InsideOut Marshall University hosted Voluntour Monday, its volunteer training night for those interested in helping with weekly Monday night services.

Inside Out has six different volunteer groups that are open to all students. This includes the production team, setup/teardown team, prayer team, iConnect, marketing team and creative team. Each team is responsible for working on different parts of the service, from setting up the room to advertising for InsideOut around campus.

“I think it gives them a bigger perspective of how they can serve,” Zack Sturgill, the on campus pastor for InsideOut, said. “Sometimes at church you feel that if you don’t preach or if you don’t play music, you don’t get to help out at worship. We want to offer something different.”

Voluntours are held every time Inside Out has at least 15 new people fill out an information sheet to express interest in volunteering. Mason Rimmer, one of the iConnect leaders, said it took two weeks to generate interest for last night’s training.

Interested students go to training and are given the Volunteer Conduct and Commitment form to sign. It outlines specific behaviors that volunteers should and should not do. The list includes

items such as banning volunteers from using illegal drugs and participating in “moral impurities,” like pornography or improper physical contact.

“I think a lot of times Christians get a bad rep for being hypocrites,” Sturgill said. “This is something to reassure and let people know that we want to live above reproach. We want to represent Christ to the best of our abilities. This isn’t something we’re trying to say you can’t mess up anymore. Its saying hey, let’s be more aware.”

Sturgill said InsideOut is open to anyone despite their flaws. He said people struggle every day and the Conduct and Commitment form is just to encourage awareness in the volunteers to work on practicing Christian values.

Maddie Morris, a sophomore nursing major, has been a part of InsideOut since it started last year. She signed up for the iConnect team to become a greeter.

“I like to make people feel at home,” Morris said. “We want to grow this ministry, so if we make people feel at home maybe they will come back and bring more people”.

Voluntour is also a time when current volunteers can switch to different teams.

InsideOut meets every Monday at 8 p.m. in the Campus Christian Center. The next Voluntour will be held when 15 students express interest in volunteering during InsideOut’s services.

Karenann Flouhouse can be contacted at [email protected]