Senior Secretaries
While the elderly have helped in many kinds of volunteer service, churches have often hesitated to involve them as secretaries. Could they fit into the sometimes hectic life of an office? Would they be fast enough? Is there too much lifting, walking, and overall exertion for a retired person? What about operating complicated equipment? One pastor who has had nothing but good experience using senior secretaries is Paul Hendricks, pastor until recently of Arbutus Baptist Church outside Baltimore. Two women in their late sixties took turns with a 9 A.M. to 1 P.M. shift, one working two days a week, the other three. "I found them to be just what we needed," says Hendricks, who now serves the Jessup Baptist Church, also in Maryland. "They were especially good at arranging things by telephone, setting up meetings, and reminding people of assignments. They functioned fine, whether I was in the office or not." Hendricks did not issue a general call to his older members' group (they called themselves the "Keen-Agers") for volunteers; instead, he approached the women he thought would be likely candidates. One had been a secretary with a trucking company during her earning years, the other an industrial nurse. Thus, careful recruitment helped ensure successful placement. "Even though the church couldn't afford a paid secretary, I knew we had a wealth of unrecognized resource sitting in the pews," Hendricks adds. "Over the years, this job produced a sense of usefulness for these two women and brought them public honor for their help to the church and the pastor."
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