Introducing . . . “The Servant” Editor, Hal Griffin
“Hello!”
For more than a year, I have been that behind-the-scenes person who edits this newsletter you are reading. It tells you what's going on in the Ministering to Ministers (MIM) organization so that you can be a well informed member of our advocate base. As you know, we serve clergy of all faiths when Crisis enters the relationship between the minister and the congregation.
In "The Servant", we also try to talk about the members of our Board of Trustees so that you will understand how highly professional these people who are running the MTM activities really are. Well, they have been a little shy about "tootin' their horns. So, I decided to "toot my own horn" in this first issue of the new century and maybe that will encourage some of the other trustees to do so later.
Soon after retiring in 1991 from a public relations career with BellSouth, I became the "volunteer" editor of the bi-monthly newsletter of the Kentucky Wing, Civil Air Patrol (CAP). The CAP is an auxiliary of the US Air Force. After about seven years, I decided to "hang it up" and get more involved in my local church activities, especially the senior citizen Sunday school class.
Several months later, a phone call came from my longtime friend Charles Chandler. Hadn't talked to him in ages. He told me about this organization called, "MTM", which had a newsletter, "The Servant". He needed an editor. I quickly explained that I had recently quit the CAP job because I wanted to spend more time with my church family. He didn't push. He didn't back off. He asked me to think and pray about it. I intended to do neither. I did not want the "opportunity" period -- the end.
For some strange reason, I could not put the offer aside. I did think and did pray about it. I argued that I was using my God-given talents for Him in my church and in that senior Sunday school class! Why, I even -- well, to make the story short and to the point --I said, "Yes," to Jesus. "He set me up for this job," I smiled to myself. Then I asked, "And why not? He's cared for me my whole life!"
When I was 13 years old, He gave me my very first "paying" job in the local weekly newspaper office. There I learned and I performed all Griffin-2-2-2-2 the "printer's devil" jobs. This expertise helped pay for my college degree in Journalism I earned at the University of Kentucky.
The "beat" continued throughout my professional career. He even took me out of the Baptist denomination so I could see and feel how others ran their "business". I question the games Christians play "doing God's work". I shudder when I observe a Christian slash a brother or sister to gain personal status in the church political structure.
Now, God takes my career experience and gives you a window through which you can see the staggering results from one of our unthinkable games -- the maiming of God's messengers. What you see in these pages is a horrible testimony with one exception. That exception is MTM, the health C.A.R.E. organization that offers Communicating, Advocating, Reclaiming, and Equipping to God's wounded messengers.
MTM is a group of Christians who dedicate our time and talents to bring about positive change in the lives and relationships of those persons called by God to minister to His family on earth, We solicit your prayers, financial support and participation.