2. How important is it to me and the organization that this project gets done?

If your church is anything like mine, there is always more work to be done than the hours in a day—and the list just keeps growing. In evaluating a side project that benefits the whole organization, there are two parts to consider: 1) How critical is this project to the mission of your organization? and 2) How convicted are you personally about the need for this to be done? For example, are you bothered every time it comes up and feel a tug to take care of it?

Our church website is a work in progress with constant need for updating. One of the issues was a lack of information about staff leaders beyond basic job titles. I wanted people visiting the website to know what an exceptional and diverse team we have so they might come to our church and feel more relationally connected to our leaders. So, during a lighter time in my workload, I solicited, interviewed, and wrote the staff biographies. Since then, that web page has received thousands of hits and has helped people feel more comfortable with our leadership team.

3. Does the timing of the project work with my schedule?

There are three key things you need to consider: the time it will take to complete, whether it’s a short-term or long-term commitment, and whether the deadline realistically fits in with your regular workload. Like Jesus’ parable of the talents, we each have different capacities (e.g., priorities, time, attention, energy) that may change over various seasons of our lives. It’s critical to know your limitations, maintain some margin, and figure out how a project may or may not fit into your life at the moment.