Last month I served my final Sunday as a Lake Fellow Resident at Second Presbyterian Church in Indianapolis and moved to Richmond, Virginia to begin my new call as the pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church.
In my reflections on leaving the fellowship program at Second, I am overwhelmed by how much I have learned from the members and staff that will guide my ministry for years to come. One of my favorite nuggets of wisdom as I take on the daunting task of working with a new staff team of is this one: “I’m still standing because of you.”
“I’m still standing because of you” started just a few months ago as the large, and sometimes unwieldy, staff at Second was undergoing reorganization. As all of you know, pastoral changes in a church are always a bit exhausting. So, one day when our director of music mentioned the need for some recognition in this stressful time, not just of the occasional moments of greatness, but for the day in and day out, regular work that is our bread and butter, we all took notice.
We eagerly agreed and soon we had settled on a catch phrase, “I’m still standing because of you.” We made up cards to institutionalize the concept, but the transformation had already taken hold. Just the mere existence of consensus among this group of overachieving folks that the everyday, get-the-job-done and Sunday-comes-around-once-a-week work was worth celebrating lightened our load like I could not have imagined.
We found ourselves using the phrase more and more, not to justify underachievement—we are not known for letting ourselves go—but to celebrate quality Sunday school classes happening week in and week out, liturgy written prayerfully and delivered with heart, faithful bulletin proofreading and everyday pitching in to help one another out. It is work that doesn’t usually get much fanfare, but it is a part of the faithful walk of discipleship for those of us who work and volunteer in churches. It is “well done good and faithful servant” kind of work. It is the kind of work that we come to rely on, to take for granted when it is always present—but it is also the kind of work that would make the wheels of this bus come flying off without.
In the end “I’m still standing because of you,” helped me learn to practice gratitude for the daily things, the small tasks accomplished and the little moments of grace and sacrifice that often go unnoticed in a church. It helped me appreciate good work in the midst of a time when there wasn’t a lot of energy left over for the fanfare of huge achievements. Most of all, it helped me to recognize how much we depend on one another, volunteer and staff alike, for this body of Christ to keep on faithfully walking in the light of God.
CAITLIN THOMAS DEYERLE is pastor of Southminster Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Virginia where she lives with her husband James, their cat Calvin, and a very rebellious puppy named Molly.
