“Swift Creek Baptist Church, this is Marlene”
Have you ever called the church office and heard this thick-as-molasses South Carolina accent greeting you? If you’ve called Swift Creek in the last 18 years, there is a good chance you have!
Marlene League is part of the team of ministry assistants here at Swift Creek, and while her job title as Pastor’s Assistant may indicate her main role as support to Pastor Monty, she does much more. She also provides ministry support to Pastor Bryan, handles membership, Lord’s Supper, baptisms, weddings, funerals, and supports the various tasks of Swift Creek’s ministry teams.
As I sat in her office, I noticed photos of Clemson Football fade in and out on her screen saver. Marlene may be a Clemson Tiger at heart, but she and her husband Sam have called Virginia home ever since they answered a call to move from South Carolina 18 years ago.
Sam and Marlene found their new church family here at Swift Creek. But soon after their arrival, the Lord called them to go with a team from Swift Creek to plant Parkway Baptist Church. They have attended and served faithfully at Parkway ever since.
All the while, Marlene continued to work at the church she first called home in Virginia. “Seeing the growth of the church, it’s been tremendous, not just in numbers, but in spiritual growth as well.” She says she is blessed to see the heart of the people at Swift Creek to share and support the work of the gospel.
In reflecting on what she has learned from this job, Marlene explained that she doesn’t see her work here as just a job, but as a calling. “Every Christian is called to do what they do. They’re given gifts that they’re to use in their daily life in order to glorify God and grow the kingdom. No matter how we might think that it’s not important, it has an effect on other people.”
After working together for more than 17 years, fellow ministry assistant Audrey Cash sees Marlene as not only a coworker, but a close friend. “She loves the people of the church and the staff just like I do; I think it’s very genuine. The people in the church relate to her well because she is so genuine about how she feels about them. If you ever ask her to do anything she is going to make sure it’s done and done correctly.”
Marlene strives for excellence in her work, but she knows that when it comes to ministry, people come first. She loves working with the congregation of Swift Creek and says it is her favorite part of the job. “The challenge is not to be so focused on the job that you miss the person. We always have deadlines, but people’s lives have deadlines too.”
Rebecca will feature a different ministry assistant on the blog each third Monday of the month.