Managing Projects for Ministry

F O U N D A T I O N S

M I N I S T R Y S E R I E S f o r

Christian Ministry

M ANAGING P ROJECTS FOR M INISTRY

Dr. Don L. Davi s and Lorna Rasmussen

C2-151

T h e U r b a n M i n i s t r y I n s t i t u t e , a m i n i s t r y o f W o r l d I m p a c t , I n c .

© 2010, 2012. The Urban Ministry Institute. All Rights Reserved. Copying, redistribution and/or sale of these materials, or any unauthorized transmission, except as may be expressly permitted by the 1976 Copyright Act or in writing from the publisher is prohibited. Requests for permission should be addressed in writing to:

The Urban Ministry Institute 3701 E. 13th Street Wichita, KS 67208

The Urban Ministry Institute is a ministry of World Impact, Inc.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bible, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All Rights Reserved.

Contents

About the Authors

5

Preface

7

Part I: The Theory of Project Management

11

Session 1 Defining the Nature of Project Management

1

Session 2 The Constraints and Benefits of Project Management

27

2

Session 3 The Phases of Project Management

45

3

Part II: The Practice of Project Management

Session 4 Tools, Case Studies, and Exercises in Project Management

59

4

Session 5 Project Management Leadership, Final Insights, and Closing Dialogue

69

5

Appendix

75

Bibliography

191

About Us

195

About the Authors

Rev. Dr. Don L. Davis is the Director of The Urban Ministry Institute. He received a B.A. in Biblical Studies from Wheaton College, an M.A. in Systematic Theology from the Wheaton Graduate School, and holds a Ph.D. in Theology and Ethics from the University of Iowa School of Religion. Dr. Davis has taught as professor of religion and theology at a number of colleges and seminaries, including Wheaton College, St. Ambrose University, and the Houston Graduate School of Theology. Since 1975, he has served with World Impact, an interdenominational missions agency dedicated to evangelism, discipleship, and urban church planting among the inner cities of America. A frequent speaker at national conventions and conferences, Don also serves as World Impact’s Vice President of Leadership Development. He is a Staley Lecturer and a member of the American Academy of Religion. Over the years Dr. Davis has authored numerous curricula, courses, and materials designed to equip pastors, church planters, and Christian workers for effective ministry in urban settings, including the Capstone Curriculum, The Urban Ministry Institute’s comprehensive sixteen-module seminary-level curriculum designed specifically for developing urban church leaders.

Lorna Rasmussen is the Administrator/Project Manager of The Urban Ministry Institute.

Lorna joined World Impact staff in 1991. She began her missionary service in Chester, PA (south of Philadelphia) as a community minister involved in children and youth Bible clubs, teen discipling, and cross- cultural church planting. In 1997, Lorna joined The Urban Ministry Institute as administrative support staff, and then as Administrator supervising TUMI’s administrative systems, schedule, and resources. Lorna also serves as TUMI’s Project Manager, which involves giving oversight and coordination to TUMI’s numerous and diverse academic, urban ministry, leadership consultation, and training projects.

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Preface

The Urban Ministry Institute is a research and leadership development center for World Impact, an interdenominational Christian missions organization dedicated to evangelism and church planting in the inner cities of America. Founded in Wichita, Kansas in 1995, the Institute (TUMI) has sponsored courses, workshops, and leadership training events locally for urban leaders since 1996. We have recorded and reformatted many of these resources over the years, and are now making them available to others who are equipping leaders for the urban church. Our Foundations for Ministry Series represents a significant portion of our on-site training offered to students locally here in Wichita. We are thankful and excited that these materials can now be made available to you. We are confident that you can grow tremendously as you study God’s Word and relate its message of justice and grace to your life and ministry. For your personal benefit, we have included our traditional classroom materials with their corresponding audio recordings of each class session, placing them into a self-study format. We have included extra space in the actual printed materials in order that you may add notes and comments as you listen to the recordings. This will prove helpful as you explore these ideas and topics further. Remember, the teaching in these sessions was actually given in class and workshop settings at our Hope School of Ministry. This means that, although the workbooks were created for students to follow along and interact with the recordings, some differences may be present. As you engage the material, therefore, please keep in mind that the page numbers on the recordings do not correspond to those in the workbook. Our earnest prayer is that this Foundations for Ministry Series course will prove to be both a blessing and an encouragement to you in your walk with and ministry for Christ. May the Lord so use this course to deepen your knowledge of his Word, in order that you may be outfitted and equipped to complete the task he has for you in kingdom ministry!

