Ministerial Memos

So I’m sitting at the Las Cruces, NM, Memorial Service for Josh and it’s open-mic time. This is a scary thing to do at a funeral for the following reasons: No one gets up (I like to have some plants that I speak with a head-of-time to make sure someone says something); too many will get up; you can’t get someone to stop droning on-and-on. Well, for this occasion it worked perfectly. Just a few spoke and they did so with good timing.

One female, from Josh’s church (an Elder’s wife), spoke about a way that Josh kept in contact with the people - postcards. She mentioned that the first time she received one, she thought they had done something wrong. But then she read the card and received other cards typically when he and Shelley would go away on vacation.

Of course, I am beaming inside and smiling from ear-to-ear because this is one of the little things I taught Josh. I’m sure I got it from someone else (nothing new under the sun, right?), but it is a great way to remind your people that you are thinking of them, praying for them and loving them. And, receiving postcards are so rare these days that it really does stand out. My guess is, if you do it, when you visit one of your congregation and happen to pass their refrigerator, you might just see one of those postcards.

Vonnie and I would sit under the trees at a picnic table on the Gulf of Mexico each winter vacation writing postcards. It took several hours to do so and a little bit of money. I tried to get the smaller ones at 25-cents apiece. I even did this when I went to India - struggled finding postcards and postage, and not sure everyone received one, but most who did thanked me for it.

It’s just a small way to keep in contact with your congregation.