As a web designer, you would think that I spend most of my time in Photoshop designing web pages. Well, you would be wrong. I spend lots of time managing projects. When I pastored, I never thought in terms of project management. And that was my mistake. I had projects all over the place, but simply managed them like tasks.

• Mail newsletter
• VBS
• Schedule summer missions trip
• Get van fixed

One of the things that I learned from Getting Things Done by David Allen was the difference between next actions and projects. Nothing in the above list is a next action and most 3 of 4 are really projects with many next actions. For example, Get van fixed is not a next action. Find repair shop for van is the real next action.

Mail newsletter, VBS and summer missions trips are all projects that have many next actions. Every ministry has projects like these to manage. If you apply a few easy principles, you can start feeling productive and less stress out (hat tip: FreelanceSwitch):

1. Write out the desired outcome. I find that I procrastinate more when I do not know what I’m trying to achieve with a project. This is even more true if you have been “assigned” the project rather than creating the project yourself.
2. Get the outcome approved in writing. One of the sources of conflict in the church is miscommunication. Conflict can be reduced by getting written approval from your stakeholder (pastor, team leader or board) that you are on track before you start. This includes getting a time and date for when you need to deliver your project.
3. Create an ordered list of “next actions”. This may get a little pedantic. Basically, you can not do “mail newsletter”. But you can “Email pastor for his column”, “Ask church administrator to print off labels” and “Schedule volutneers to prepare mailing”.
4. Review your “next actions” and estimate the time. I find it best to take that number and TRIPLE IT. Yes, multiply it by three. This will account for all the things you do not know that you do not know.
5. Communicate to all stakeholders while you finishing your next actions. Tell them what you did, what you are doing now and what might be at risk. Get in the habit of talking about the bad news before people hear about it from someone else. If you are not going to have all your classes covered on Sunday morning, tell the people who need to know before Sunday! I also am in the habit of just asked open ended questions like “How do you think this is going?” as a way to engage the people I’m serving.
6. Stay focused. Once you list your next actions, work hard not to add to the list of the project. This is called scope creep and is a sure way to destroy a project.
7. Celebrate. When your finished, share and enjoy your success.

How do you feel productive in ministry? Add your comments below.

Marc Andreessen, the man who co-created the first web browser and co-founded of Netscape, started blogging only five weeks ago. He recently summarized eleven lessons he learned about starting to blog for the first time,

Eleventh and last, the most common reaction that I got from starting my blog that I didn’t expect was, “finally he’s blogging”.

I found that to be quite humorous because of course from the perspective of bloggers who have been active for several years, it’s completely true, and yet here we are still living in a world where most people who have interesting things to say are not yet blogging and have no idea that they’re behind the trend curve.

When I started reading his blog, I thought the same thing. If anyone should have been blogging for years, it should have been Andreessen. But his observation is correct. The most interesting people in the church are not yet blogging. The ChurchReport list of the 50 most influencial Christians have few bloggers (most have podcasts but that is a distribution sermons):

• #16 Rick Warren blog and podcast (RSS)
• #19 Paula White MySpace
• #23 Dr. R. Albert Mohler Jr. Blog or Crosswalk
• #44 Beth Moore’s Living Proof Ministry has a blog (RSS)
• #45 Mike Slaughter Blog
• #46 Phil Vischer Blog (RSS)
• Let me know if I missed any by adding a comment to this post…

Now, none of these blogs are any good or even worthy of getting into my RSS Reader. If you look at the list, you will see a generational bias. But basically of the none of the most influential Christians are involved in the conversation about Christianity online. Now, this may not matter today or in the next few years.

However, if you review this list in five years, I will bet that most of the most influential Christians are blogging or podcasting (more than just putting sermons online).
Take A Ways 

• The old path to being influential in the church you passed through certain gatekeepers: denominations, academics and publishers. In the future, you can be influential because you are networked and skilled at sustaining and generating conversations. You no longer need “influence” bestowed upon you via a denomination, seminary or publisher.
• The other lesson to learn is that if you currently are a person who has interesting things to say about ministry and are not blogging; if you do it well, you can gain audience very quickly.

Now its a whole other discussion as to how to gain influence in the church without losing your soul in the process (or maybe the questions whether you should seek to gain influence)…

Without irony, I present the Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen board game [via ysmarko], Your Best Life Now: The Game is an entertaining and educational way to take inventory of yourself and accountability of your actions.” It is for 2 or more players, ages 16 and up.