Navigating the dangerous straits of ministry management requires our most careful observation, planning and direction. Failure to

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chart the right course with the right tools can easily result in disaster: projects that fail to be done on time, within budget, and according to our specifications. The ability to manage projects is an important tool in all forms of urban ministry. Without a knowledge of how to define, plan, implement, and review projects, urban ministers can waste enormous amounts of time, money, and effort. This course was specifically designed to introduce urban Christian workers, ministers, and pastors to the basic concepts of project management as it applies to doing effective ministry in the city. Its objective is to enable students to become aware of, comprehend, and employ the skills, aptitudes, and instruments in their specific urban ministry contexts according to the three key constraints of all good projects: time, cost, and quality. Understanding these constraints, our objective now is to provide you with the basic project management orientation that you as an urban minister can use in your church, ministry function, or life challenge. We will dialogue over actual case studies and explore real-life examples of project management failures and successes. Remember, we use this as a textbook in a course we teach together on Project Management. When you finish your study, we trust that you will be able to: • Define Project Management according to the language of project management professionals. • Recite the critical principles in the Scripture regarding the exercise of wisdom in the carrying out of ministry functions. • Outline the principles of ministry management, including the specific meaning of Enterprise Project Management. • Outline the process of project management, along with the constraints, requirements, and elements of developing and executing effective projects. • Provide the key items associated with orienting people for project management and highlight the central benefits of project management. • Develop a workable, measurable plan for carrying out a project. • Summarize some of the key tools associated with project management, as well as considering the positives and negatives of project management software.

Preface 9

• Identify some of the major challenges (“speed bumps”) connected with implementing project management, and learn to overcome them in a project management environment. God wants us to accomplish his mission, to advance his Kingdom, and to fulfill our duties as his disciples, soldiers, and ambassadors. May God use your study of Project Management to make you a more effective minister and worker in his harvest field!

~ Don Davis

Lorna Rasmussen

Assignments and Grading For our TUMI satellites, all course-relevant materials are located at www.tumi.org/foundations . Each course or workshop has assigned textbooks which are read and discussed throughout the class. We maintain our official Foundations for Ministry Series required textbook list at www.tumi.org/foundationsbooks .

For more information, please contact us at foundations@tumi.org .

Session 1 Defining the Nature of Project Management

Projects are temporary undertakings. In this regard, they are different from ongoing programs that obviously had a beginning, but may not have a desired end, at least for the foreseeable future. Projects can last years or even decades, as in the case of public works programs, feeding the world’s hungry, or sending space crafts to other galaxies. But most of the projects that you face in the work-a-day world will be somewhere in the range of hours to weeks, or possibly months, but usually not years or decades. . . . A project begins when some person or group in authority authorizes its beginning. The initiating party has the authority, the budget, and the resources to enable the project to come to fruition, or as Captain Jean Luc Picard of the Starship Enterprise often said, “Make it so.” By definition, every project initiated is engaged for a precise period, although those charged with achieving the project’s goals often feel as if the project were going on forever.

~ 10 Minute Guide to Project Management . pp. 1-2.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

I. Defining Project Management

Prov. 27.1 – Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

A. What it is not

1. Project management is not something ongoing and perpetual, a responsibility or task of open-ended character.

2. Project management is not a product of bureaucracy (although it may use bureaucratic processes to accomplish its ends).

3. Project management is not a magic-bullet to eliminate the need for all kinds of operational management and administration.

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4. Project management is not a panacea for disciplined, organized, and effective engagement in the work God has called us to do.

B. What it is

A sequence of tasks with a beginning and an end that are bounded by time, resources, and desired results. This means that a project has a specific, desired outcome; a deadline or target date when the project must be done, and a budget that limits the amount of people, supplies, and money that can be used to complete the project. ~ Sunny and Kim Baker. Project Management .

1. Project management is a sequence of tasks with a beginning and an end (a series of related tasks and events which are interrelated, multiple events, which overlap and interconnect).

