Communications Blog
by Eileen Hodgetts

Did you know that September 1st is Emma Nutt Day? It’s true. I didn’t make it up. I make up a lot of stuff, but I wouldn’t make this up. On September 1, 1878, Emma Nutt became the first woman telephone operator in America. She loved her job and worked at it for 33 years.

If you’ve tried calling a large (or small) corporation recently, you might think that telephone operators are a thing of the past, replaced by computers that offer various options, none of which are especially useful. This is what we try to avoid at Christ Church. We know that when you call your church, you want to speak to a real live person. We know that there are times that someone will call with an urgent need and just hope to hear a sympathetic human voice, or find someone who will pray with them, or listen to their problem. Computers can do a lot, but they can’t do that.

We have a group of wonderful men and women who are our volunteer receptionists. It’s not an easy job. We are a large staff spread out over a couple of buildings, with everyone in and out all day, and most of us don’t remember to tell the receptionist when we are leaving or if and when we are coming back. But you won’t hear any of that frustration in the voice of our receptionists. They are so polite, so helpful, so kind, and very faithful. We also have a group of employees who will answer the phone if the receptionist is away from her desk, beginning with Liz Rankin. I have seen utter chaos taking place in our print room, with the copier spitting our ripped paper, ink spilling on the floor, the automatic folder making noise at about the same decibel level as a jet engine, and people wandering around with last minute corrections, and then the phone rings and Liz will answer it calmly, quietly, and helpfully, while anarchy reigns around her.

So, in honor of Emma Nutt day, may I suggest that next time you phone, you say a word of thanks to the receptionist who is giving up valuable free time to be the “first contact” for Christ Church.

Incidentally Emma Nutt is known to have remarked that she is very grateful that her parents didn’t call her “Imma”.