Church Secretaries Are The ACLs of the Church Body

On the Eve of a Significant Anniversary

Growing up in the sixties, one of my favorite TV series was a cop show named Dragnet. The lead character, Sgt. Joe Friday, famously described police work as “an endless, glamourless, thankless job that’s gotta be done.” That’s sounds like a lot of church work as well.

Christ is “the head of the body, the church” (Eph. 5:23). Each believer is a member of the body of Christ and is assigned an important role. Obviously, we all have different positions to play, because if we all tried to play the same position, the body would be dysfunctional. We need two opposable thumbs but not two hundred. After all, “If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? (1 Cor. 12:17-18). But when everyone plays the position for which they are gifted and called, our diversity makes us stronger, healthier, and more fruitful.

Important Work in Hidden Places

Some church members serve Christ in ways that are easily noticed by the whole church. My role as Senior Pastor means the whole church hears and sees what I do on Sunday morning. That’s also the case for Bruce Ellsworth as the Worship Pastor. We both do a lot of work during the week no one sees, but every Sunday the whole church witnesses our service, and our church family has been so kind over the years to recognize our ministries and encourage us.

But much, if not most, of the important work that goes on in the church is done by people who are rarely recognized and praised. Changing diapers in the nursery, making coffee, and running the soundboard on Sunday morning come to mind. And so does the work of a church secretary.

Thirty-Five Years of Putting Up With Me

When Lori and I arrived in Alabama from Texas in March of 1992 with two preschoolers and a lot of hope, there were two other members on our church staff. One was the worship pastor. He resigned my first week, exhausted after trying to hold a beleaguered church together during its 18-month search for a Senior Pastor. The other was Earlene Baker, the church secretary. Earlene began her work at our church on July 11, 1990. In other words, the only person on our church staff who has been here longer than Steve Bateman is Earlene Baker. She’s been my administrative assistant for over 33 years, the only one I’ve ever had.

In those early years, we had one daisy-wheel printer that sounded like a Sherman Tank. It sat in Earl’s office and when it was printing, conversations were impossible. So, our enterprising Deacons built a huge sound-dampening box with a plexiglass top to contain that beastly printer. It helped a little but took up a lot of room in Earl’s office. Cell phones were still luxury items back then, and none of us had one. If anyone wanted to reach me, they had to go through Earl. Earl knew there were times I couldn’t be disturbed, but she also knew that she had orders to disturb me anytime the caller was my wife, my kids, or an elder of the church.

For over three decades she has guarded my schedule and told me where I was supposed to be and when. Everything got more complicated when we added a second campus. Sometimes my appointments are in Decatur, sometimes in Madison, and sometimes in-between, so now she sends me a text every morning with my schedule along with the location of the appointments.

For a while, it was just Earl and me, and then we added Bruce Ellsworth. Keep in mind that Bruce and I were in our early thirties and both of us had youth ministry experience. We hadn’t really grown up yet. It could be argued that we still haven’t. Anyway, Earl was like a big sister we loved to torment. We’d joke around with her until she cried and one of our favorite tricks was jumping out of dark hallways just to hear her scream. If you’ve never heard Earl scream, you’re missing something.

Why is she still here? One reason is that she was willing to put up with us. Another reason is the steady and strong support of her husband Larry. But here’s the thing: the main reason she’s still here is because she does her job with excellence. If I give a task to Earl, I know it’s as good as done. It’s done with the right attitude, respectfully and cheerfully without complaining or grumbling. And she knows how to hold things in confidence. Church secretaries see and hear a lot of things, and gossips won’t make it long in this job. Loose lips sink ships…and churches.

But she’s not timid about speaking up if she thinks we could do something better in our goal of glorifying God by helping people know, love, obey, and exalt Jesus Christ. Earl has opinions! Just ask her. And that’s the sign of a healthy staff. I’ve not gathered a team of sycophants. I need clear-eyed, gifted, talented people with good analytical skills to give me their perspective. I won’t just roll over if you disagree with me, but I can be persuaded by a good argument! With annoying little brothers like Bruce and me, Earl had to toughen up a bit (but I can still make her cry).

Church Secretaries and ACLs

The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) does its job so well you don’t even know it’s there. It connects the femur to the tibia and keeps the tibia from sliding too far forward. It basically holds your knee in place. But if you ever sprain, tear, or rupture that little part of your body, you’ll find out how big a service it provides. One of the most common season-ending injuries in professional sports is a torn ACL. Like ACLs, good church secretaries hold a lot of things together for the body while hidden behind the scenes, doing their work quietly in ways that most never notice.

Earl views her service here as a ministry to our whole church, from our babies in the nursery to our missionaries half-way around the world. And if you’ve ever received written communication from her, you’ve seen this verse at the bottom of her page:

"Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men” Col. 3:23

Tomorrow is Earlene Baker’s 35^th anniversary of heartily done work for the Lord. Thanks, Earl!