The Value of Honoring One Another

Today’s guest post is by Jaimie Bowman. Jaimie is my executive assistant, and she has also been in ministry for twenty years. Jaimie is a pastor’s wife and mother of two boys. She is also a speaker and author on the topics of leadership and motherhood.


 

For a little over a year and a half, I had the privilege of serving on staff at a church virtually as the pastor’s executive assistant. Because the church was only an hour away from my house, I decided to stop in and pay a visit one Tuesday during their staff meeting day.

I was nervous to meet the 15-20 people I had been working with only through email and by phone. I had only met the pastor through video calls, but never in person.

From the moment I stepped onto the campus, the entire church staff welcomed me and received me like I was a family member. An intern had been assigned to me, and she took my coffee order and then ran off to get it. I couldn’t remember the last time someone brought me coffee that I didn’t pay for! As we all sat down for the first staff meeting, the guy next to me said, “You might want to take your coffee off the table and hold it in your hands.” I didn’t know what he meant, but I obliged, curiously.

The staff meeting began quietly, with each person on staff writing thank-you cards to lay leaders. After about ten minutes, they began to share weekly “wins” – things that God did in church member’s lives during the week. Some of the “wins” included testimonies of people coming to church for the first time, a person expressing a desire to be baptized, and other things God did during the Sunday services and throughout the week.

But the next part of the meeting is why I had been asked to hold my coffee. When the lead pastor introduced me to the staff, all of them started clapping, cheering and screaming for me – and then they all started pounding on the tables. The tables shook and a loud roar filled the room, and my eyes filled with tears. They stood and clapped some more. I had never, in twenty years of doing ministry, felt so incredibly welcomed and honored. I also had never been a part of such a fun staff meeting!

The lead pastor went on to tell me that they are a church that wants to honor other people. They make it a top priority. And they didn’t just honor me – they honor each other as well. Encouragement is a part of their DNA. It’s a part of every day together. The leaders understand that ministry can be lonely and hard, and so they let each other know continually that they are on the same team.

I also watched as they honored their lay leaders. Every quarter they have a night dedicated to celebrating their leaders and families. Dinner is provided for everyone, they have a time of worship and teaching together, but most of all they have fun.

Whenever a guest speaker would come to the campus, they treated that person like a celebrity. They want each person to feel like he is the most important person in the room. Little do they know how badly so many leaders need to be encouraged in this way.

I had never been a part of a church staff before that had so much fun and so much energy. It was contagious. I wanted to go back to my church and cheer on our leaders like never before. Being there made me realize how badly people crave encouragement.

As leaders, we may not do ministry to be noticed, but it is always nice to have someone say “thank you.” It is always nice to have someone care. It doesn’t require a big budget, either. A thank-you card, an email, a word of encouragement, can all go such a long way.

You may be a leader who desperately needs this in your life. But also take a look at the leaders around you who you can reach out to in this way. Who can you personally cheer on? Who can you honor this week?

So many churches today are lacking in this area of appreciation and honor. It’s great to know that some churches out there, however, are doing an incredible job at it. We should all strive for the same.


 

JaimieBowman

Jaimie Bowman is the author of Breathe: 31 Moments with God {for Moms}, and loves speaking truth and purpose from God’s word into others’ lives. Jaimie and her husband Martin live with their two sons, Micah and Jaden, in the Los Angeles area.

 

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Posted by Brian Howard

My focus is to help YOU move forward one step at a time. I write about church excellence, personal productivity, and family leadership. I coach leaders, start churches, and help organizations break growth barriers. My goal is to draw on this experience to help YOU move forward in life, leadership, and productivity.