Quod in vita facimus, in aeternum resonat

Peter Baker | 21:30, Monday, 13 December 2010

In fact Carolyn was 'my' first appointment back in the day when the Church was considerably smaller and less complex than it is today. I needed someone to help organise me and my diary, read my hieroglyphics and co-ordinate elements of the growing administration. 

All of that she did with typical enthusiasm, working way over her hours, supported by Jonathan her husband.

Everything Carolyn did, was, and is, people focused. That’s why in recent years, we were glad to release her from being tied to a desk and let her loose pastorally among people. 

Any age, stage, background, faith perspective - Carolyn is the same loving, generous, tender person towards them. Headlines typos, and her own inimitable organisational style, have been small prices to pay for the sheer volume of individuals she has helped. Carolyn is abiding proof of a leadership principle I have tried to model over the years - people matter more than things! 

Leaders value two things in particular from those who work with them: loyalty and love. Carolyn has shown bucket loads of both towards me over the years. 

Her loyalty has been tested longer than any other currently serving member of Staff, and yet it has never been at the expense of her own personality; delightfully quirky as that is (!), or her integrity. 

As Paul said of his fellow worker Timothy, "I have no one else like him." (Phil. 2: 20) No one can read my hand writing, clear up my mess, tidy my administration or apologise for me, quite like Carolyn. She has been on many occasions my first line of defence. 

Equally, her love for me has been examined through her changing roles on Staff and now this move into "retirement" (although Christians, especially those like Carolyn, never retire, they just do different things!). My older daughter is among the many who, like me, can say from first hand experience that Carolyn knows the meaning of love. 

I think that she has been, and is, both loyal and loving because she understands the bigger picture of the Kingdom of God and the good news of the gospel. If you are committed to those values, then I have found that you will have Carolyn’s absolute loyalty and love. It’s a trait of all gospel people. 

Thanks Carolyn. Quod in vita facimus, in aeternum resonat. That’s Maximus the Gladiator quoting Cicero - "what we do in life will echo through eternity." 

Carolyn, I have had no one else like you!