasm. We may feel the Spirit moving us, and we may see the opportunity to serve others, as our Lord commands us to, and we may be grateful for the gift or talent that God has given us. We are willing to share that gift with our Church community. It is a new beginning and it is exciting and hopeful.
Your new volunteer position will probably be as wonderful as you imagined, because you are bringing
your joy and love with you into this new relationship with the church and its members. Volunteerism in
our church families can be incredibly uplifting, and as situations change, it is our responsibility to acknowledge the constant presence of change, and to gracefully move forward with rebirth and reimagining.
But if things are so wonderful, why do they have to change? Our fellow volunteers, whom we love and count on, may become ill, die, or move away. Loss is then balanced with renewal and you will not be the new member for long. Other new volunteers will come into your group and bring their own enthusiasm and vision.
Your church may have new struggles with a myriad of issues from structural problems with your building, membership, and financial decline, and saying goodbye to your clergy and/or welcoming new clergy.
Your volunteer experience may also change because your own life has undergone change. Perhaps you have suffered a loss. A loved one has passed away or perhaps a family member is ill and requires more of your time. You may run into difficulties at your place of work, or perhaps you retire. The newly retired may feel an elevated sense of commitment to their volunteer position at church, and perhaps,
elevated importance. Their perception of their volunteer role may not necessarily align with the reality of what their volunteer position started out to be. The locking of horns can definitely result.
Life, and all things associated with your life, will continue to change and evolve, and at some point, our current volunteer position may not lineup with your own well-being and your better discernment of how best you can serve God. This does not have to be something that we agonize over as it is completely normal, and everyone experiences it – “it” being the awareness that it is time for you to step away from your volunteer position.
Leaving your volunteer position does not mean that you are never going to volunteer again, in that role, or any other role. Leaving your position, allows you an opportunity to discern where God can use you best, because in so discerning, the joy of the Holy Spirit will follow. Someone will fill your shoes, or the group will be rearranged to serve in a different capacity.
Regardless of how the volunteer group moves forward and onward, the group cannot move until you move away from the position that God is no longer calling you to fill. It really is OK to quit. The old saying, ”Quit while you are ahead”, holds great benefit for church organizations.
So how do you know you are quitting while you are ahead? If you are quitting, or talking about quitting, while constantly complaining about how worn out or overworked you are, or how fed up you are with Church leadership or other volunteers, you know that you should have left long ago. When you started your volunteering, you saw such worth and value in this work and you saw how it brought you closer to your fellow church members and to God. It is our responsibility as volunteers to manage our attitude and our personal commitment, and to leave a position that still looks and feels like a joyful mission to the next prospective candidate for the job. If our volunteerism has turned into a ”Woe is me” campaign, then your replacement will never be found.
So how do we find your replacement now that you have discerned that it is time to leave your volunteer position? The answer is to actually leave your volunteer position! In the very least, hand in an official resignation that includes a date of termination of your volunteer activities in that capacity. How can a replacement be found, if you never leave your position?
It is not unusual for someone to announce their resignation, sometimes over and over again, and never actually leave the position. No one is going to step forward to volunteer or to offer their name for consideration, if they think they are stepping on your toes. If this volunteer position is no longer giving you joy and enthusiasm, or you are not able to keep the commitment, and you have talked about resigning, then resign. Resign with a date of termination. Your career in volunteerism has not come to an end. You just need to re-examine your current situation, the gifts you now have to offer, and listen to the discernment of the Holy Spirit. For God’s sake, and the church’s, don’t just talk about it, resign!
But what happens when a volunteer suddenly resigns, and doesn’t talk about it? It is the responsibility of all members of a faith community, not just the leadership team, to be aware of situations where our members and our volunteers may feel unsafe.
If a volunteer is feeling bullied or harassed, they should know that their community openly welcomes conversations concerning personal rights and safety. A bullied volunteer should know that they can either turn to their clergy, wardens, or other persons in leadership, and be heard. Concerns should never be responded with dismissive and invalidating comments, such as, “That’s just his personality”, or “We just accept that she is that way because she gets a lot done”. Every volunteer should be aware
that the Anglican church has a Safe Church policy, and they have the right to use that tool to express their feelings about being bullied or harassed.
So volunteers, come one and all! Come to your new volunteer commitment at your church, with joy and discernment, knowing that you never need to feel trapped there. When it is time for you to leave that volunteer position, leave that position on fire with the joy and discernment you planted there. The group will appreciate you, and at the same time, set you free to be inspired in new ways. The group you leave will find a new volunteer, or they will re-organize and reinvent themselves to best utilize their current resources. You deserve to soar or sail or sit in on, the next adventure God has planned for you!
- Karen is retired from careers in business, social work, and entrepreneurial ventures in restaurant ownership and dance studio direction. Volunteer work in the Anglican church has been a part of Karen‘s life since she was a child. Karen has been blessed to attend St. George’s church in New Hamburg for the past year and has enjoyed filling in as a Server, a Reader, and a Sunday School teacher when needed. Karen also spends some Sundays at Holy Trinity in Stratford as a Server, and also attends Bible Study there.