Friday, Oct. 5 was one of the most joyous experiences of my life. It also was one of the most humbling. After the speeches and presentations celebrating my upcoming retirement on Dec. 31, I jokingly asked if the tape of the evening could be played at my funeral.
People said more kind things about me than I ever dreamed would be said, even at my funeral. The words and the honors were simply overwhelming for one who has served during some of Southern Baptists’ most turbulent times.
But even as the people spoke, I was reminded that all the accomplishments cited were not mine alone. Each happened because of a team of committed women and men seeking to serve God by serving God’s people through the ministry of communications.
Importance of teamwork
Like other ministries, Christian journalism is all about the team. Story ideas come from the team. Sometimes more than one person works on an article. Stories may be written by one person but even then the story goes to multiple editors who do more than correct grammar or spelling mistakes. Editors examine story structure, look for unanswered questions or “holes” in the story, work on leads that demand attention and tighten stories by cutting superfluous information.
What appears in the state Baptist paper may be the third or fourth rewrite, not the story’s original version. Almost always the final product reflects the work of several people.
Seldom have I written a story or an editorial that was not edited by the team. That is the foundation of good journalism. That is what assures readers one is not reading the biases of an individual writer but the best work the publication can produce.
And what happens with a story also happens with photos and layout and all the other processes that go into producing a state Baptist paper, along with a website, a breaking news network, a radio program, a podcast and more.
So Friday evening as people spoke, I thought about the people who taught me to write and about the people who gave me opportunity to write. I thought about professors and mentors and, mostly, about coworkers. Without them, the Oct. 5 event honoring my retirement from state Baptist papers would not have happened.
Some coworkers have been sticklers for details, applying the same exacting standards to things written by the editor as they applied to beginning news writers. Some have been masterful organizers, since taking something from idea to print on a page is a complex process necessitating complying with rigid time schedules. Some have been artists painting word pictures that captivated the mind and lifted the spirit. Some were craftsmen providing dependable information on which one could act.
Some have been as exasperating to me as I was to them. But we learned from each other and we all worked together for a common cause. We worked as a team to help equip readers to live as Christian disciples in their families, in their churches and in the public square. Our goal was to build up that part of the body of Christ called Baptists and to honor the name of our God.
So the artist and the craftsman, the organizer and the technician, the salesperson, the bookkeeper, the circulation manager and all the others formed a team where each was committed to the other. None could succeed without the team and the team could not succeed without the contributions of individual members.
Team at its best
When individuals won honors — and there have been many over the years — every team member rejoiced because every team member contributed to the individual’s success.
When the ministry was honored, we rejoiced even more. Twelve times in 20 years The Alabama Baptist was chosen by at least one national organization as the best regional Christian newspaper in the nation. Twenty consecutive years our publication has been among the top three regional Christian newspapers in the nation.
That is not an individual’s accomplishment. That is the team at its best.
Across the years the team tried to build on truth as best we could understand it.
We tried to build on the principles of Christian journalism so readers could have confidence in what we shared.
We tried to build on integrity by doing the job asked of a state Baptist paper without partisanship and without favor to power and privilege.
We tried to build on commitment to the task given us so what we provided reflected our best efforts. Can we offer God any less?
We tried to build on the confidence we have in Baptists. One cannot serve a people whom one fears. That is why Baptists communicators have long said, “Tell the truth and trust the people.”
We tried to build on trust in God, who made us Christian journalists and members of the team at The Alabama Baptist for more than 23 years, for Missouri Baptists’ Word & Way for 20 years and Kentucky Baptists’ Western Recorder for seven years before that.
Our strength is in God no matter where we are. He is the author and finisher of our faith.
Like a river
The ministry of communications is like a river that never ceases to flow. It has been our privilege to wade in the river’s water for a time. Sometimes the waters were deep and turbulent. Sometimes the waters flowed gentle and smooth.
God has been sufficient for whatever the circumstance. He always is, for whom God calls God equips.
We have never been alone in the water though the team changed regularly as coworkers came and went. Now I am wading toward the river’s bank. Soon another will stand in the place where I have stood, just as I stood in the place of those who stood here before me.
But the river will continue to flow for The Alabama Baptist as it has during the publication’s 175 years of ministry and 100 years as an entity of the Alabama Baptist State Convention. A new team will continue to function and the ministry of communications will continue to build up the body of Christ.
Thank you, God, for the opportunity of service, and thank you, God, for the team.
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