2. Project management is a bounded enterprise (an under- taking which is limited and constrained by certain clear boundaries and issues).

3. Project management is a bounded enterprise by the realities of time, resources, and desired results (issues of time, resources, and specifications give meaning and direction to the scope, duration, and potential risks and opportunities of an undertaking).

4. Project management summary:

a. This means that a project has a specific, desired outcome.

b. A deadline or target date when the project must be done

Session 1: Defining the Nature of Project Management

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c. A budget that limits the amount of people, supplies, and money that can be used to complete the project

C. What makes project management so useful in a ministry context?

1. Ministry involves numerous diverse tasks and responsibilities, each of which requires its own specific and unique strategies for accomplishment (e.g., an evangelistic outreach, a barbecue for teens, a couples retreat, a deacon’s training program).

2. There is a need to coordinate assorted kinds of team members, donors, and volunteers within a single plan or direction.

3. A shortage of resources demands that we pursue maximum efficiency: We possess scarce, limited resources which must be used strategically.

4. We must integrate our purposes, goals, and priorities in correlation to our daily schedule, activities, and initiatives.

5. Ministry culture is about integrating wholes to their parts : Effective ministry coordinates efforts by individuals with a wide range of giftedness and temperaments on specific, unique, opportunities for edification and multiplication.

D. Features of Project Management

1. A specific task, event, or responsibility to be accomplished with a definite beginning and end (i.e., a unique, temporary event)

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2. A desired outcome or result.

3. Stakeholders and authorities who give both approval and investment in the project’s aims and end

4. An ad-hoc (“to the thing”) team assigned the responsibility to plan and implement the project

5. A project budget which reflects the intentions and commitments of the thing to be accomplished

6. A clearly articulated and sequenced plan with milestones, deadlines, and specific contact and check-points

7. Drafting specific goals with their related tasks , all seeking to provide leverage for the overall accomplishment of the project’s aims

8. Ongoing monitoring of project activities to ensure conformity to standards of quality and performance

9. Delegated authority and resources granted within the bounds of the project for its accomplishment

E. Project management and ministry management

1. Project management is most effective as an element within an overall vision of ministry management that takes seriously the elements and purposes of the entire enterprise, the whole endeavor and the right coordination of all of its parts .

Session 1: Defining the Nature of Project Management

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2. Project management requires a fundamental commitment to a holistic strategy of ministry, which thinks about individual projects as they relate to all the various ministry parts as they operate systematically.

3. Project management assumes a solid leadership core which establishes and manages a portfolio of projects which represent our prioritized, most significant potential opportunities to leverage our resources for the sake of our entire enterprise.

II. Establishing a Process for Holistic Ministry Stewardship

A. Set your meeting schedule for the upcoming year (calendar or fiscal).

B. Seek God’s guidance on his leadings for the upcoming year.

C. Rehearse your identity and mission.

1. Review your key documents, purposes, and commitments to identify the following:

a. Our purpose and identity

b. Our key ministry areas (worship, witness, learning, mission, justice, service)

c. Our central commitments (to God in Christ, to Scripture, to the Church, to the world)

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2. Discuss carefully and thoroughly in order to understand your central commitments, convictions, and values.

D. Understand your particular field of mission.

1. What is the history of our particular field of mission?

2. For whom and to whom are our efforts directed?

3. What are the critical needs of those in our target group, and how are they currently being met?

4. What programs/activities currently exist to meet them?

5. How effective have these programs or activities been to alleviate these needs?

6. What conditions currently demand our most immediate relief, concern, and attention?

E. Take inventory on your present resources.

1. What is the level of our commitment and burden to these needs?

2. Whom do we have who is currently working on these problems?

3. What facilities, equipment, technologies, and materials do we have?

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4. What is the state of our budget and monies?

5. What training or preparation do we offer?

6. What factors help (opportunities) or hinder (threats) us in seeking to address these needs?

F. Brainstorm alternative possibilities to accomplish your purposes and goals.

1. Set a planning cycle (six months to one year is recommended).

2. State your goals in terms of one clear statement and idea (clarity).

3. Make certain that your goals are able to be done (feasible).

4. State your goals in terms of end results: how much and how many (specificity).

a. How many (number)

b. How well done (quality)

c. How much (quantity)

5. Of all possible goals, which are most important to us now?

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6. Determine how long or what date you expect these to take place.

