Eden Volunteers

Eden is a team effort…

Each Eden team has a full time Eden Team Leader who oversees the activity and provides direction for the team. And who are the team..? Well, they may be young adults, newly-weds, families or empty-nesters, but they are all people who have sensed a calling to belong to missional community. They are self-funded ‘tent-making’ volunteers with all sorts of different day jobs but a commitment to invest themselves significantly in the life of their community.

Typically, Eden team members give about six hours a week of schedules time to Eden’s work in the community, and then whatever just comes spontaneously week by week according to the needs and opportunities that arise in the neighbourhood. All of the team members share a commitment to put down roots in the community for at least five years. This may sound like a big commitment but it’s really important because it is only through long term relationships with local youth and families that we ever see sustained transformation.

There are some essential qualities that potential volunteers and team leaders must be able to recognise in themselves before making this commitment…

• At the core of every team is a passion to see broken hearts healed and lives restored through Jesus. Therefore we need a profound personal sense of the depth of God’s divine grace.
• No team member arrives as a finished product, with all the answers, and there are many lessons to be learned in the community. Therefore we need a sincere desire to continually grow in God.
• Eden requires a willingness to be stretched, challenged, and to try new things, and an openness to be accountable to our leaders and team mates.
• Finally we must place our local community contribution within the vision of the local host church and the broader horizon of God’s big plan for the city.

You can see what this looks like in practice by watching a couple of our short films on the Being Extra Ordinary pages.

Two kinds of team member:

‘Pioneers’: Are you the kind of person who loves to break new ground? Brand new Eden teams need the drive and energy of pioneers to launch new activities and generate fresh ideas. We have seen that pioneer personalities tend to flourish in such a dynamic environment.

‘Producers’: Maybe you’re the kind of person who loves to consolidate and bring stability. Within our existing Eden projects we are looking for people who can build on what has already been done and ensure long-lasting impact within communities.

• A good thing to do at this stage if you haven’t already would be to see where our teams are located and what makes each one special in its own way; you can do this on the teams pages. Then, click the bar below if you’d like to enquire about getting involved.