18-24th May 2026
The week honours the millions of volunteers who strengthen communities, aligning with the UN International Year of Volunteers for Sustainable Development. Resources available through Volunteering Australia. Supporters are encouraged to wear red, the designated color for volunteering, to raise awareness. Downloadable editable certificates available here.
Congregations often want to honour volunteers meaningfully, but also need language that is thoughtful, truthful, and hopeful – especially in this moment of social strain and change.
The conversation van move beyond simple “thank yous” toward a deeper theological vision of community, mutual care, justice, hospitality, and shared responsibility. It can also invite fruitful conversations about who carries care in our society, whose contributions go unseen,
what churches can learn from migrant cultures of mutual support, and how communities might become more sustainable and interconnected in the future.
National Volunteer Week offers such a rich opportunity for congregations to honour not only organised volunteering, but the countless quiet acts of care that sustain communities every day — meals cooked, lifts offered, children cared for, gardens tended, phone calls made, grief shared, justice pursued, and compassion lived out. Volunteering is not simply “helping out,” but is participation in God’s work of healing, hospitality, justice, compassion, and community.
The landscape of volunteering is changing, so this focus is an important and timely theme for congregations to engage with – naming both the beauty of volunteering and the strain many communities are carrying right now. Holding gratitude together with honesty can open space for deeper compassion rather than guilt. There’s also something deeply pastoral in acknowledging that people’s capacity has changed. Many long-term volunteers may feel weary or anxious about the future of organisations they love. Naming that gently in worship can itself feel like recognition and care.
Possible biblical references and theological threads
Jesus washing the disciples’ feet (John 13)
“Whoever wishes to be great among you must be servant of all” (Mark 10:43–45)
The body of Christ, where every gift matters (1 Corinthians 12)
Faith made visible through love (James 2)
The call to “serve one another in love” (Galatians 5:13)
Brief Theological Introduction (for newsletter, worship notes, or spoken introduction)
At the heart of the Gospel is not domination, prestige, or power, but service. Again and again, Jesus draws close to people in compassion: feeding the hungry, welcoming the excluded, healing the wounded, washing the feet of his disciples, and teaching that “whoever wishes to become great among you must be your servant” (Mark 10:43).
Volunteering reflects something sacred about our shared humanity and our calling as disciples. Through acts of generosity, care, advocacy, hospitality, mentoring, listening, organising, cooking, visiting, supporting, and accompanying, volunteers participate in the work of healing and hope.
Not all volunteering is formal or publicly recognised. Much of it happens quietly: caring for family members, supporting neighbours, checking in on friends, driving someone to appointments, preparing meals, offering encouragement, or simply being present in difficult times. These hidden acts of love are also holy work.
In a world that often prizes productivity and individual success, the ministry of Jesus points us toward another way – a life shaped by compassion, mutual care, and service for the common good. National Volunteer Week invites us to give thanks for all who embody this spirit of generosity in our communities.
Downloadable editable certificates available on Volunteering Australia website.
Prayer of Thanksgiving for Volunteers
God of generous love,
we give thanks for all who serve others
with quiet compassion and faithful care.
For those who volunteer in schools and op shops,
in emergency services and sporting clubs,
in neighbourhood houses and charities,
in churches, kitchens, gardens, and community groups –
we give thanks.
For those whose service is public and visible,
and for those whose care is unseen:
the friend who listens,
the grandparent who babysits,
the neighbour who checks in,
the carer who keeps going,
the person who simply shows up –
we give thanks.
In a world that often measures success by status or wealth,
you show us another way:
the way of kindness,
the way of service,
the way of Christ,
who knelt to wash the feet of his friends.
Bless all who give their time, energy, wisdom, and compassion
for the sake of others.
Renew the weary.
Encourage the discouraged.
Protect the overlooked.
And remind us all
that small acts of love can help transform the world.
Through Christ, servant and saviour.
Amen.
Prayer inspired by Jesus washing feet (John 13)
Christ Jesus,
you took a towel and basin
and showed your disciples
that love kneels down.
You taught us
that greatness is found not in power, but in humility;
not in domination, but in service.
Today we remember and honour volunteers:
people who quietly embody your way
through acts of generosity and care.
