Leaders Make It Happen (Super Cool Person of the Week) August 19, 2005

Lucretia and I do not have kids yet…and it will probably be another year or two in case some are wondering. She went to high school, college, medical school, and then residency…so she wants a few years before concentrating on motherhood.

(If we have a son–I want to name him Boaz! Isn’t that the coolest name in the world–especially if he is a linebacker or something…I can just hear it now, “Boaz Noble starting at linebacker for the Dallas Cowboys…” Please pray for ‘Cretia–she’s not excited about the name…I am asking God to help her with this–she apparently has a hard heart!)

I can not imagine being a parent right now–I hear the demands are challenging. You go from driving a cool car to a mini-van with “super kid” stickers all over the back of it. Your sleep schedule is radically adjusted. And you catch yourself doing uncool things like cleaning up poo poo and talking baby talk without realizing it.

But not my “super cool person of the week,” nope, she is one of the finest parents I have ever seen; in fact, she is an incredible wife…and an excellent leader as well. The lady I am speaking of is the wonderful–the talented–the fabulous–Sherry Moorhead.

Sherry came on staff at New Spring in the fall of 2001. A local bank in town merged with a larger bank and they had to cut her position. (IDIOTS!) We hired her part time to be the “church secretary” & that was that.

Soon after her job developed into a full time job. However, with the rapid growth of our church the role of the traditional church secretary was WAY too much for one person to handle…so we hired additional help in various areas & she moved to being my personal full time assistant.

This was NOT an easy job!

It is so amazing the level of rudeness that she had to endure at times–people would call wanting to speak with me & I would be in a meeting or studying and they would BLAST her. However, she never lost her cool & was always able to defuse any potential bombs. I sincerely believe her personality alone would qualify her for nearly any job she desired–she is one of the easiest people on the planet to get along with. I have always said, “If you can’t get along with Sherry then you have issues!”

She moved out of being my personal assistant last year to another area in our church. I didn’t want to lose her…but the area to which she moved needed her & I have always said that leaders have to make decisions based on what is good for the church and not for them personally.

After things in that area seemed to be rolling well–we moved her again! (She has had about 5-6 different offices at New Spring!) And, yes, after she developed that role & begin to max it out–we moved her again…oh yeah, this one was a promotion.

Sherry now serves as our director of volunteers. She is one of the most organized people I know, and her love for Jesus, people, and our church make her an all star in this area. She also has an incredible staff who work along side her to make the volunteer ministry happens at New Spring. I have to say as the Senior Pastor that I do not worry about the way our volunteers are treated because of the excellent level of care & direction they receive from Sherry & her staff.

Oh yeah, Sherry is also married to a dude named Jason. (He’s our executive pastor!) And, uh, one more thing–they have three kids…the oldest one being four! (It seemed that every time we turned around they were pregnant–for a time I begged Lucretia not to drink the water when we visited their home!!!)

Sherry has a lot on her plate–and she handles it wonderfully. She loves her husband–it is so cool to see them around the office & hear the way she builds him up. She loves her kids!!! Spend time with her & she will be talking about one of them in less than five minutes. And she loves her job.

I have met many people who try to use excuses as to why they are not effective in certain areas of their life–but then I watch Sherry function & I just don’t accept excuses. She makes things happen–with her home and her work…and that is why she is my Super Cool Person of the Week.

I honestly think if every church in America could have someone like Sherry that they would be light years ahead of where they are right now–I know we are. Thanks Shay for all that you do–you rock!