G. Establish clear priorities and select items for this year’s programming.

1. Does this goal relate to our ultimate purposes and objectives?

2. Of the important goals, which ones must be done immediately?

3. Of the important goals, which ones should be done sometime soon?

4. Which goals ought to be postponed for later consideration?

H. Determine specific plans and strategies to implement each goal.

1. Outline step-by-step strategies for each important goal.

2. What precisely are the steps and phases for this project?

3. What specific courses of action does this project require?

4. Who is responsible for this project (for what, for whom, to whom)?

5. What training will the participants require, and where will they obtain it?

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6. What resources do we need, and how will we get it (people, money, facilities, equipment, training, counsel)?

I. Execute your plans according to schedule.

1. Create a project schedule.

2. Communicate to all parties their role and responsibilities.

3. Coordinate activities at appropriate times.

4. Set dates for review and feedback.

5. Set up appointments for accountability, review, and assessment.

J. Review and evaluate the effectiveness of each project in light of your ultimate purposes and goals.

1. What did we hope to accomplish?

2. Did we accomplish our goals? Why or why not?

3. Should this or another goal be repeated? Why or why not?

4. How did those responsible perform?

5. Did these efforts bring us any closer to our ultimate goal, or did these activities deter and distract us?

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K. Use information to set better goals, clearer priorities, and more effective strategies for next year.

III. Enterprise Project Management: Pursuing Excellence, Leveraging Opportunity

Prov. 19.21 – Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the Lord that will stand.

A. Various approaches to Project Management

1. Project management as an element in a matrix organizational environment (coordinating regular departments with ad-hoc teams for specific initiatives)

2. Project management as a strategy to operate an entire organization’s enterprise (its modus operandi )

B. Principles of Enterprise Project Management

1. SECURE understanding and commitment from all our team members regarding the mission, values, and purposes of our enterprise, who we are, why and for whom we exist, and the mandate we have to accomplish this task in light of the overall enterprise. 2. STRUCTURE our entire ministry around a well-designed, carefully administered portfolio of distinct projects, which are derived from a critical assessment of our current situation, values, and our decision to focus on key priorities and goals reflected in this year's annual budget process.

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3. SELECT new team members on the basis of their proven strengths and experience, and encourage them to employ these strengths so as to help us build our community and accomplish our task.

4. SOAR strategically by organizing our management focus on helping each team member to identify, concentrate upon, and grow personally and professionally in the area(s) of their strengths and burdens, while finding new ways to compensate for and manage our shared weaknesses.

5. Take concrete steps to enable each team member to SHARPEN their performance in the area of their greatest gifts and assets, giving more and more resources for personal development.

6. Acknowledge excellence as the sole STANDARD of all activities, events, and productions at the Institute; each item, from the smallest act to the largest project, should be done to the glory of God in Christ.

7. Make your commitment to offer the best in personal SERVICE, which is the cardinal virtue in your organi- zational culture. Serving others for the glory of God should be cultivated as an overarching motive that under- pins all you do as a team, not only to one another but to all stakeholders, friends, partners, and clients in every endeavor you undertake. 8. Define STEWARDSHIP of our ministry's resources as the process of authorizing our trusted and gifted people to freely deploy our goods in connection to our key operations and projects, consistent with their authority and duties, and our annual priorities and goals.

9. Promote innovation by allowing great flexibility in the SHAPE our enterprise takes, not only in the way our

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team carries out its assignments, but by shifting managerial emphasis on the attainment of agreed-upon results done on time, within budget, and according to the project's necessary standards of excellence and project quality specifications. 10. Cultivate an atmosphere of the free exchange of ideas, encouraging team members to walk in the Holy Spirit, maintaining an openness to his leading regarding looking for new ways to enhance our ministry. Challenge each one to SUBMIT even their wildest ideas to the team and its leadership for consideration in order to attain new levels of excellence and achievement.

IV. Implications and Connections of Project Management for Urban Ministry

Dan. 4.34-35 – At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; [35] all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth; and none can stay his hand or say to him, "What have you done?" As ministers of the Gospel, we do not create fruitful ministry through our own efforts, but collaborate with God, the Holy Spirit, to see the will of God accomplished in the city.

