More in the last 8 months than any other time, I’ve gotten more than a dozen unsolicited requests to design work for ministries that I have nothing do with or ever heard of or wish to take part in. So instead of telling each person in the future individually I thought I’d write this note.

It is never feasible for me to do work for your ministry for free. Usually the things being asked of me are related to some posters I made for my wife while we were dating that I totally regret publishing to the internet. And if I’m not being asked for that, it’s something related to some logos I designed for my church while I was still very much in school.

Design work takes a significant amount of time to make and execute well. That’s time I could spend doing other things that help me pay my rent and for groceries. Most times these requests come from very specific directions that have nothing to do with me designing anything but by virtue of the fact I have Photoshop. The other end of that is a concept so vague, yet no concept I mockup is somehow what you were looking for. So most of that time I spend on unpaid ministry projects is a headache and a time-suck with no return. And if you don’t respect me enough to honor my time, I can’t expect you to respect my work and by extension I can’t respect the ministry you’re doing.

The other main reason is the blatant manipulative language used to try and get me to do these jobs. “It’s the calling of the Lord to join us as we…..” or “The Holy Spirit is leading us to you and you to us…”. That’s nonsense and rude.

The initial waves of requests to do free work were related to protesting the DOMA repeal in late March 2013. I WILL NOT knowingly support any anti-gay agendas, do not ask me to.

Bottom-line: the answer is NO. You’re probably thinking “Wow, this guy’s an asshole and hates God”. While that’s only about half true, the reality is I’ve done projects like this and they always end badly. I’ve usually lost a lot of respect for the person asking or their ministry because they ultimately don’t respect me or my work. If you’re living by the word of your testimony, your ministry is too important to get lost in some disrespectful conversations or behavior.