RICHMOND — Sandy Weakley, administrative assistant for the Dover Baptist Association, has been elected to a two-year term as secretary-treasurer of the National Association of Southern Baptist Secretaries (NASBS).
Weakley
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She has also been active in the Baptist Ministry Assistants of Virginia (BMAV), where church secretaries are called ministry assistants. “The thinking,” says Marty Garber, who has been active in the Virginia group for several years, “is that these people are much more than secretaries. They feel called by God to use their secretarial skills, of course, but they help make a lot of other ministries take place.”
Weakley, who is naturally energetic and enthusiastic, has been an outspoken advocate for ministry assistants. Last fall, at the conclusion of a five-year partnership between Dover Baptist Association and Baptists in Toronto, Weakley and Joan Newsome, ministry assistant at Black Creek Baptist Church in Franklin, were invited to help set up an organization in that Canadian city.
According to Weakley, the organization assists ministry assistants in a variety of ways. “It’s a way for secretaries to increase their skills, but also to develop camaraderie and friendship. Just as pastors need a support group, secretaries need a support group.” Noting that secretaries are often the only staff member besides the pastor, she says they need someone who understands the unique features of their work. “I could call Joan [Newsome] and I know she would be right there.”
Newsome
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“Some secretaries think they are the only ones going through their situations” she continued. Being a part of a group like Baptist Ministry Assistants gives them a chance to discover others with whom they can identify. It also provides a means by which skills and competence increase through workshops provided.
Weakley believes secretaries also benefit by learning from their colleagues what other churches are doing. “They find out what is working or not working in other places and they go back to their own churches with this information.”
The next meeting of the BMAV will be held at Lakewood Manor Retirement Community in Richmond on Sept. 25, and will focus on Freedom of Information: Relating to Churches and Associations Through Prayer Lists and Websites, by Vivian Clingenpeel. In April 2010, the BMAV will offer a three-day professional certification training course and Skillshops, both offered through LifeWay Christian Resources.
Membership in the group is open to all secretarial personnel serving in Baptist churches and Virginia Baptist institutions and agencies. Cost of membership in the BMAV is $25 for the first year and $20 annually thereafter. Membership cost of NASBS is $30 for the first year and $25 annually thereafter.
Weakley hopes that every church will encourage its secretary to join by providing time off and underwriting the costs. For information, contact her at the Dover Baptist Association office (804) 550-1980 or by email at [email protected].