A. Recognize our God is a God of purpose.

1. The God of Scripture is the sovereign God of all, the great Lord who does whatever he pleases.

a. Ps. 135.5-6 – For I know that the Lord is great, and that our Lord is above all gods. [6] Whatever the Lord pleases, he does, in heaven and on earth, in the seas and all deeps.

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b. Ps. 115.3 – Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases.

2. The counsel of the Lord alone is the counsel that will stand, Ps. 33.11 – The counsel of the Lord stands forever, the plans of his heart to all generations.

3. God is determined to accomplish his purpose for his own glory and honor, Isa. 46.10 – . . . declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, “My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”

B. Project management is a way of collaborating with God, the Holy Spirit, to see the will of God done in a particular enterprise.

1. Laborers are collaborators and co-workers with God in the accomplishment of his will for his glory, 1 Cor. 3.5-9 – What then is Apollos? What is Paul? Servants through whom you believed, as the Lord assigned to each. [6] I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the growth. [7] So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. [8] He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. [9] For we are God's fellow workers. You are God's field, God's building.

2. Godly project management will always acknowledge God’s unique and final role in all ministry endeavors, 2 Cor. 6.1 – Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain.

3. Without a direct and Spirit-aided connection to the person, word, and will of Jesus Christ, no activity will be fruitful to advance the kingdom of God, 1 Cor. 3.10-11 – According to the grace of God given to me, like a skilled

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master builder I laid a foundation, and someone else is building upon it. Let each one take care how he builds upon it. [11] For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.

4. Our aim must always be to present ourselves to God as wise workers who engaged in his business with con- summate excellence and stewardship, as one approved by God for his glory.

a. 2 Tim. 2.15 – Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who has no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of truth.

b. 2 Cor. 5.9 – So whether we are at home or away, we make it our aim to please him.

c. 2 Cor. 10.18 – For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

d. Gal. 1.10 – For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

C. Ultimately, our use of project management wisdom is an attempt at faithful stewardship of our ministry for maximum impact and glory to God.

1. We must be faithful, 1 Cor. 4.1-2 – This is how one should regard us, as servants of Christ and stewards of the mysteries of God. [2] Moreover, it is required of stewards that they be found trustworthy.

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2. We must be excellent, 1 Cor. 10.31 – So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

3. We must be resourceful, Luke 16.1-9 (cf.[8] – The master commended the dishonest manager for his shrewdness. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than the sons of light. [9] And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of unrighteous wealth, so that when it fails they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.) 4. We must persevere, Acts 20.24 – But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify to the gospel of the grace of God.

Prayer and Affirmation to God:

God entrusts us with his resources in order that he might receive all the glory.

Lord, may all we are and all we do, alone and together, be used to bring glory to Your name, honor to Your Son, and advance Your kingdom, in Christ’s name, Amen. 1 Thess. 2.3-4 – For our appeal does not spring from error or impurity or any attempt to deceive, [4] but just as we have been approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel, so we speak, not to please man, but to please God who tests our hearts.

Session 2 The Constraints and Benefits of Project Management

Effective project management requires the ability to view the project at hand with a holistic perspective. By seeing the various interrelated project events and activities as a part of an overall system, the project manager and project team have a better chance of approaching the project in a coordinated fashion, supporting each other at critical junctures, recognizing where bottlenecks and dead ends may occur, and staying focused as a team to ensure effective completion of the project.

~ 10 Minute Guide to Project Management . p. 4.

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I. The Constraints of Project Management

Prov. 20.18 – Plans are established by counsel; by wise guidance wage war.

Prov. 15.22 – Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed.

A. The constraint of TIME

Time refers to the deadlines, calendar dates, and scheduling standards associated with the accomplishment of a particular project .

1. Biblical injunction: Ps. 90.10-12 – The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. [11] Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? [12] So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom.

a. Time is limited .

b. Time is precious .

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c. Time must be bought up .

