Call me. Maybe?

I had an interesting experience shortly after I first started consulting with churches. Late in the day, I emailed an Executive Pastor to follow up on an inquiry he had made. And an hour or so later, much to my surprise, he called me back. From his cell phone. On his way to hospital visitation. After hours.

If your background is Corporate America, you might be asking yourself, "What's so unusual about that?" But if you've spent any significant time working in "church world," it's likely that you completely understand my surprise at such a quick return call. Maintaining a proper work/life balance is difficult for almost everyone. But for church workers, it can sometimes seem impossible. Because their work overlaps virtually every other area of their life, from family time to volunteerism to recreational time, a church leader, particularly pastors, must make a concerted effort to keep his or her work life from overwhelming every other area of life. However, perhaps because of this emphasis, it seems that the pendulum sometimes swings too far in the other direction, often placing every other responsibility above work. Being unresponsive can be as unhealthy for your professional relationships as working late every night might be for your personal ones. The key, of course, is balance.

And lest anyone reading this post should become smug and judgmental toward church staff, who are often overworked and pushed beyond normal human limits, this unfortunate rule of thumb does NOT just apply to church leaders and staff, but to MANY of those who work in, for, and around churches.

Professionalism is more than just courteous behavior, though. It carries with it a degree of integrity. The Bible teaches that we are to "live our lives in a manner worthy of the calling God has put on our lives." Whether you are a church leader, a professional who serves churches, an Executive Pastor or church business administrator, or even a volunteer, God has called us to act professionally. It seems mundane, but that is the way that we, as professionals, can demonstrate our commitment to Christlike living.

Therefore I, a prisoner for serving the Lord, beg you to lead a life worthy of your calling, for you have been called by God. Ephesians 4:1 NLT

Here are some practical tips on acting professional we've gathered from other administrative church leaders, and meeting the expectations of your customers (be they vendors, employees, church members and attenders, or volunteers). This list is not exhaustive, but if you can incorporate these habits into your workday, you will have come a long way toward the professionalism that properly represents our vocational calling.

• Speak to a volunteer or church member at least once per day. If you are too busy with duties, tasks, meetings, and other responsibilities to speak directly to your congregation, then, simply put, you are too busy.

• Meet face to face with any employee in your charge at least daily. This meeting does not have to have an agenda or be lengthy. A simple "Good morning" or other greeting during the day will suffice. You should be accessible to your staff, no matter what.

• Meet face to face with a church volunteer at least once per week.

• Respond to emails on the same day on which they were received. Even if your email says, "I'm sorry, I can't respond fully right now, but I will make every effort to get you an answer by xx:00 pm tomorrow," it shows that you value the correspondence. And, NO, an auto-reply does not count.

• Return all phone calls and voicemails within 24 hours.

A good rule of thumb would be to treat everyone you correspond with as though they were your child, spouse, mother or boss. That's not to say that the conversations must be familiar or intimate, but every person matters to God, and should therefore matter to us and be treated with a sense of urgency. We all know that every relationship does not carry equal weight with us. The goal, though, is for those on the other side of the conversation to not realize that fact. Everyone should feel valued and important, and in our roles, the easiest way to do that is by responding.

"Everyone should feel valued and important, and in our roles, the easiest way to do that is by responding."

It was not terribly surprising to me when I found out later that the Executive Pastor who had made such a priority of calling me back had spent much of his career working in the treasury department for a Fortune 500 company. But the kindness and compassion he demonstrated that day did not come from his Corporate America background. Rather, it was a natural outpouring of the fruit of the Spirit in his life.

What's your experience? Have you ever been tempted to ignore a call or email from a vendor who wouldn't quit? Have you ever had an email or call ignored? We'd love to hear your stories.