As I write this I am sitting in an airport waiting for a delayed flight and knowing I won’t make it home tonight. There are so many flight cancellations and delays; I just want to be home. And now there are multiple plans that need to shift and change.
As we go through the pandemic, we are all on a journey during which delays upon delays create fatigue, both physical and mental, including decision fatigue. The definition of fatigue is “repeated variations of stress.” Given the myriad of decisions we face, we often feel fatigued even by day-to-day activities.
In ministry our calling is to connect with people, to fulfill our calling as the hands and feet of Christ. In these times we especially need to reach out and gather a cohort of people and tools to move forward and collectively make these decisions. Christ called and trained his disciples to carry the message of salvation. Like the disciples, we too are part of this holy experimentation.
Yes, our mission is to spread the Good News and Gospel of Jesus Christ and bring others to His Word.
This is our why.
We must not only capture why we are doing this but also concentrate our own efforts on how we are going to accomplish this mission. We share a passion to adapt our ministries to this holy experiment to today’s world, even when we don’t quite know how to make this happen.
When we come out of the pandemic and evaluate how ministry will be accomplished, we need to match our actions with our mission statement and values. The Christian community needs a way to discern if a proposed project or activity is in alignment with its mission and values.
In the course, Church Business is a Ministry, we utilize a decision tree tool to evaluate if our actions, whether they be activities or financial decisions, are in alignment with our mission statement and values and will this investment of resources (including time, talent, and treasure) move us closer to the work to which God has called us.
The Mission Statement Decision Tree is a simple tool to help you (and your community) make mission-driven decisions every time.
In the Mission Statement Decision Tree, we examine:
1. How the project aligns with your mission,
2. The level of urgency the project presents,
3. If you have the resources to complete the project, and
4. What it will take to obtain the resources if necessary.
Often, the best way to start involves basic actions that create a path to a more detailed plan that can evolve into a final solution that may include some form of technical growth.
When working in ministry, I would break down a situation into what absolutely needed to be done, tempered with its priority and urgency. Often this was a continuous process layered over time, breaking the project down to its simplest form with a series of actionable steps. For example, when moving from one donation process (manual) to another (online/electronic giving) we outlined the most important basic requirements. Then, we listed the wants, and considered the ease of migration and the utilization and viability of financial and people resources. By including inputs from ministry and administrative teams we ensured the best possible outcome.
Use the tool to communicate to your community and stakeholders how you came to your decision about anything, from replacing an HVAC unit to the focus of a stewardship campaign!
Don’t let technical how questions intimidate, delay, or stop needed action from being taken to move forward with the mission. Let Christ-centered mission be the action focal point, not technology. Keep the mission central and the primary focus. Use financial resources and professional wise council to transition into and utilize technology that is timely and enhances and grows the ministries of the church.