The person responsible for this game is Kevin McNulty, VP of Sales of Endless Games (PDF),

“We are privileged, honored and excited to create a multi-generational board game based upon Joel’s inspirational, uplifting, and remarkable book,” said McNulty. “The game will make a difference in the lives of people that play it,” he continued. “Its play has a unique twist that integrates the game’s results into the lives of the players after they finish playing.”

[…] The Game was conceived by game inventor Richard C. Levy, whose credits also include board games based upon the best-selling books Men Are From Mars, Women Are from Venus, and Chicken Soup for the Soul.

I just think this might be not such a great idea…

DaySpring allows you to send free Flash cards to people. You can find:

• Birthday
• Prayer
• Sympathy

There are dozens of others. This is a simple way to keep in touch between ministry events.

Ministry is hectic. Most people serving in ministry have other things in their lives going on besides church. It is hard enough to carve out time to actually be at the ministry event and find the time to prepare for it. If we are honest, our time for spiritual disciplines is what gets lost when we are busy. And who of us is not busy.

But the energy and power we need for ministry is found in exactly those disciplines. If we are really serving people, then we need to be responsible to those habits which actually affect our ministry. So here is one easy way we can gain some time for solitude, meditation and prayer:

Reduce your screen time

The US Census reported most adults and teens “will spend nearly five months (3,518 hours) next year watching television, surfing the Internet, reading daily newspapers and listening to personal music devices.”

My wife and I are totally guilty of this — our laptops are always open. Like you, our habit is to watch TV in order to relax. Now, I am not saying get rid of TV or your laptop because I am certainly not going to do that — but see if we can watch 30 minutes less screen time every day. We will lose 8 days screen time a year; and gain 30 minutes a day for solitude, meditation and prayer.

That seems like a good trade…

Ask my wife, I am the king of procrastination. So take these suggestions from someone who is in the process of unlearning the bad habits that cause procrastination. I found that putting off something until the last minute was a sure-fire way to kill my ministry.

Here are some of the causes of procrastination:

• Task is too complicated - Often we just think that it is too complicated because we do not take the time (meh) to break it down into simple next actions. When I take the time to actually think through the task at hand; it ceases to be so complicated. And if I find that it is really complicated and I can not get it done in time, then I need to tell someone as soon as possible. Remember it is what it is.
• Seeking perfection - As spiritually minded servants, we often want to do things perfect. We need to get over that — ministry is full of “good enough”. If you only do things perfectly, you will get little done and so burn out.
• Indecision - Usually making no decision is a worse experience than making the wrong decision. Pray and trust God and get moving.
• Wrong priorities - In ministry, it is easy to address the squeakiest wheel to avoid conflict. But you know what’s important, you know what God values. Do those things first.
• Boredom - This is one thing that always got me. I got bored easily with the details of ministry, like keeping attendance or counting offering or organizing the craft room. But getting the details right is one key to success in ministry. If you find yourself bored, see if you can trade with someone else on your team or maybe use a new tool to do the task.
• Focused on to many things - If you are passionate about your ministry, I know that you are being asked to take on more and more responsibilities. This dilutes your focus and can lead to procrastination simply because you just do not know what to focus on first. To prevent this, decide on what your focus is and just do that.
• Being a slob - I am a slob when it comes to the physical world (my digital life is well organized). If you are a slob, then admit it and find someone on your team who can organize stuff.
• Laziness - To prevent laziness, I just need to schedule more time for myself. Often I’m lazy not because I’m really lazy, but I choose to be lazy because I’m overworked and do no have enough time to recharge.
• Being tired - I do not need a lot of sleep, but I also stay up to late. When I’m well rested I get more done.
• Breaks - Next time you take a break at work or church, be aware of how long it takes to ‘get back at it’. If you take an honest look often our breaks are much, much longer than we think.

The trick for me is to be aware when I’m practicing the bad habits of procrastination, so I can change my point of view.

My friend James at Agile Ministry writes down some valuable advice on how to recruit people to serve in ministry,

Step 1: Go to the source - Find the connectors

In every church there is at least one member that tends to connect with a large number of others within the church. These “connectors” have a doorway into a large number of people within the church, often knowing where they work, what they like to do, and what skills they possess.

Spending a little time with these connectors each week can provide leads on someone that may provide help. Before talking with your connectors, be sure to have a short list of who you need. Visit your connectors regularly, as they may have met someone new that can help you out.

Step 2: Go to your neighbors - Find the like-minded

While we all llke to look inward in our church as a first step, don’t be afraid to go to other churches in the area. Whether it is of the same or a different affiliation, there may be someone who will help out a church in your area. If you live in a rural area, make some appointments to meet others in a nearby area to obtain help or find leads on someone with the skills you need.

