Listen! God Is Calling: Lisa Rives
Feb 26, 2024
by Tracey Breashears Schultz, Bishop’s Associate for Leadership
The theme for the 2024 Synod Assembly is Listen! God Is Calling. We will focus on the theme of vocation and talk about the distinct gifts each of us has to offer the church and the world. Often, when we think about callings, we tend to call to mind those who are called to ordained ministry, but I have been privileged to meet and work with incredible lay people in our synod who faithfully answer their callings every day. I will use this newsletter space, throughout the year, to highlight some of those people.
Meet Lisa Rives! Lisa is the parish administrator at Peace Lutheran in College Station, TX. She has worked for six pastors in her seventeen years on staff.
Recently, I was the guest preacher for the installation of Pastor Rich McLeer, newly called to Peace. I noticed all the behind-the-scenes touches and the care taken to prepare for this event. Leaders’ guides were available for each worship leader, the bulletins included notes for those not familiar with the church, and there were bottles of water and mints in the robe room for visiting clergy. All of those details were Lisa’s doing. As I have worked the call process at Peace, I have gotten to know Lisa. She is the first person you see when you walk into the church office, and she is always ready to greet you and answer questions. She may be in the middle of multiple tasks, but I’ve seen her drop everything for the person standing in front of her at the reception desk.
Lisa grew up as a member of Holy Trinity (in the Northside neighborhood of Houston, where the synod office is now housed). When she turned eighteen, she went to college at A&M, and although she went to church with her family for special occasions, she drifted away from active membership while she was a young adult. When she was newly married and looking to start a family, she knew it was “time to get back to God,” and so she and her husband, who was raised Baptist, began visiting churches. When they found Peace, they “were welcomed with open arms.” Lisa and her husband eventually divorced, and she has since remarried. She has two children, two step children, a grandchild, and one more on the way. The congregation has “been there for me, through it all.”
About serving on a church staff, Lisa says it has “kept me grounded and committed.” She admits it can be challenging but says it’s also “very fulfilling.” For many years, the staff has been “very tight.” She likes the flexible hours and appreciates that her church always recognized her calling as a mother. When her children were young, if school was closed, or if one of them was sick, she could bring them to work “set them up in the LYO room,” and nobody minded. She has never had to punch a clock; there is a level of trust that makes her feel loved.
When I asked about the hardest and the best parts of being a parish administrator, Lisa told me she is “a very direct person,” but in church work, you can’t always say the first thing you think! Because she is the first person you see when you go into the church office, Lisa receives those who come to the church in need of rent money or assistance with food. It is hard for her when the funding isn’t there to be able to help everyone. It is difficult to turn people away, but she also knows about having good boundaries. Finally, when Lisa goes to worship, she is often approached by members about her work. She understands this is just part of the job, but she does wish there were more who understood she is there to worship just like they are.
Having said all this, Lisa added that “the joys are many.” She went on to talk about her responsibilities and how they align with her gifts. Just some of those include keeping the sacristy and office supplies stocked, assisting the worship committee in scheduling assisting ministers for each worship service, scheduling kitchen and building use, creating worship bulletins and slides, being a co-partner with the treasurer in paying bills and reconciling statements and invoices, greeting everyone, managing the copier, and offering low-level tech help (like when the internet goes down). Lisa is expected to plan ahead and to think about peoples’ needs before they have them, and she delights in all of this.
When I asked Lisa if she understands her work as a calling, she said, “God put me here for a reason!” (That sounds like a calling to me!) She added: “God put Peace Lutheran in my life for a reason. I feel like I’m meant to do this.”
Finally, when I invited her to reflect on what she’d like readers in our synod to know about her or her calling, she said, “In life and in the life of the church, you’ll go through hard and good times. Find your support. Know your people. If you look, you can see hope. People sometimes hug me just because, and they’ll have no idea how much I needed that!”
My conversation with Lisa reminded me how much parish administrators do and how often their work is unacknowledged. If your church has an office manager or administrator, consider celebrating them on or around April 24, Administrative Professionals Day (aka Secretaries Day or Admin Day). Include notes of appreciation and/or a gift!
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