For those who cook and clean,
organise and visit,
mentor and advocate,
comfort and accompany,
we give thanks.
For those who volunteer formally in organisations,
and those who care daily for family, friends, neighbours, and community,
we give thanks.
Shape us into a people who notice need,
share responsibility, and serve with joy.
May our churches be places
where every gift is valued,
every contribution honoured,
and every person welcomed.
In your holy name. Amen.
To insert into Intercessory prayers in a worship service
Loving God,
we pray for all volunteers throughout our communities.
For those working in times of crisis and disaster,
grant courage and strength.
For those supporting people who are lonely, grieving, vulnerable, or struggling,
grant compassion and patience.
For those who advocate for justice,
care for creation, welcome refugees,
feed the hungry, or work for reconciliation and peace,
grant hope and perseverance.
For carers whose volunteering is woven into daily life –
parents, grandparents, friends, neighbours, and family members –
grant rest and support.
Where people feel exhausted or unseen,
bring encouragement.
Where communities are fractured or isolated,
build connection and belonging.
And where acts of kindness seem small against the weight of the world,
remind us that love is never wasted.
God, in your mercy:
hear our prayer.
Short congregational litany
Jesus said: “Whoever wants to be first must be servant of all.”
Teach us the way of love and service.
For volunteers who strengthen our communities:
We give thanks.
For carers, neighbours, family, and friends whose quiet support sustains others:
We give thanks.
For those who are weary in serving:
Grant rest, courage, and joy.
May we follow Christ, who came not to be served, but to serve.
Help us live with compassion, generosity, and hope. Amen.
Love Made Visible (a short sermon)
One of the striking things about Jesus is how often his ministry happens in ordinary acts of care.
He notices people others overlook.
He stops to listen.
He shares meals.
He touches those considered untouchable.
He feeds hungry crowds.
He kneels to wash dusty feet.
Again and again, Jesus teaches that love is something we do.
In John’s Gospel, on the night before his death, Jesus washes the disciples’ feet — a task usually reserved for servants. Then he says: “I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you” (John 13:15).
That moment tells us something profound about God. The God revealed in Jesus is not distant or self-important, but deeply present in acts of compassion and service.
National Volunteer Week reminds us that this spirit is alive all around us.
We see it in formal volunteering – in charities, schools, sporting clubs, emergency services, community organisations, and churches. But we also see it in the countless unseen acts of informal care that hold communities together.
A neighbour checking in. A grandparent helping raise children.
A friend sitting beside someone in grief.
Meals cooked. Lifts offered. Phone calls made.
Quiet encouragement given.
Much of this work never appears in headlines or annual reports. Yet without it, communities would unravel.
The Gospel reminds us that these acts are never “small” in the eyes of God. Love made visible is sacred. Service offered with compassion participates in the ministry of Christ himself.
And perhaps National Volunteer Week is not only about saying thank you — though that matters deeply. Perhaps it is also an invitation.
An invitation to ask:
Where is God calling me to serve?
Whose burden can I help carry?
How might I embody Christ’s compassion in my community?
Because the way of Jesus is not simply believed. It is lived.
Sustaining compassion in changing times (a short sermon)
There is a quiet truth many community organisations and churches are feeling at the moment: the landscape of volunteering is changing.
Many charities are carrying greater financial pressure as the cost of living rises. Donations are stretched. Organisations are being asked to do more with less. At the same time, many volunteers themselves are tired – balancing work, fixed incomes for retirees, family responsibilities, financial stress, and their own wellbeing.
Communities are changing too. Younger generations often want to contribute meaningfully, yet many are juggling insecure work, rising housing costs, and relentless busyness. Older Australians are living longer, which is a gift, but it also means more people require care and support at a time when families themselves are stretched thin.
The result is something many organisations quietly know: fewer people are carrying more responsibility.
And yet, perhaps this moment also invites honesty and reimagining.
The Gospel never romanticises service. Jesus himself grew weary. He withdrew to pray. He relied on others. The ministry of compassion was always shared work -people bringing loaves and fishes, opening homes, supporting one another, carrying burdens together.
Perhaps National Volunteer Week is not only a moment to celebrate generosity, but also a call to nurture sustainable communities of care.
