Office staffs keep churches running
When the Rev. Larry Moffet started as senior pastor at First United Methodist Church, he surprised many in the congregation by calling them by name and commenting about their occupations, family, hobbies and interests.
He wasn’t psychic, and it wasn’t divine intervention — at least not directly.
What gave Moffet a leg up in getting to know his congregation was that his administrative assistant, Tyra Tate, had made up a list of the members who usually attended each Sunday service and personal information about them.
That’s an example of how the office staff who are the church on a daily basis perform a vital function.
Tate, who has worked at the church for 11 years, said one of the greatest joys of her job is getting to know church members and building long-term relationships with them.
“I’ve been a member here for 17 years,” she said. “I started coming here because it was my neighborhood church. Now it’s the people that keep me here. We’re a family.”
Moffet said the assistance that Tate and her assistant, Cathy McQuinn, have given him “has been invaluable” in helping him quickly become part of that church family.
When he or another minister or lay leader in the church is looking for someone to help with a project or serve on a committee, the office staff is the first place they turn for help. “We know the people and we recommend people with specific skills and interests,” Tate said.
Marge Tomlinson, administrative secretary at Westminster Presbyterian Church, has been on the church staff for more than 40 years — longer than a lot of members members have belonged there.
She’s worked for three pastors, two interim pastors and several associates. She’s watched children that she taught in Sunday school in the 1960s grow up and have children of their own.
“People who were in their 30s and 40s when I joined are in their 70s and 80s now. I know everybody, just because I’ve been here so long,” Tomlinson said.
She also knows where everything is and how everything works. When she started working at Westminster, there were no computers. Now just about every desk in the building has one.
One of Tomlinson’s many jobs is to oversee and troubleshoot the computer network.
“I really like working with the people, and I like being able to find answers to the questions they have,” she said. “I think that’s why I enjoy being the network supervisor — I don’t just want to know why the computer isn’t working; I want to know how to fix it.”
Another of her responsibilities is to review the “pew pads” in which members and visitors record their attendance each Sunday. She helps prepare welcome bags, including home-made cookies provided by church volunteers, and also alerts pastors if someone is absent for several Sundays, indicating a possible need for pastoral care.
Another of Tomlinson’s responsibilities is to maintain the church calendar. On a conference room wall, she has large calendars for every month of the year, covered with plastic laminate. She fills them up with events, special services, classes, speakers, etc., and wipes each month off when it passes.
“It’s incredibly valuable to have someone who knows the people of the congregation, who knows their individual gifts and strengths and some of the history of the congregation,” said the Rev. Andrew McDonald, senior pastor at Westminster. “To be able to put together the pieces of this gigantic puzzle is the gift of an outstanding church secretary.”
He added: “A long-time church secretary like Marge has the ability to work with pastors with different personalities and working styles. I’ve had a lot of great church secretaries, but she’s the best.”
Jo Darrington, administrative secretary at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, described herself as “girl Friday — I do everything; I carry over 50 pounds.”
Often the first person people see when they walk into the building, Darrington said she feels the most important part of her job is “to make everyone who comes to the church feel welcome.”
As do staffers in other church offices, she also helps all the many groups and classes in the church with their scheduling, typing and record keeping.
She helped Father Craig Gavin get oriented to the parish when he arrived last August.
Knowledge of the church “was my job security,” Darrington quipped. “When we had an interim, I said I’m not telling anyone where anything is.”
At First Methodist, Tate composes and lays out the church newsletter — using her good computer skills. McQuinn, who also works every day in the office, creates the bulletins for every church service and schedules the use of rooms by church classes, clubs and outside groups.
“What I’ve enjoyed the most has been the congregation,” McQuinn said. “They are the most marvelous people ever.”
Tate enjoys working with volunteers who come in to help with various tasks, like stuffing inserts into worship bulletins or counting the money on Monday, combining the Sunday offering collections with contributions received by mail and other sources.
One of the biggest frustrations of the job, she said, is not knowing where the pastors are when someone wants one.
One of the most difficult times, Tomlinson said, was when pro-life groups were picketing the church in the late 1990s because a doctor who had performed abortions was a member of the church board.
“We got lots of calls and letters,” many of which were neither polite nor pleasant, she said. “Our policy was to listen and not argue or engage them. It was a trying time — you didn’t know who it would be when you picked up the phone.”
Darrington said her job has frustrations, too, but they’re outweighed by the satisfactions.
“My job is just as much a ministry as everyone else’s in this church,” she said. If she’s typing a letter and the phone rings or someone comes into the office, she stops what she’s doing and gives the person her full attention.
It may be someone with a personal need — a family member who is ill or an emergency financial crisis. “They just need to know someone cares — it’s a way of putting ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ into practice.”
Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.
He wasn’t psychic, and it wasn’t divine intervention — at least not directly.
What gave Moffet a leg up in getting to know his congregation was that his administrative assistant, Tyra Tate, had made up a list of the members who usually attended each Sunday service and personal information about them.
That’s an example of how the office staff who are the church on a daily basis perform a vital function.
Tate, who has worked at the church for 11 years, said one of the greatest joys of her job is getting to know church members and building long-term relationships with them.
“I’ve been a member here for 17 years,” she said. “I started coming here because it was my neighborhood church. Now it’s the people that keep me here. We’re a family.”
Moffet said the assistance that Tate and her assistant, Cathy McQuinn, have given him “has been invaluable” in helping him quickly become part of that church family.
When he or another minister or lay leader in the church is looking for someone to help with a project or serve on a committee, the office staff is the first place they turn for help. “We know the people and we recommend people with specific skills and interests,” Tate said.
Marge Tomlinson, administrative secretary at Westminster Presbyterian Church, has been on the church staff for more than 40 years — longer than a lot of members members have belonged there.
She’s worked for three pastors, two interim pastors and several associates. She’s watched children that she taught in Sunday school in the 1960s grow up and have children of their own.
“People who were in their 30s and 40s when I joined are in their 70s and 80s now. I know everybody, just because I’ve been here so long,” Tomlinson said.
She also knows where everything is and how everything works. When she started working at Westminster, there were no computers. Now just about every desk in the building has one.
One of Tomlinson’s many jobs is to oversee and troubleshoot the computer network.
“I really like working with the people, and I like being able to find answers to the questions they have,” she said. “I think that’s why I enjoy being the network supervisor — I don’t just want to know why the computer isn’t working; I want to know how to fix it.”
Another of her responsibilities is to review the “pew pads” in which members and visitors record their attendance each Sunday. She helps prepare welcome bags, including home-made cookies provided by church volunteers, and also alerts pastors if someone is absent for several Sundays, indicating a possible need for pastoral care.
Another of Tomlinson’s responsibilities is to maintain the church calendar. On a conference room wall, she has large calendars for every month of the year, covered with plastic laminate. She fills them up with events, special services, classes, speakers, etc., and wipes each month off when it passes.
“It’s incredibly valuable to have someone who knows the people of the congregation, who knows their individual gifts and strengths and some of the history of the congregation,” said the Rev. Andrew McDonald, senior pastor at Westminster. “To be able to put together the pieces of this gigantic puzzle is the gift of an outstanding church secretary.”
He added: “A long-time church secretary like Marge has the ability to work with pastors with different personalities and working styles. I’ve had a lot of great church secretaries, but she’s the best.”
Jo Darrington, administrative secretary at St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church, described herself as “girl Friday — I do everything; I carry over 50 pounds.”
Often the first person people see when they walk into the building, Darrington said she feels the most important part of her job is “to make everyone who comes to the church feel welcome.”
As do staffers in other church offices, she also helps all the many groups and classes in the church with their scheduling, typing and record keeping.
She helped Father Craig Gavin get oriented to the parish when he arrived last August.
Knowledge of the church “was my job security,” Darrington quipped. “When we had an interim, I said I’m not telling anyone where anything is.”
At First Methodist, Tate composes and lays out the church newsletter — using her good computer skills. McQuinn, who also works every day in the office, creates the bulletins for every church service and schedules the use of rooms by church classes, clubs and outside groups.
“What I’ve enjoyed the most has been the congregation,” McQuinn said. “They are the most marvelous people ever.”
Tate enjoys working with volunteers who come in to help with various tasks, like stuffing inserts into worship bulletins or counting the money on Monday, combining the Sunday offering collections with contributions received by mail and other sources.
One of the biggest frustrations of the job, she said, is not knowing where the pastors are when someone wants one.
One of the most difficult times, Tomlinson said, was when pro-life groups were picketing the church in the late 1990s because a doctor who had performed abortions was a member of the church board.
“We got lots of calls and letters,” many of which were neither polite nor pleasant, she said. “Our policy was to listen and not argue or engage them. It was a trying time — you didn’t know who it would be when you picked up the phone.”
Darrington said her job has frustrations, too, but they’re outweighed by the satisfactions.
“My job is just as much a ministry as everyone else’s in this church,” she said. If she’s typing a letter and the phone rings or someone comes into the office, she stops what she’s doing and gives the person her full attention.
It may be someone with a personal need — a family member who is ill or an emergency financial crisis. “They just need to know someone cares — it’s a way of putting ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ into practice.”
Reach Bob Reeves at 473-7212 or breeves@journalstar.com.
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