(1) Ps. 39.4 – O Lord, make me know my end and what is the measure of my days; let me know how fleeting I am! (2) Eccles. 9.10 – Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going. (3) John 9.4 – We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work. (4) Eph. 5.16-17 – Making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. [17] Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

2. Why is the constraint of time so critical in project management?

a. Projects are temporary undertakings: No activity or enterprise is a project if it is open-ended in duration.

b. Projects respect deadlines and time-tags : Often projects must pay attention to limits of time and deadlines, or court failure and ineffectiveness.

c. Projects are essentially scheduled effort : To ignore the time elements of your project is to ensure foul-ups, blunders, and flubs.

3. How should this constraint affect our efforts to manage projects?

Session 2: The Constraints and Benefits of Project Management 29

a. From the beginning, you must become aware of the elements of time and how they will impact your project.

b. Project management is thinking in terms of phases and sequences: Project efforts are ordered and coordinated activities in light of the phases of the project.

c. Allowing the proper amount of time for each phase is critical: from conceiving an idea, establishing a plan, getting ready for execution, to performing the task, and wrapping it up.

d. Adjustment, flexibility, and sensitivity to time demands constant feedback, monitoring, and steering (be prepared to make adjustments in all you do in project management strategy).

4. The bottom line: Project management takes advantage of every opportunity in light of the need to buy up every moment of time.

a. Eccles. 9.10 – Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.

b. Rom. 13.11 – Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed.

c. Gal. 6.10 – So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.

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d. Col. 4.5 – Conduct yourselves wisely toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.

B. The constraint of RESOURCES

Resources refers to those materials, people, funds, technologies, equipment, facilities, and support necessary to accomplish the project on time and on budget. 1. Biblical injunction: 1 Tim. 6.17-18 – As for the rich in this present age, charge them not to be haughty, nor to set their hopes on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly provides us with everything to enjoy. [18] They are to do good, to be rich in good works, to be generous and ready to share, [19] thus storing up treasure for themselves as a good foundation for the future, so that they may take hold of that which is truly life.

a. Resources are scarce .

b. Resources must not be hoarded : Acts 20.35 – In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”

c. Resources must be carefully managed .

(1) Ps. 112.5-9 – It is well with the man who deals generously and lends; who conducts his affairs with justice. [6] For the righteous will never be moved; he will be remembered forever. [7] He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord. [8] His heart is steady; he will not be afraid, until he looks in triumph on his adversaries. [9] He has distributed freely; he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn is exalted in honor.

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(2) Isa. 32.8 – But he who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.

(3) Prov. 6.6-8 – Go to the ant, O sluggard; consider her ways, and be wise. [7] Without having any chief, officer, or ruler, [8] she prepares her bread in summer and gathers her food in harvest.

2. Why is managing resources so critical in project management?

a. Projects, by definition, deliver something to someone (a report, service, prototype, product, service, event, procedure, happening, etc.), and always have a definite “resource tag. ”

b. Projects involve the coordination and proper use of different kinds of resources at the appropriate time for the maximum impact (i.e., money, people, facilities, equipment, technology, etc.). (cf. 1 Chron. 22.2-5 – David commanded to gather together the resident aliens who were in the land of Israel, and he set stonecutters to prepare dressed stones for building the house of God. [3] David also provided great quantities of iron for nails for the doors of the gates and for clamps, as well as bronze in quantities beyond weighing, [4] and cedar timbers without number, for the Sidonians and Tyrians brought great quantities of cedar to David. [5] For David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house that is to be built for the Lord must be exceedingly magnificent, of fame and glory throughout all lands. I will there- fore make preparation for it.” So David provided materials in great quantity before his death.)

c. Projects can easily unravel if attention is not paid to sound management of resources in light of the project’s scope and definition (i.e., its deliverables).

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3. How should this constraint affect our efforts to manage projects?

a. From the beginning, you will have to become acutely aware of what your limits are in terms of resources for each project .

b. Projects differ dramatically in the amount of resources available to accomplish their goals and aims.

c. Stakeholders and others who authorize projects are usually those who also determine the use of funds (i.e., the initiating parties are typically those who set the limits in how much can be spent and utilized to accomplish the project).

d. Without the proper amount of resources, some projects cannot be accomplished: To underbid a project is to determine certain disaster .

e. Having no plan to manage your resources carefully during the course of a project is to invite non-delivery of the goods we purposed for our project.

