Pastoral Care Assistant Barbara Clayton celebrated her 20-year anniversary as a Wilshire staff member on Sept. 20.
Associate Pastor Heather Mustain said, “Barbara has been a staple on our staff. She is a team player, more organized than anyone I know and coordinates our pastoral care efforts with such grace and intention. I’m beyond thankful to get to work beside someone so dedicated and loyal to both the church and its people.”
Barbara had already been a Wilshire member for 13 years when she joined the staff in 2004 as office manager. A couple of years later she moved to the music office, where she worked for 14 years before assuming her current role in 2020.
Barbara’s work in pastoral care includes compiling and sending Wilshire’s Care Notes, a list of prayer concerns emailed each weekday to over 200 church members. “If there’s anybody in the hospital,” Barbara says, “I call the hospital every morning to check on their room number, because sometimes they get discharged or moved.”
Barbara coordinates hospital visits by ministers, creates programs for funerals and memorial services and works with the Hospitality Ministry Team to make sure ushers, greeters and Welcome Desk volunteers are in place each Sunday and for special events as needed.
She also assists Minister to Senior Adults Katie Murray with Wilshire Adventurers and other senior adult programming. Katie said, “The honest truth is I would be completely lost without Barbara. Her organizational skills are unmatched and have come to my rescue on more occasions than I can count. More importantly though, she loves and cares for this congregation with abundant grace. Doing ministry alongside Barbara is truly a blessing.”
Barbara’s two decades on staff at Wilshire represent only about half of her overall career working mostly in churches or ministry-related jobs. “We’re all called to be something somewhere, and I always felt called to work in the church,” Barbara said. Upon learning of one church job opening early in her career, she recalled, “I got heart palpitations, I was so excited. That’s just how passionate I am about it.”
Before working at Wilshire, Barbara served on staff at Lake Highlands Baptist Church, First Baptist Church in Waxahachie and Park Cities Baptist Church. She also worked at the Southern Baptist Annuity Board (now known as GuideStone) and Word, Inc., a Christian publisher.
Barbara grew up in Dallas and graduated from Lake Highlands High School. She has four adult children and four grandchildren.
Barbara sang in choir in high school and has been deeply involved in church music ministry not only as a staffer, but as a church member. At Wilshire, she sang in Sanctuary Choir for 25 years, played in Carillon Ringers for 32 years and taught preschool choir for 14 years. A longtime Youth Choir sponsor, Barbara traveled on 19 straight summer Youth Choir tours — a streak that began in 2001, long before she joined the music staff.
“My favorite part of all my jobs was working with children and youth,” Barbara said. “To see them grow into wonderful humans knowing that music played a big part. I’m still in contact with people from my youth group and youth choir. It produces lifelong friendships.”