Being the church secretary at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Warrior, was not a job or work to Ruth Shipp. Instead it was a ministry, a calling to help her church run smoothly and help her pastor do his job better.
“A successful secretary is an enabler,” said Shipp. “The things you do enable the staff and pastor to do a better job. That includes the Sunday School teachers and everyone else, too.”
Shipp, who retired in December, served as church secretary and treasurer for 33 years, through two pastors, building programs for both a new sanctuary and a Christian Life Center and a growth from 250 members to about 800 total members at present.
The insight she has gained through all of that will serve as the basis for her conference for new church secretaries at the 2003 Alabama Association of Baptist Secretaries Conference April 27–30. (See story, this page).
Shipp said she plans to focus not on the how-tos of being a church secretary, but on the why of being a church secretary.
“If you don’t look at it as a ministry that you’re called to do, you don’t need to be there,” Shipp said. “I’m sure there are other jobs where I could have made more money, but not others that would be more fulfilling.”
Shipp began as a part-time secretary, helping then-pastor R.E. Snow by doing the weekly bulletin. Not long after, the nominating committee asked her to take over duties as the church treasurer, and she became a full-time employee.
“The Lord used that to show me where he wanted me to work,” Shipp said. “He called me to that ministry.”
Shipp said being a secretary is a ministry because for many who are the only secretary at the church, the job does not usually run on an 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule. Because she lived near the church and was the only other full-time staff member besides the pastor, members called Shipp if they could not reach the pastor.
“The church is the center of what happens in the church family,” Shipp said. “When a crisis happens, members expect you to tell them about it and how they can help.”
Shipp said she has helped with funeral arrangements, sat with families in the hospital, made driving arrangements and helped members in any way possible. “So many times I saw hurting people who needed a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to,” she said.
Taking time for the members of the church was something Shipp said she had to learn. She started out bashful, but by seeking God’s help Shipp overcame her shyness and learned to build relationships. She especially likes to develop friendships with shut-ins.
Support from members
Shipp said some were faithful prayer warriors, calling for updates on people on the church’s prayer list. Others called simply for a quick talk and to check on her or the pastor to see how they were doing.
“They always ministered to me,” she said. “They always said, ‘I love you and appreciate you.’”
That appreciation was also expressed by Shipp’s current pastor, Samuel Reed, at Shipp’s retirement party. The church declared Dec. 15 “Ruth Shipp Day.” During the celebration, Reed told the church that Shipp was completely dependable and he knew he could discuss his burdens with her because she would keep them confidential.
Shipp said hearing Reed say that was something she would always treasure. “That meant more to me than anything, because it meant I had his trust.”
Reed added that Shipp was very capable and a great help to him in his work. Many times, Shipp was the first person hurting people saw when they came to the church. “She always seemed to know the right thing to do to help you,” he said.
In Shipp’s years of ministry, she said she has seen many changes.
But one area that did not change much was in the pastorate. Mount Zion has had only two pastors — Snow and Reed. And Reed was a junior pastor under Snow, so he just moved up when Snow retired.
Shipp enjoyed working for both pastors. The only time she resisted a request made by either one was in 1995 when she was asked to learn to use a computer.
She designed and produced the church bulletin, so when the computer was purchased it was only reasonable that she use the computer to design and print the bulletin.
But that new contraption was much different than her electric typewriter and copier system. Afterall she had already moved up from a manual typewriter and a duplicator. She thought that was enough progress.
“I hated it, literally hated it,” Shipp said about having to use the computer.
But a year later her resistance had worn and the production of the church bulletin had transformed.
Shipp said it was the most helpful technological innovation for the office. “They really are time savers when you know how to use them.”
Another change she has experienced comes with the faces she sees each Sunday.
“I remember a time when I knew every church member, but now the area has grown so much,” she said. “I kind of miss it, but the people I don’t know are new in the community as well, so that means we’re reaching out.”
Shipp herself continues to reach out by participating in the church’s outreach program, singing in the choir, working with the senior adults and in the nursery, and by serving on the church’s hostess committee.
She also volunteers as a hostess in the heart surgery waiting room at Carraway Methodist Medical Center, using her skills to minister to the families there. “I’m a people person, and I have to minister,” Shipp said. “I sometimes wonder how I had time to work.”
And while Shipp technically does not work at the church now, she still receives requests for help. “I got a call a couple of weeks ago from a group needing a van key,” Shipp said, noting she never thought twice about the call because she answered them for 33 years.
Serving her church is something Shipp plans to continue doing even in retirement.
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