Notes from your admin, a sitting duck
I’m not leaving, I promise.
I mean, I am leaving the church’s employ, but I am not leaving Faith. Whether I’m your admin, or we voluntarily fill the position for a while, we’re a resilient community full of strong, faithful humans. We’ve been so lucky to have had consistent coverage of this position for decades, and now Faith - like so many other organizations these days - will adapt.
I’ve discovered over the course of the past year, as inflation has skyrocketed, that I can no longer afford to maintain my post as the administrator here at Faith Lutheran Church. I will be returning to my Software as a Service roots at Zocdoc as an Enterprise Customer Success Manager. But I’ve learned so many incredible lessons throughout this gift of a year. I’m really excited to share them with you! From the inane to the important, here’s what I’ve learned while I’ve worked here, in no particular order:
A church cannot run on one person’s shoulders. This is a community, which cannot thrive without the active involvement of all who wish to be a part of it.
Church politics are very strange.
Sharing the gifts that have been endowed upon us by the Holy Spirit is truly the greatest joy of being a human being and a child of God.
There is value in keeping really, really, really old stuff.
There is value in throwing away more than you keep.
The poverty that our neighbors experience must not be ignored, and it is our responsibility to care for those who need it, from our mangey church cats (they don’t have mange) to our neighbors experiencing homelessness.
Fred Cowley is an unstoppable machine with an incredible sense of humor. You’d be lucky to participate in a volunteer activity that he oversees.
I think I might like to join Faith’s Chancel Choir. Idk.
The attic/choir loft is one of the coolest places in Phoenix and you cannot tell me otherwise.
Sitting alone in a darkened sanctuary has provided me more peace than I thought I could ever find.
Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet. (note: I knew this before, but I’ve met so many people since February and I’ve really fallen in love with every single one of them.)
Yellow oleanders have the most intoxicating scent and can turn any grumpy trash pickup into a sweet morning treat.
Optimism is contagious.
Our loved ones never leave us, even if they’ve vacated their earthly bodies.
Just because you volunteered to do something once does not mean that you’re locked in to do it forever! Especially post Re-Formation (ca. 10/31/21), if you only want to do it once, you can!
Faith might have the most detailed worship bulletin in the Valley, and maybe even on Earth.
I will never forget the gratitude I feel to those who came before me.
I guess what it comes down to is that you all have shown me something I suppose I ought to have already known: God does not discriminate. We are all beloved children of God and we have a responsibility to our God and to our Neighbor to treat one another with care and respect. That means giving our time and our money;
it means inviting your whole neighborhood to breakfast on Sundays, like the Johnstonbaughs do;
it means spending your vacation preparing the sanctuary for Holy Week and Easter, like Nick Pegelow did;
it means bringing your church’s administrator a salad for lunch because she always forgets to eat, like Danielle Bowen-Weiszmann did;
it means feeding one another lovingly made soups, breads, sandwiches, tamales and treats like Vicar Veronica Alvarez, Alma & Judy Preciado, and so many more of you have been doing throughout this entire month;
it means sticking attendance cards into bulletins like Donna Rae Cintora and Kathie Johnson did;
it means answering the 4,378 questions that I had about how to do my job, like Dave Hulin did;
it means donating more than you can carry to others in need, like Dennis Kolesar and Shawn Hansen did;
it means participating in committees and leadership roles, as so many have stepped up to do this year, between Council, Call Committee and the Transition Team;
it means driving all over creation to bring food to the hungry, clothing to the cold, and water the the overheated, like Gail Turner and Brenda Lund have done;
it means helping your sick neighbor move across town, as Kathie & Fred Johnson, Pam Paff, and Betsy Loehnis did;
it means maintaining the altar for worship as Bill K and Brenda have done;
it means receiving and communicating our community’s prayers of intercession, praise and thanksgiving, as our Prayer Partners do;
it means utilizing your talents to keep this building up, as Joe Jones, Fred Johnson, Nick Pegelow, Dennis Hart, Pastor Sarah and Jane Upham-Birdsall (and so many more of you!) have done';
it means hoisting up a rusted fence and sticking it in the ground with rebar, as Gail Turner and our friends at the 12-step meeting did;
it means maintaining a weekly 12-step meeting of spiritual healing for your peers in need, as Rod Shepard, Vint Lackey, and David McKee have done.
I know that these examples of ministry that I’ve witnessed over the past year only scratch the surface of all of the ways that I’ve seen God’s grace move our community, and move through our community. I wish that I could write an exhaustive list of all of the ways that you have impressed me since I took this post just under a year ago. Unfortunately, I have to just continue writing them in my diary and thanking God for giving me YOU as my neighbor.
I’m not leaving. I’m still here, and I still love writing this dang newsletter. Neither I, nor my as-of-yet undetermined replacement will ever even give you an opportunity to miss me.
My last day as Office Administrator will be Thursday, December 30, then I go back to being Carly Chamberlain, Parishioner. If you, or someone you know is looking for a part-time position where you get to speak to the most amazing strangers, share the gift of 801 E Camelback rd with the community, and flex your designer muscles with The Best Worship Bulletin in Phoenix (awarded by me in 2021), please send your resume to info@faithalive.com, or contact a member of the church council executive team.