Thank You, Church Staff
I had the privilege of coming to Madison Christian Church in the Lead Minister role beginning January 1, 1996. I came here in response to the call of God and having had lots of interviews/ meetings with the wonderful people of this church, which convinced me that I should be here. Another reason why I came was for the opportunity to work on a larger team of staff, which I had always wanted to do. You rarely see “Lone Rangers” in the Bible. The Lord chooses to accomplish his work, most times, in the context of a team. Consider Moses and Aaron, David and Jonathan, Elijah and Elisha, Jesus and the Twelve, Paul and Timothy, Paul and Silas, Paul and Barnabas, etc. It just seems that we all do our best work when we are part of a team. I am delighted to be a part of the Ministry Staff Team of Madison Christian Church. October is traditionally designated as “Pastor Appreciation Month,” so I thought this was a good time to recognize the staff members of our church.
First, our Ministry Staff. Matt Archibald is our Worship Minister. He began his time at Madison in 2008. He is responsible for all things having to do with our corporate worship – song selection, organizing the services, leading music rehearsals and presentation, directing the choir, etc. Anything we do of a special nature around Christmas, Easter, etc., Matt oversees that. We are thankful to have Matt on our Staff. Mike Seckman is our Student Minister and he began at Madison in 2013. He is responsible for the ministry to those students in Middle School and High School and their families. Mike teaches the “Icthus” class on Sunday mornings and leads “Seeker’s Life Group” on Wednesday nights. You will also find him involved in counseling, camps, retreats, CIY, speaking in chapel, etc. We are thankful to have Mike on our Staff. Jonathon Barnes is our Children’s Minister and he began at Madison in 2015. He is responsible for the ministry to those from birth through grade six and their families. Jonathon teaches on Sunday mornings and does “Family 365” on Wednesday evenings. He spends many days of his summer at Round Lake Christian Camp with children, and also serves on the Board of Directors of the camp. Jonathon counsels children, speaks in chapel, has the goal to preach in our Worship Services once every other month, etc. We are thankful to have Jonathon on our Staff. Kirk Olney is our Director of Pastoral Care. Kirk has been here throughout the entire existence of the church. He has a passion to care for the pastoral needs of the people of this congregation. He dearly loves our people, and our people dearly love him. We are thankful to have Kirk on our Staff.
Additionally, we have two ladies who keep our office running. Jean White is our Financial Administrator. Jean does our accounting, processes our offerings, pays our bills, manages our insurance, handles contracts, produces our online newsletter, etc. You will also find that she has a servant heart and will go above and beyond to meet the needs of our people. Jean has unretired a couple of times, so I call her “the Michael Jordan of our staff.” Jean works Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday. We are grateful to have Jean on our staff. Laura Sibbalds is our Publishing Secretary. Laura has responsibility for the printed material that goes out from the church, including our program on Sunday morning. She also coordinates the Home Communion Ministry and the Card Ministry, and she prepares the roll sheets and tracks attendance on our classes. Laura works Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. We are thankful to have Laura on our staff. Both Jean and Laura serve as the front-line receptionists at our office.
Eric Hannahs is our Facilities Manager. Eric came to us with a vast amount of experience in maintenance and we are fortunate to have him. He uses those well-honed skills on a daily basis on this vast campus.. Anything that has to do with the maintenance of the building and grounds falls under his purview. You are likely to find him plumbing, changing furnace filters, servicing mowers, doing electrical work, plowing snow, replacing ballasts – you name it, he does it, and with excellence. We are thankful to have Eric on our staff. John Myers is our custodian. He keeps the building clean, does it well, and accomplishes that on a part-time basis. John also serves as a firefighter with the Columbus Fire Department. We are thankful that John is on the team at Madison.
When you see these great folks, make it a point to say, “Thank you.” They make this place go in a remarkable way. I appreciate all of their efforts, and I am honored to be on the team with each of them.