The Resource Room Lady

(Yes, a man could do this job. However, we have yet to see that. So we will use "lady” and assure you that we intend no offense to any brother who is doing this wonderful work.)

As a congregation begins to build a resource room, those in charge have to make many decisions about what the room will be. Budget considerations, availability of space, the number of classes and teachers, ages of students, and many other things have to be considered. But the most difficult decision of all is often the Who. Who will manage the room? What kind of person does she need to be?

Obviously, she should be faithful. That includes faithfulness in attendance--no one should ever have to wonder if she will happen to be at a given service--but faithfulness is much more than that. This job requires her to be a steward over a large collection that belongs to the Lord’s church. To be pleasing to God, she needs to be "a faithful steward.” She needs to be sufficiently mature in Christ to take serious things seriously.

She needs to possess a submissive spirit. The elders or men of the congregation are asking that she manage the room, but they are not asking her to run the church or education department! The resource room lady should demonstrate by her behavior that she understands authority in the church as God designed it. She needs to respect both the scope and limits of her role.

On the other hand, the resource room lady needs to be independent in her work ethic. She should be able to make decisions without having to bother the men above her with every little detail. She should have the commitment and diligence to start and continue the work without having to be prodded by the teachers or anyone else.

The resource room lady should be knowledgeable in the Scriptures. She needs to have a basic understanding of the facts and applications of a wide range of Bible stories. She needs the background to be able to look at a pattern, idea, or visual to determine if it is faithful to the account in Scripture. She also needs to be discerning, to recognize the difference in substance and fluff, to know if material develops Bible knowledge and spiritual life-changes or just fills the time. She should be able to help others learn to be discerning in those areas as well.

The resource lady must be good with people. She will need to have helpers and needs to be able to work with them. She needs to be approachable and always ready to listen to requests and comments from teachers. Her tongue should be careful and kind. She needs to be humble and not exhibit a know-it-all attitude.

Because she works so closely with people, the resource room lady needs a hard shell. Criticism will come. Everyone will not like what she does or how she does it. She needs to be able to hear the comments, determine their validity, make changes if called for…and never take any of it personally.

Some might say that a resource room person has to be organized and creative. While those traits are extremely helpful to possess at the start, they are skills that can be learned as she does the job. However, this is no place to put a creative non-doer to encourage her to be faithful, to study the Bible, or to be active in church work.

The best resource a congregational resource room has to offer should be the Resource Room Lady. Choose her carefully and prayerfully. Then support and encourage her constantly.