God Bless Our Volunteers!

When I started out at Spiritual Life Center the late August of 2025, I would bless the Sunday offering with these words:

“And God bless the investments that are made in our ministry in terms of time, treasure, and talent. If it were not for all of our volunteers, and financial contributions, this ministry would fold in a heartbeat.”

Several people suggested that I stop saying…“this ministry would fold in a heartbeat.” They felt that this was too negative. “Okay,” I thought, so I stopped saying that at the Sunday services.

But you know what? That is the God’s honest truth because this ministry would fold in a nanosecond if it weren’t for all that volunteers are so wonderfully and graciously doing for it!

It is almost totally accurate to say that if you think about anything related to Spiritual Life Center, the efforts of volunteers are keeping it going. A part of me wants mentally to go around SLC and point them all out to you. But my concern is that if I did that, I would leave some vital volunteers off the list.

This is not to diminish in any way all of the heartfelt work done by SLC’s dedicated, and highly competent staff. But SLC’s staff knows the importance of volunteers, and SLC’s staff is so actively and positively working with SLC‘s volunteers.

That is why I am so delighted that we are doing something really special to honor all of our volunteers at SLC this year. I hope you will be a part of this celebration whether or not you are volunteering at our spiritual community.

On Sunday August 2nd the SLC Board of Trustees is graciously hosting a lunch following the 11 a.m. service. It will honor our volunteers. Everyone is invited. Then after lunch there will be a special event in the sanctuary at 1:15 p.m. It will be rightly called: Celebrating the Heart of Service.

I hope you won’t mind if I remind you that before my call to ministry, I was an economist. There was a very famous Italian Economist by the name of Vilfredo Pareto. He truly was a “renaissance man.” Not only did he make major contributions in economics, but he also advanced our knowledge in sociology, civil engineering, and the natural sciences. He was born in 1848 and died in 1923.

Pareto did pioneering research in the study of 'elite' groups in a wide range of societies. He saw both their positive accomplishments and negative drawbacks.

He is probably most famous for something called “The Pareto Principle,” which can be summarized as follows: “Eighty percent comes from roughly 20 percent.” You might ask, “Eighty percent of what?” Well, the interesting thing about “The Pareto Principle” is that the “eighty percent” applies to almost anything.

For example, when I was the chief economist at United Way, we did research on our donations. Sure enough “The Pareto Principle” held true. Roughly 80% of our donations came from only 20% of our donors. The “Pareto Principle” seems to apply to a very wide array of human activities.

But let me tell you about one area where “The Pareto Principle” very often does not hold true. Unfortunately, this area often involves churches and synagogues. I wouldn’t be surprised if this was also the case for Islamic mosques and Buddhist sanghas.

Within many spiritual communities, it is more often the case that over 90% of the volunteer effort comes from less than 10% of the community. This was certainly the case at the first two churches where I served as the senior minister. In fact, at my first church in Tulsa Oklahoma, it seemed that over 95% of the volunteer effort came from less than 5% of the members.

The problem with this ratio, which is beyond “The Pareto Principle,” is that it is NOT sustainable or healthy. It leads to burn out, and oftentimes there are a massive number of resignations by volunteers. This leaves many positions dangerously unfilled to the detriment of the congregation.

It also sets up a pattern for Pareto-like 'elites' to form within what should be a spiritual cooperative. Meanwhile, it concentrates and reduces the ability for people to volunteer and to experience the deep spiritual joy of volunteering. A key way to deepen your spiritual walk and connection with Spirit is through volunteering within your spiritual community.

But I am also grateful that the Sunday August 2nd Volunteer Appreciation: Celebrating the Heart of Service and included lunch will not be the end of volunteering being front and center at SLC. On August 23rd, Rev. Lisa will offer the Discover Your Spiritual Gifts Workshop. On August 30th there will also be a Volunteer Faire devoted to the many ways that one can volunteer at SLC. I really do hope that you take part in this fair.

I have found that volunteering is such a powerful way to kickstart one’s spiritual life. It can bring such joy and gusto. The neat thing is that there are so many wonderful and exciting ways to volunteer at SLC.

I would suggest asking Spirit, “What is mine to do?” Then feel where your heart leads you.

Many blessings,

Rev. Rick