4. The bottom line: Project management is stewardship of precious, scarce, and few resources to maximize impact in light of our urgent mission.

a. Rom. 13.11-12 – Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. [12] The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light.

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b. David’s preparation for his project, 1 Chron. 29.2-3 – So I have provided for the house of my God, so far as I was able, the gold for the things of gold, the silver for the things of silver, and the bronze for the things of bronze, the iron for the things of iron, and wood for the things of wood, besides great quantities of onyx and stones for setting, antimony, colored stones, all sorts of precious stones and marble. [3] Moreover, in addition to all that I have provided for the holy house, I have a treasure of my own of gold and silver, and because of my devotion to the house of my God I give it to the house of my God.

c. Rom. 12.11 – Do not be slothful in zeal, be fervent in spirit, serve the Lord.

d. Prov. 12.24 – The hand of the diligent will rule, while the slothful will be put to forced labor.

e. 1 Thess. 4.10-12 – For that indeed is what you are doing to all the brothers throughout Macedonia. But we urge you, brothers, to do this more and more, [11] and to aspire to live quietly, and to mind your own affairs, and to work with your hands, as we instructed you, [12] so that you may live properly before outsiders and be dependent on no one.

C. The constraint of SPECIFICATIONS

Specifications refer to the expectations of those who are seeking the results of the project, and usually involve a detailed, exact statement of the particular materials, dimensions, experiences, and quality of work demanded for something to be built, produced, or hosted. 1. Biblical injunction: Every project we undertake is to be executed with excellence, done wholeheartedly for the glory of God – to know the Lord, and to advance his Kingdom.

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a. 1 Cor. 10.31 – So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

b. Col. 3.23-24 – Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, [24] knowing that from the Lord you will receive the inheritance as your reward. You are serving the Lord Christ.

c. 2 Chron. 31.20-21 – Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. [21] And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the command- ments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered. d. David’s charge to Solomon, 1 Chron. 22.19 – Now set your mind and heart to seek the Lord your God. Arise and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God may be brought into a house built for the name of the Lord.

e. Col. 3.17 – And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

2. Why is paying careful attention to desired specifications so critical in project management?

a. Projects desire to realize some specific goal or objective; they are always tied to a vision of extremely specific and measurable results .

b. Nebulous, unclear, and non-specific objectives will probably produce results which are not desired or

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anticipated. (“If you have no particular place to go, then neither does it matter what road you take, or when you get there.”)

c. Without defining your specific outcomes you will have no way to coordinate your activities in such a way to hit your targets – you simply never know if you have attained what you were after.

3. How should this constraint affect our efforts to manage projects?

a. Always think about projects in terms of desired outcomes delivered to those for whom it was initiated on time and on budget .

b. Specifications desired will always line up with time necessary to accomplish it, and the resources necessary to do it.

c. Much time must be given in the preparation phase of project management to clearly define precisely what specific conditions are being sought as a result of the project.

d. Use the entire process of project management to achieve the desired outcome according to the specifications agreed upon at its beginning: “Project management is achieving a desired objective on time and on budget.”

4. The bottom line: Project management is oriented around the excellent and faithful execution of an endeavor according to the detailed, exact statement of particulars demanded by the thing to be built, hosted, performed, or produced.

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a. Isa. 43.7 – Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.

b. 1 Pet. 2.9 – But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.

c. John 15.16 – You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.

D. The implications of constraints

1. Constraints determine the scope of the project (i.e., its size and breadth).

2. Constraints define the quality of the output (“matching brick counts with straw availability”).

3. Constraints provide the limits of our enterprise (i.e., constraints function similarly to rules in a game ).

4. Constraints provoke creative and flexible engagement (i.e., the Apollo 13 crisis).

II. The Benefits of Project Management

Prov. 24.6 – For by wise guidance you can wage your war, and in abundance of counselors there is victory.

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A. Project management benefits ministry leadership .

1. Project management eliminates any kind of guesswork regarding the nature of ministry leadership.

a. Project management highlights the importance of defined roles, responsibilities, and processes (i.e., clearly outlined assignments, defined roles, negotiated budgets, time frames, deadlines, milestones, and end points).

b. Project leadership allows leaders to focus more on accomplishing results and less on arguing about politics and minutia.

