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Guest - Cari Kelley
What’s an administrative assistant doing on a leadership blog?
While my team is GREAT about telling me how important I am to them and how much they appreciate all I do, I still find myself questioning my worth because I’m almost 40 and I don’t have one of the “important” jobs. I just do all the boring stuff so that “they” can do the real ministry. True? No, of course not. Nine days out of ten I remember, but that one day…
I need to remember that God equipped ME to do these things, and do them well. I remind myself of these things:
- Recognize the importance and need for support in ministry. Leaders cannot do it all without being supported administratively and prayerfully.
- Never underestimate the necessity of the “menial” tasks. Without administrative support, the paper would pile up, neglected; no one would answer the phone calls of people with questions or needs; ministry leaders would have tons of ideas that were never executed—in short, business would come to a screeching halt.
- Lead UP. Higher level leadership has altitude…they see the big picture, but you can see things that they may never see. Don’t be afraid to offer your perspective.
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1Corinthians 12
14Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
21The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” 22On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
Great reminder Cari—I know for a fact that I am more effective as a Campus Pastor and we are more effective as a team because of my friend Ronda Nevera. She leads hard and often gives great feedback that keep us out of the ditch. She is a minister/pastor as much an anyone with that title on our team!
Organization and administration is sooo important I see this in my own life, they are like the nuts and bolts that keep life together, and we can all stand to have more of it.
Thank you for these words,
and the great work you do Cari.
No Job is too small in the kingdom of God,
Many times it’s the Admin Assistants who really “run” the operation. They are an invaluable part of any team.
Great post Cari. Even greater is all you do here on our campus. Every one of your points is critically important. The health and attitude of the admins on a team is also one of the most important ingredients to any organization. I’m so glad I get to benefit from that. In addition, if people knew how many of the so called ‘great ideas’ actually originated from the admins, we would lose you all because you’d be promoted to President.
Good stuff as always! What God does through you each day is a testimony of what he is doing in your daily walk with Him. You are the go to gal around here and have the answers to all those little things that have to happen. But it is great to see God use you outside the office walls, as you lead students to become fully devoted followers of Christ! You rock and are an amazing woman of God . . keep bringing glory to Him!
That’s really good and well stated or written. I think I will pass this along to some other admins I know. Keep leading!
Cari, thank you for the awesome job you did of speaking for all of us who are assistants! I work with Cari and she is the best!
Hey girl! Way to REP Christ!
It is tough in a “corporate” setting to see the value of our impact, but Christ was called to flip all of that on it’s ear! He is the GREATEST example of servant leadership and you are a great example of Him! You are a blessing to all of us!
Scott and Justin, Thanks, guys, it’s an honor to work beside you both.
Avery, great verse that speaks exactly to the point.
Larry, Ronda is amazing!
I need to remind myself of this all the time in the office where I work. I have the degree and the education to have a higher position but I sit here as more of an adminstrative type person for my office. I never feel as important as everyone else in the office. I need to remind myself that my role here is just as important and without me they would have time to do many of the things that they do daily. Great post! I completely understand where you are coming from.
Servant attitude
Got Jesus big promotion
Highest name and place
http://ChristianHaiku.com - Phil 2:5-11
Your example of a servant’s heart and strong leadership is amazing! I love working beside you (literally) and I look to you as inspiration!
thank you so much for sharing these thoughts! these words are so true : )
I learned how important your these positions are at an early age. My mother was a high school teacher. I always remember her saying, “If you ever want to know what’s really going on or need something done quickly don’t talk to the boss, talk to the secretaries or the janitors”. Of course today secretaries are administrative assistants and janitors are facilities directors, but it still applies. Although I’ve grown up since hearing these words, I have found out that mom was right. These guys are the glue to any organization.
my friend forward this post to me bc i’m stepping into this role in a few weeks & so excited so honored so humbled. thank you for sharing your heart, great post! thanks Avery for the scripture reference.
I’m a member of the Operations team at my church - I do IT/Communications work to support the Pastoral team. I keep a picture of Aaron and Hur on my wall to always remind myself that without those two people holding up the arms of Moses - the Israelites would have lost one of the biggest battles they ever faced.
Aaron and Hur are my role models. I will gladly hold up arms to further the Kingdom of our Lord!!!
[...] was featured as a guest on Swerve again. Remember my first time…here? This time it’s not so….challenging. [...]
It was very interesting stuff going on in the story. ,