When it comes to employment, you know what you’re good at and can describe how you’re qualified for a job that’s been posted. You also know what kinds of jobs you wouldn’t be good at or interested in pursuing. But when it comes to volunteering, you may not think your passions or experience are important, and you may not know how you’ve been uniquely gifted and equipped for ministry. Whether you volunteer with a church, non-profit agency, or local charity, our goal is to create the best possible experience for you and the organization you volunteer for.
You wouldn’t think of applying for a job without gathering information for the application and updating your resume. You need to identify your attributes and aptitudes for personal ministry in the same way you would prepare for employment, and we developed a systematic process to help you do just that. It’s called your Personal Ministry Profile, and it will guide you through a methodical analysis of your personal passions, experience, and abilities.
Your Unique Self
Wired For Ministry includes self-assessment inventories that will help you reflect on how you’ve been uniquely created by God for ministry. He has given you skills, abilities, and passions that can be used to advance causes and help in many different ministries. At the end of the process, you’ll have a comprehensive overview of your unique combination of personality, interests, spiritual gifts, and aptitudes that you can use to serve God. With this information, you’ll be able to meet with ministry leaders at your church or the director of volunteer services at your favorite charity. Together, you’ll identify specific volunteer opportunities that will allow the organization to take full advantage of your gifts and abilities and allow you to serve the Lord in a way that energizes you and brings you deep joy.
The information you gather using Wired for Ministry tools will set you apart as a committed, prepared volunteer and help you and the organization find the perfect fit for your unique self. The results will be captured in your Personal Ministry Profile and will help you to match your gifts, passions, and aptitudes to specific areas of service that are commonly needed in ministry and charitable organizations.
The Personal Ministry Planning Process
Think of the Personal Ministry Profile as a resume. You want to serve where you’re energized and can make an impact. The person reading it will be able to see the passion, experience, and abilities you bring to the task at hand, and it will provide them with your contact information and references. When completed, your profile will contain the summary results from each of the six assessment areas and give you a valuable at-a-glance overview to use in determining the volunteer opportunities you’d like to pursue.
When trying to determine how to use the personal skills and abilities God gave you, there are two things you should do that will help you make a well-informed decision. First, you need to examine your background—the skills, education, and experience you have that can be used in ministry. Then, you need to discover your motivation—how spiritual gifts, ministry drives, and ministry preferences uniquely equip you for ministry. These are Steps One and Two of the Personal Ministry Planning process.
In Step One, you’ll use three different inventories to examine the skills, education, and experience you have that can be used in ministry. In Step Two, you’ll complete three additional inventories to discover how your spiritual gifts, ministry drives, and ministry preferences uniquely equip you for ministry.
The Wired for Ministry Personal Ministry Planning process will help you identify ministries that might be a good fit based on what you’ve learned. Summary sections in each inventory will prompt you to score your responses and record your top findings. In Step Three, you’ll transfer your summary information to the correlating sections of your Personal Ministry Profile at the end of this workbook or the e-form available at the link below.