""Wendy is an asset to the whole organization. She surprises me all the time. I didn't anticipate that she would take initiative, and she would see what needed to be done or how things could be better or systems that we could create — and then do [those things]. She's a great fit for me, but also just a value and benefit to the organization at this point.""
— Theresa Fauser, Executive Pastor
The Challenge
Theresa Fauser has served as executive pastor at The Foundry — a large Methodist church with two Houston-area locations and over 4,000 members — for 16 years, with five years in her specific leadership role. When her trusted administrative assistant of 14 years retired, Theresa found herself navigating one of the most demanding seasons of her career without support.
The administrative load quickly became unmanageable. Calendaring, email management, contract reviews, and a steady stream of backend processes all began to fall behind, pulling Theresa's attention away from the mission-driven work that defined her calling.
"I was pretty desperate when I reached out to BELAY," Theresa says. "I was kind of going it alone for a little bit. My calendaring, email, backend administrative pieces and reviewing contracts — making sure to keep up with all that — was definitely struggling."
Without a reliable system of support, Theresa's ability to focus on leading her congregation and pursuing the church's mission was compromised — buried under the very operations meant to enable it.
The Solution
BELAY matched Theresa with Virtual Assistant Wendy Hirte, and the impact was felt almost immediately. With years of experience supporting legal professionals, Wendy brought sharp problem-solving instincts and a talent for building efficient systems — skills that translated seamlessly to the dynamic environment of a large church.
Wendy took ownership of Theresa's email and calendar from the start, establishing clear workflows and providing the structure Theresa had been missing.
"Once [I was] matched with Wendy, we would talk about what the problems were and she would be able to offer solutions and solve them," Theresa says. "I felt like, in the beginning, we were tracking ahead of where our goals were because [Wendy] takes [so much] initiative."
Wendy's approach went beyond simply executing tasks. She took time to understand the organization — its people, rhythms, and needs — and designed systems to make operations more streamlined.
"[The key was] learning about the church, who the people are, the needs, and how we can work out systems to make things more streamlined," Wendy explains.
Wendy also provided Theresa with a layer of accountability she hadn't expected but came to rely on — checking in regularly during weekly meetings to ensure nothing was left unresolved and helping Theresa move forward with confidence and clarity.
""It's been invaluable. Wendy is helping me to be consistent and follow through. I'm not bogged down in all of the administrative pieces and documents and systems and all of that.""
— Theresa Fauser, Executive PastorThe Impact
With Wendy managing her schedule, inbox, and administrative workflows, Theresa experienced a profound shift in how she could show up as a leader. Wendy's proactive initiative extended well beyond Theresa's direct needs, becoming a resource for staff across the organization.
"Wendy is an asset to the whole organization," Theresa says. "She's good at proficiency in systems and processes, and so she's able to help our staff where that's a gap. She surprises me all the time. I didn't anticipate that she would take initiative, and she would see what needed to be done or how things could be better or systems that we could create — and then do [those things]."
The partnership delivered something Theresa hadn't fully anticipated: the freedom to lead with purpose. No longer weighed down by administrative burdens, she could invest her energy in the ministry work she was uniquely called to do.
"The BELAY experience has given me the freedom to focus on the things I believe are a priority, and that I believe I am uniquely called to do. Our mission is to help people know, follow and share Jesus. And I feel like I actually get to spend time doing that now whereas before it was hard to see that in the middle of documents and systems and processes and email."
What began as an urgent solution to a staffing gap has grown into an indispensable partnership — not just for Theresa, but for The Foundry as a whole. As Theresa puts it: "I've become the BELAY spokesperson now. The process was so smooth and so easy."