Getting the Job Done

I was really happy when the person in today’s story said “yes” to sharing her story.  She is known for being a person who gets the job done.  She has played an important role “getting the job done” for Hayes Barton Baptist Church on a number of occasions.  She is one of three women who has served as chair of the diaconate.  From former associate pastor Julia Ledford’s perspective, she “was put where she was needed when she was needed there.”  The person in today’s Heritage Hope Home blog story is Barbara Jean Warren, and her story tells us where and when she was needed.

Barbara Jean “BJ” Warren has a presence about her.  When she shows up, you know it.  She is a “no nonsense” woman and maybe has to be to balance out her husband Henry!  Together, like many of the other couples at Hayes Barton Baptist Church, BJ and Henry model what being happily married is all about.

I’ve admired BJ from the first day I met her in my Sunday School class.  I wasn’t surprised to learn that she had been chair of the diaconate as I would have expected nothing less from her.   She takes on projects and gets them done with planning, precision, and pride.  Our Sunday School class’s Valentine’s Day dinner this past year comes to mind.  She was chair of our dinner committee and had the dinner planned right down to the candles and mirror centerpieces on the tables with white linen tablecloths, of course.

BJ has been a member of Hayes Barton Baptist Church since 1967.  She started attending when she was a student at Meredith College.  Her first memories of the church are of its warmth and the fact that it was “extremely welcoming.”  “People were encouraging,” BJ recalls of her early years at Hayes Barton Baptist Church.  “I remember Luther Hughes and how he welcomed people.  It was very difficult to tell Luther Hughes ‘no’.”

Some of the best first memories BJ shared were of Wednesday nights.  “I loved coming on Wednesday nights,” she says.  “I got to know all the generations of the church.  The lines were long and waiting in line allowed for fellowship.  I’d make four new friends every Wednesday night, the two people standing in front of me and the two behind me.”

BJ jumped right into church involvement, working with youth and serving on committees.  “The mission of the church offers a constant reminder that we are to serve,” says BJ.  “There is always an opportunity to contribute.   It is one of the most cherished things, being in church and being called to more service.”

Sometimes the call to service comes by surprise; at least it did for BJ in 2008 when she was elected chair of the diaconate.  “I was completely surprised that I was elected,” she recalls.  “I was suggesting other people, and then I end up elected.”

BJ’s election is what brought about the comment offered by former associate pastor Julia Ledford that BJ was “was put where she was needed when she was needed there.”   In July 2008, church member Jesse Helms, former United States senator, passed away, and his funeral was to be held at Hayes Barton Baptist Church. With senior pastor Dr. David Hailey on sabbatical, responsibility for heading the church’s effort landed with BJ as chair of the diaconate.  Coordinating the efforts of the several law enforcement agencies that were involved, going on a bomb search of the church at 3 a.m., talking by phone with the Vice President of the United States, and, most importantly, making sure that the Helms family’s needs were met were all on BJ’s plate.

“This was a State Funeral and, as such, it had to be done just right,” says BJ.  “Everyone rose to the occasion.  The church was willing to work; nobody said ‘no’ to any request that was made.  To this day, people thank me, and I thank them.  I have to say a special ‘thanks’ to Henry for I couldn’t have done it without him.”

BJ has a lot to say about the heritage of Hayes Barton Baptist Church as she has a long history at the church.  “This church is more than an organization.  It is a family, a family of believers created in Christ.  It is a place,” says BJ, “where Christian fellowship is a noun and a verb.  One of the best things is that we have fellowship whether we are in Worship, in a committee meeting, or doing a church clean up. We are even in fellowship with our daily devotion when many of us begin our day reading the same Scripture.  That is a good feeling.”

The hope of Hayes Barton Baptist Church involves the church’s covenant.  “Our hope lies in our staying true to our covenant,” says BJ.  “It reflects our heritage and frames our future.”

The church home that Hayes Barton Baptist Church is for BJ is one of “a loving, caring family that looks first to God and Jesus Christ.” It is a place where she and Henry raised their children.  “When your children grow up in a church and stay at that church,” says BJ, “that speaks a lot for the church.”

BJ speaks a lot for our church, too.  With enthusiasm and with service, her love of Hayes Barton Baptist Church and of Jesus Christ shine brightly.  I feel good thinking about the fact that when I read my daily devotion in the mornings, she is reading the same one.  She reminded me of that a few days after our conversation when the devotion was Psalm 100.  “One of my most favorite Scriptures,” she wrote in an email as it was our devotion that day.  She had named others, notably John 3:16 and Psalm 23, in our conversation but, true to form, she wanted to make sure I would “get the job done” by sending me that email.