Because the future cannot depend on a handful of exhausted people holding everything together.
The invitation of the Gospel is broader than that. It is the call to become communities where compassion is shared, where everyone’s gifts matter, and where care is not left to a few, but embraced as part of our common life together.
Even small acts matter: a meal cooked, a phone call made, an hour given, a willingness to show up.
In the ministry of Jesus, love was rarely spectacular. More often, it was faithful presence.
And perhaps that is still the way communities are sustained today.
The gifts we receive from each other (a short sermon)
One of the quiet contradictions in public life is this: migrants are often spoken about as though they are a burden on society, while in reality many migrant communities embody some of the deepest traditions of mutual care, hospitality, and collective responsibility.
Across cultures and generations, many migrant families understand instinctively that survival depends on community. People share food, childcare, transport, housing, language, money, grief, celebration, and responsibility. Elders are cared for. New arrivals are welcomed. Community is not treated as optional; it is woven into everyday life.
Of course, no community is perfect. Yet many churches and charities know firsthand that migrant communities often sustain extraordinary cultures of volunteering and mutual support – frequently while carrying the pressures of resettlement, racism, economic hardship, language barriers, and insecure work.
There is something profoundly Gospel-shaped in this.
Again and again, Jesus gathers people into communities of shared care. The early church in Acts speaks of believers sharing resources “so there was not a needy person among them.” Hospitality to strangers was considered sacred. Burdens were carried together.
Perhaps communities who have experienced displacement, vulnerability, or dependence on others sometimes understand more clearly what affluent and individualistic societies can forget: that we belong to one another.
At a time when volunteering is under strain and many organisations are struggling, migrant communities may offer not only practical help, but also a different imagination about what community can be.
Not service as an optional extra.
Not compassion outsourced to professionals or charities alone.
But care as part of being human.
This is deeply countercultural in a society shaped increasingly by individualism, busyness, and exhaustion.
National Volunteer Week can therefore become more than a celebration of service. It can also be an invitation to learn from one another — especially from communities whose traditions remind us that generosity, hospitality, and mutual responsibility are not signs of weakness, but sources of strength.
And perhaps this, too, is part of the Gospel: that the people too often dismissed, feared, or misunderstood may also carry gifts the wider community desperately needs.
For Jesus continually revealed that wisdom and grace often arrive from the margins, not the centre.
Prayer for informal volunteers
Loving God,
today we pray especially for those
whose volunteering is rarely recognised or named.
For parents and grandparents,
for carers and companions,
for neighbours and friends,
for those who quietly carry responsibility for others each day —
we give thanks.
For those who offer practical help,
emotional support,
time, patience, transport, meals, advocacy, and presence —
we honour their gifts.
When the work is exhausting,
bring rest.
When they feel unnoticed,
bring encouragement.
When worry or grief becomes heavy,
bring comfort and strength.
Surround informal carers and volunteers
with communities of support and care,
so that those who give so much of themselves
may also receive kindness and hope.
And remind us all
that every act of love, however hidden,
is precious in your sight.
Through Christ our companion and servant.
Amen.
Sending blessing for volunteers
Go into the world
to serve with courage and compassion.
May your hands bring comfort,
your words bring hope,
and your presence bring peace.
And may Christ,
who came among us as servant and friend,
walk beside you in every act of love. Amen.
Commissioning Prayer
You might invite volunteers (formal and informal) to stand, or invite the congregation to extend a hand in blessing.
God of compassion and community,
today we honour and bless all who serve others.
We give thanks for volunteers in every place:
in churches and charities,
schools and sporting clubs,
community groups and neighbourhoods,
aged care and emergency response,
advocacy and hospitality,
caregiving and friendship.
We especially remember those whose service is quiet and unseen:
those caring for family members,
supporting friends,
helping neighbours,
offering lifts,
making meals,
listening with patience,
and carrying responsibility day after day.
Bless these hands that serve.
Strengthen weary hearts.
Renew joy where there is exhaustion.
Grant courage where the work is difficult.
And remind all who give of themselves
that their acts of compassion matter deeply.
As Jesus washed the feet of his friends,
may we continue to serve one another
with humility, grace, and love.
Go in peace to love and serve,
in the name of Christ.
Amen.