Step 3: Go a different way - Find an alternate path

Finally, it may be necessary to find an alternate solution your need. While this isn’t always the best option, it may require you to stretch your team by seeking creative solutions when you don’t have the necessary skills available. Remember: just because it isn’t the first solution you had in mind, you should still give 100% of your effort to His glory.

Volunteer Scheduling

Notice what is missing from this list: pulpit announcements, bulletin inserts and newsletter articles. If you are looking for a great solution to scheduling, make sure you download the PDF “Handle with Care“; a white paper with practical steps for leading your church ministry.

if you are looking for a great scheduling tool, visit Church Director which is an a volunteer scheduling and ministry tool.

I rarely have business cards when I need them. Even in this age of digital communications, the business card is still a “must have” tool for ministry. This applies not only for so-called paid staff, but to any ministry team. I am ordering some cards and here are a few online providers that provide really cheap 4-color printing:

• Printing For Less
• 123 Print
• Overnight Prints
• Vista Print
• PS Print

If you are able to use standard shipping, then these printers are really, really cheap. I am using Vista Print for the first time and getting several business cards printed for $3.99/250. Be sure that I will let you know how that goes.

One tip before you venture into online printing, make sure that you review the specifications of the formats they will accept.

Pocket Sized Communications

If you want to be totally cool, get a Moo Card. Moo allows you to create cards (as if by magic) from a Flickr account. You can get 100 mini cards for $19.99. So how would you use Moo for business cards for your ministry?

• Create a Flickr account for your ministry
• Upload and organize photo of your ministry in action
• Use Moo to select 100 photos of your ministry
• Add your contact information
• Get your cards in the mail

Put a couple in this cool business card holder by Umbra. And you have an amazing communications tool for your ministry that fits into your pocket.

Mark Galli, managing editor of Christianity Today, wrote a very interesting piece on the Cost of Christian education:

Historically, especially for American Protestants, Christian education has followed this model, with its priorities of classroom instruction, curriculum development, and dependence on an expert teacher (even if the expertise is based on merely doing the teacher prep in the curriculum). The objectivist model is also a favorite of traditions that place the pulpit at the center of worship, giving priority to teaching by a “dynamic, effective communicator.” Do note: This approach is not without its merits! It is an efficient way to impart many Bible facts, a Christian worldview, and core doctrines. And who does not like to sit at the feet of a gifted teacher or preacher?

Still, we recognize that a purely objectivist approach can actually make it harder for people to be converted to God. It tends to make faith mostly a matter of the mind and divorces it from spiritual experience. If the supreme knowledge for Christians is, as outlined by Augustine and others, a personal, experiential knowledge of God, then we need something more.

The educational system of Jesus was rooted in an utterly different approach: living in and with a community, so that theology was not only taught but also lived in the context of community prayer. Jesus’ educational system is not objective in the least—it is decidedly not interested in knowledge that helps us remain unbiased and neutral about life. Instead, it is profoundly subjective, that is, concerned with creating an irrational loyalty to Jesus and over-the-top concern for others. It is not the mind that is the center of attention but the whole person—mind, body, and spirit—and the whole person in community.

Now that it is summer time and so many of you are doing something different. Maybe its time to value Mark’s insight here and rethink Christian education ministry for the fall.

We should not deny what we all know about poorly Christian education works: that “one out of four youth group kids end up plugged into a church or parachurch college ministry a few months after they graduate from high school.” Barna reports that “only 3 out of 10 twentysomethings (31%) attend church in a typical week.

I am NOT saying throw out what you are doing; but in light of these stats and your own experience. Isn’t it time to rethink educating our kids? If you have thought about and done something innovative to address the issue; add a comment below.

Inspired by a post by Multi-site Revolution, here are the best online demographic research tools available.

• Best Places - Very best data on neighborhoods. The interface is not great or intuitive. Search by address or zip. Find valuable data: People, Economy, Housing, Health, Crime, Climate, Education, Transportation, Cost of Living, Religion, Voting.
• Yahoo Real Estate Neighborhoods - This is the best tool for ministries, search by zip code or address. Still provides only basic information.
• Zillow - Great for real estate listings.
• Dataplace
• Free Demographics - It is free, but it is painful to use.
• Neighboroo - Simple real estate data.
• Mapping Religion In America - Not very detailed, but very interesting.

I spent lots and lots of time with data like this when I worked in South Minneapolis. It does not replace riding the bus, walking the streets, shopping in your community as a way to get to understand it. (I found riding a bike to be a great way to get to know my city.) However, it will tell you lots of things that you do not know about your community. Use this data as just one of the criteria for making decisions.