The secretary at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Marion covers multiple roles, including meeting the care concerns of anyone who walks in the door.
“The main point of my job is to serve the Lord — and His people — in any capacity needed,” said office manager Sheri Fuhrman.
Always wanting to work at a church, Fuhrman applied for and landed the secretarial position at St. John’s in December 2019.
“I feel it’s the closest thing that I can do to serve the Lord,” said Fuhrman. “For me, that was my focus. Just giving birth to my son, my previous job had me traveling and at any given day, I might be an hour and a half away from home. I wanted to be able to spend time with my son. By the grace of God, this role came up. I interviewed for it, and I was lucky enough to get it.”
Duties Fuhrman covers within her office managerial title include keeping minutes from the church council, as well as communicating with all the action teams — community, property, worship, music and education/youth.
“I also check mail, answer phone, answer emails and keep office supplies stocked. I manage all social media accounts, making sure there’s information out there on our behalf,” she said.
Extra responsibilities Fuhrman handles include maintaining yearly annual reports and typing up weekly bulletins and monthly newsletters. In addition, Fuhrman is in charge of all of the church records.
“I have a comprehensive list of all member baptisms, confirmations, weddings, funerals — the whole scope of life,” said Fuhrman.
As of December 2025, the church’s records show 316 official active members.
At Fuhrman’s disposal are a team of people who also cover a multitude of roles.
“Here at St. John’s, we have a maintenance person, a janitor, a groundskeeper — all those people are very helpful. Plus we have a membership that is made up of great volunteers,” said Fuhrman. “If we need something, someone just steps up. I’m really blessed here.”
There isn’t a serving pastor at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Marion. After completing extensive training, the parish appointed Carol Polzin and Denise Pamperin, designating them synod-authorized ministers. Together, they coordinate and handle the needs of the congregation.
The ability they have to relate to the members of the church is humbling to Fuhrman.
“There was a funeral service that Carol did, and she was able to truly project and intuitively understand that from the beginning of their life to the end, how they were a servant of the Lord,” said Fuhrman. “This is something Carol and Denise can both do because they’ve known area families their whole life. A pastor sometimes is fleeting — serving a church for five years or two or six months. The relationship they have with the members is a beautiful thing.”
From time to time, Fuhrman gets phone calls about people trying to find their family.
“Getting to look back at the old records, some of them are in German. Luckily, I took German in high school, so I’ve been able to apply that knowledge and put it to good use,” said Fuhrman.
At one point in her life, Fuhrman needed assistance in an end-of-life event in her own immediate family. A compassionate church secretary had answered her phone after hours, and through her efforts the pastor came and was able to administer communion.
“She went over and beyond to help me, and I was so grateful. I want to do everything I can to pay it forward,” said Fuhrman.
More recently, Fuhrman received a phone call from a hospital in Wausau saying they needed someone to come give communion to one of their members.
“I looked up the name, and it wasn’t one of our members. So I inquired of churches named St. John’s in the surrounding Wausau area to find out which one had this person in their membership,” said Fuhrman. “Because of my own personal experience, I was bound and determined to find the right church.”
Getting to the bottom of it, Fuhrman was able to connect the right church to the right people; it brought the family much peace.
“It’s very important to me,” Fuhrman said. “There are wonderful aspects to this job. At the end of the day, we are all here to serve God and everything goes back to glorify Him.”
