by Brian Beaumont

If you walked past Pastor Dan’s office on the evening of the third Thursday of last month, you would have heard the strains of an African Ring Shout – a form of rhythmic prayer that preceded Negro spirituals and gospel music in America. You might have also heard the voices of four adults of various ages, ethnicity and gender laughing about ourselves, spouses, parents, bosses, clients and the challenges of raising teenagers.

You might have seen us praying around a candle for each other, our families, Bethany staff members and Pastor Dan, who had a family commitment that night. After a half hour or so, we would begin to discuss the agenda du jour. If this is more interesting than what you expected a Personnel Committee meeting to sound like, then keep reading.

Bethany’s 2008–2009 Personnel Committee includes Pastor Dan Baumgartner, Brian Beaumont, Mona Zuill, Mig Schaaf and Ki Lan Black. Mona is a neonatal nurse practitioner for Children's Hospital, currently working with babies and families in the intensive care nursery at Providence Everett Medical Center. She is the proud and exasperated mother of high schoolers and soon-to-be drivers Catherine and Ruben Palmer, and gardens in her “spare time.”

Mig is a real estate lawyer at Davis Wright Tremaine, is married to Stuart Dunwoody and has two teenage daughters, Madeleine & Rebecca, and one adorable terrier, Pearl. She loves to exercise at the gym, walk the dog, hang out with family, read, watch movies, garden, cook and eat.

This is Ki Lan's 1st year helping us. She owns a Pilates studio in Issaquah and is “the very happy Wifey” of Daniel Black. She loves to dance, eat, cook, and win more gigs playing the drums on the video game Rock Band.

Brian is Personnel Elder and serves on Bethany’s Administration Committee. He is currently a financial manager, has been married to "the lovely and competent Lynn Beaumont" for 25 years and has two feisty red-headed teenage sons Taylor & Alexander. When he is not volunteering with Boy Scouts, Little League or umpiring sibling rivalries, he enjoys rafting, beer & wine tasting, and Friday night date nights with Lynn.

As for the agenda du jour , we are currently conducting bi-annual staff performance reviews. Each staff member completes a self-review of achievements toward goals set the year before. Review forms are completed by supervisors, elders, appropriate congregation members and peers.

Committee members consolidate the individual reviews into a review summary for each staff member. A review meeting is held with each full-time and some part-time staff, their direct supervisor and a committee member to recognize last year’s accomplishments and areas of growth for the coming year. New goals are collaboratively set with each staff member for the following year. Job descriptions are updated with any significant changes. The whole process is bathed in prayers for the right words, open ears, wisdom and discernment.

This may sound like a lot of work, but we believe it is a valuable process that affirms our staff and enables God’s work to stay on track at Bethany. We are blessed with a dedicated, diligent and loyal team that passionately serves the Lord and our congregation. If the Spirit moves you, please do not hesitate to thank and pray for Bethany’s staff.

Photo left to right:
Ki Lan Black, Mig Schaaf, Mona Zuill & Brian Beaumont
(Dan Baumgartner not pictured –
but we all know what Dan looks like).