2. Project management provides a field experiment for the testing of individuals for increased responsibility and leadership.

a. Emerging leaders can be given opportunities to serve and contribute to significant efforts before being assigned more delicate and expansive responsibilities.

b. Project management provides an avenue to giving ample room for them to learn leadership skills and experience in a real-time environment that you manage and control.

3. Project management allows for better communication, feedback, and assessment of both processes and results of ministry goals.

a. Project management enables leaders to manage a portfolio of projects that represent the central priorities of the church or organization; leaders

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are able to assign tasks and disperse resources in a more strategic way.

b. Projects allow for easy scanning and monitoring of numerous strategic efforts with minimal amounts of investment (the principle of the Vaudeville plate spinners: “Once a plate has been spun, it requires only a minimum amount of effort regularly to ensure its continued spinning”).

B. Project management benefits ministry team members.

1. Project management encourages team members to know their defined roles , and supports submission and team play.

a. Roles vary depending on project assignments and responsibilities.

b. Members can support one another without feeling the need to accomplish the entire project themselves.

2. Project management stimulates hybrid, cross-pollination for the sake of effectiveness of any given team.

a. Project management often creates synergy among and between members.

b. Members grow accustomed to one another’s strengths, and help us manage our weaknesses together.

3. Project management allows for a culture of freedom and integrity .

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a. Project management allows for some degree of freedom for loyal team members to innovate and be creative with our sphere of interest, expertise, and authority.

b. Members can discover their giftedness and passions through effective project execution.

C. Project management benefits the church’s and organization’s mission .

1. Project management blends efficiency and effectiveness , emphasizing above all else accomplishing specific desired outcomes.

a. Project management focuses on accomplishing tasks that reflect our purposes, goals, and priorities.

b. Potential for waste is minimized if projects done actually reflect our commitments, not simply our suggestions.

2. Project management prevents waste and maximizes the use of our limited, scarce resources.

a. Effective project management saves time and money by concentrating our assets on our priorities which reflect our goals and purposes.

b. The organization can provide resources to the project team and disperse its authority and goods with a clear system of feedback, coordination, and review.

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3. Project management pursues productivity and leverages opportunity with minimum amount of risk.

a. Project management limits its investment to specific, temporary, unique projects which need not be indefi- nitely repeated if they turn out not to be successful.

b. Projects allow churches and organizations to explore opportunities wisely and carefully, searching for more and more effective ways of attaining its organizational mission.

III. Implications and Connections for Urban Ministry Today

Num. 14.6-9 – And Joshua the son of Nun and Caleb the son of Jephunneh, who were among those who had spied out the land, tore their clothes [7] and said to all the congregation of the people of Israel, "The land, which we passed through to spy it out, is an exceedingly good land. [8] If the Lord delights in us, he will bring us into this land and give it to us, a land that flows with milk and honey. [9] Only do not rebel against the Lord. And do not fear the people of the land, for they are bread for us. Their protection is removed from them, and the Lord is with us; do not fear them." Are you becoming more familiar with the limits that your ministry situation places upon you, and therefore, are you getting a better sense of how managing projects can better enhance your own personal ministry and mission?

A. Become aware of the limits, constraints, and boundaries of your own ministry situation.

1. How do time constraints affect you in your ministry situation?

2. What is the nature of the resource limitations you currently face, and how should this affect your vision of what you want to do?

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3. How might God want to expand your horizons beyond the limits of your time and present resources to accom- plish new things for the Kingdom of God where you are?

B. Review carefully the benefits of project management for your church and organization.

1. To what extent can you incorporate the management of projects into your own strategic ministry vision?

2. What steps will you need to take in order to make managing projects a viable and important part of your ministry management strategy?

C. Dare to dream about the kinds of results, impacts, and transformations God wants you to accomplish, and set goals to attain them.

1. Accept your finiteness, but do not be overcome by it.

a. Our futures are uncertain, Prov. 27.1 – Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

b. We are utterly aware of our own insufficiencies and problems, 2 Cor. 3.5 – Not that we are sufficient in ourselves to claim anything as coming from us, but our sufficiency is from God.

c. It is hard to know what activities and initiatives done at what time will bring forth the greatest amount of fruit, 2 Cor. 6.2 – For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.