At OneLife, we put a high emphasis on serving! You can see this every Sunday morning through our large volunteer ministry. However, we also have other opportunities for people to serve outside of OneLife. We want to love our community and strategically partner with other ministries to serve our city.

Angelic Ministries has been a partner for us for a little over a year now. So why should you serve at Angelic Ministries whether you currently serve on a volunteer team or not? Great question! We hear all the time about students, parents, and families wanting to go on a mission trip or go away somewhere to experience serving in a missions type of setting. Angelic Ministries gives all of us that chance right here in our own city of Knoxville! This will be a chance for you to come experience a side of Knoxville that you may not see very often. You will be able to serve the least of these and help a ministry who does it every week!

There will be multiple types of opportunities to get involved this weekend. Angelic Ministries can use our help cleaning up their space, organizing their food, and of course serving food to the homeless. Maybe you can’t make it Saturday, but would love to help us provide food. We have multiple food and drink needs such as lasagna’s, bread, fruit, and drinks that we would love for you to partner with us on. So serve with us! If you would like to come help and have not signed up or want to help provide food, simply send an email to volunteer@onelifeknox.com. We look forward to seeing you there.

You know that feeling when you’re about to buy a car, so you get to drive whatever you want?! Only fun, no commitment – not yet, anyway. That part is coming. But for now you get to shop around and enjoy the benefits of all those different opportunities.

We’ve created that same experience for new volunteers at OneLife. We do this because volunteers are a core part of how we do Sundays! From the time you enter the parking lot to the time you leave the property, we make sure you are encountering one of our great volunteer teams. And not just so you can have a good experience, but so we can make sure you are being pointed to becoming a disciple from the minute you arrive to the minute you leave. Because this has become such a huge part of our culture, OneLifers who are looking to get connected often want to know how they can become a volunteer also. If that’s you, then Test Drive was created just for you!

Test Drive exists to fulfill the two reasons that we find most people want to begin volunteering. First, they want to meet others in the church! Test Drive is a once a month event the first Sunday of the month that we use to gather together everyone who is interested in volunteering. Second, most people just want to know more about what volunteering is all about! Who doesn’t want to know a little more about something before jumping in? Test Drive gives us the opportunity to share our vision for volunteering, our culture, and all the opportunities we have.

So if you are sitting on the sidelines and are ready to jump in to making a difference and getting to know other OneLifers, we would love to have you at Test Drive! The next one is Sunday, April 1 at 11:00 am in Suite 102 of the OneLife Office. Don’t worry, if after attending you feel like you aren’t ready to take the plunge, that is ok! This is just your opportunity to see what’s out there.

If you are interested in attending Test Drive, email volunteer@onelifeknox.com soon so we can get you in on April 1. We can’t wait to be serving with you!

One of the greatest questions I get asked from time to time by our volunteers or other churches is, “Where are the volunteers at!?” In other words, “Where can I find more!?”

No matter what area of ministry you serve in, if there are volunteers you always feel like you need more. It can sometimes feel like a disparaging search for people to get involved in your specific area. The first time I felt the volunteer crunch was early on in our OneLife Kidz ministry. As Pastor Rodney and I discussed the need, he jokingly told me to “go outside and shake those bushes and see if you can find any.” In case you are wondering, there weren’t any in there. But without a sound strategy that could seem like our best bet!

At OneLife, however, we do have a strategy. We believe the answer is that new volunteers are coming in our doors every week camouflaged as a normal guest. They are moms, dads, and kids. They are friends, relatives, and co-workers. They park their cars here every week, they drop their kids off at OneLife Kidz, and they enjoy the service. They only attend the service, but they do want to know more people. Truthfully, they may want to be more involved, but just don’t know how to do that.

They all look different, but they are all waiting on one thing – an invitation. Not just an invitation from Pastor Rodney, though it certainly is a great start. They are waiting for an invite from someone they know or they may want to know. The easiest way to find more volunteers is for our current volunteers to talk to their friends and family who attend about volunteering or develop a new relationship and share what a life-changer it was for you to get involved. A relationship plus an invite will always equal at least an interest!

So that is where all our volunteers are! They are walking by us every Sunday looking to connect. They just need to be invited! So share your volunteer experience with someone and invite them to serve with you!

And if you get desperate, I can always go check the bushes.