I was reading Willow Creek Repents (which I think is an unfair title) and was fascinated by the findings issued by a new book from Willow Creek. This lead me to watch the video by Greg Hawkins where he explains the point of the book.

At the end of the video, he concludes:

Our dream is that we fundamentally change the way we do church. That we take out a clean sheet of paper and we rethink all of our old assumptions. Replace it with new insights.

At Plaid, we agree with this statement and believe that Plaid can assist ministries in this transformation.

Existing church software enables measuring discipleship through “participation”

Essentially, existing church management software reflects and promotes the “participation” model Hawkins describes. The software is focused on recording data that according the Hawkins does not contribute to discipleship.

For example, ChMS vendors are developing the “hottest” feature and churches are spending lots of resources to implement it. Check in or integrated attendance recording. That does not seem to be the place where innovation should be occurring.

The tools we use shape our thinking. If we do not change our church software, how we do church will not change.

Plaid answers the challenge issued by Hawkins and Willow Creek

Plaid is different. It does not record attendance. It measures “attention” or engagement of leaders towards its members.

Attendance shows how the members engage the church. A metric that Hawkins now questions and an assumption that Bill Hybles in fact says was a mistake,

Some of the stuff that we have put millions of dollars into thinking it would really help our people grow and develop spiritually, when the data actually came back it wasn’t helping people that much. Other things that we didn’t put that much money into and didn’t put much staff against is stuff our people are crying out for.

Plaid rather measures the engagement of leaders with members. Using attention data (what contact records they interact with inside the software: edit, add, comment, send email, organize into a list, etc.), we can help individual ministry practitioners discover who they “disciple”. Essentially, this is based on the idea found known as Dunbar’s number.

At Plaid, our quest is to give ministries new ways of measuring. I am not fool enough to think Plaid is a silver bullet, but I do believe that refactoring church software is one aspect of this change.

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.

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.