Originally published in the April 2013 Explorer.
Almost no significant, lasting church work is accomplished alone. It takes capable and committed staff, plus energized and effective laity, to fulfill a congregation’s mission.
It is the good fortune of River Road Church, Baptist, to have both.
One of our greatest assets is our staff—full-time and part-time, interim and permanent, ministerial and non-ministerial.
April marks milestones for several of our staff. Friday, April 5, is the 20th anniversary of Chuck Ursiny’s first day of work as a sexton on our staff. Chuck has been with us through ice and snow, daylight and darkness, on our off days and our best days. Seven days a week he makes us look good. Following worship on Sunday, April 14, we will gather in our Fellowship Hall to honor Chuck.
LeAnne Lane, our financial secretary, came to work for River Road on April 21, 2008. Hers is a position of great responsibility, and we are grateful that she handles complex financial record-keeping with precision and care.
Twenty months ago Ann Ashcraft was named our Interim Minister to Children. She came to us at a moment when we needed a stable, energetic, wise leader for our children’s ministry. Ann embodies all of those traits, and more. She has loved our children, led them in worship Sunday by Sunday, recruited volunteers, maintained programs and given vision to this important facet of our work.
Ann promised me that she would be our interim for nine or ten months, but she has been gracious to double this tenure. Now, however, her husband Randy has been called to be Interim Pastor in northern Virginia at Vienna Baptist Church, and she needs to join him in that important work. We will express our thanks for her service at a reception following worship on April 28.
I trust many of you will use a call or note to express your appreciation to Chuck, LeAnne for their continuing service at River Road Church, and to Ann for her commitment to us during the past two years. I am pleased to work with each of them in the cause of Christ and in the mission of our church. Good fortune, indeed.