This week we commemorated Phil Potratz’ retirement after 39 years of ministry, with 16 of those right here at FBC Murfreesboro. Once again, I join you in expressing our appreciation for Phil’s life and ministry among us, and our love to Phil, Karen, and the family.
It was a joy to interview and pray for Phil during our morning worship, and in turn, have him pray over the church he has loved and served for so well for so long. There was also a wonderful turnout for the afternoon reception, with a steady line for over an hour and a half. During that time, we were pleased to present Phil with some retirement gifts. The first was the full tuition payment for the Spiritual Direction program at Lipscomb University that he will begin in the fall. The other was a generous love offering from our people and personnel committee. The final gift came from our staff, a Home Depot gift card. At each year’s staff Christmas lunch, we have a “Dirty Santa” game with various gift cards filling the grab bag. Every year Phil would try to procure the big orange DIY treasure, but was always thwarted, usually by Bryan as I recall. So, our staff parting gift was to make sure he got a considerably larger version of what he had always coveted. Congratulations Phil!
Paul Peak and Phil Potratz served as FBC Ministers of Christian Formation for a combined total of 50 years!
Many of you have asked how Phil’s duties will be spread out among the staff. Along with the staff and personnel committee, we have been working on that in detail for some time. But before publicly addressing that, I wanted to let Phil clear the air space with the focus all on him. A more detailed version outlining every task and relationship is available if you are curious, but here are the basics. In addition to our existing responsibilities, here is what we are taking on:
David Cates – Facilities, Supervision of Facilities Manager, Check Signer
Heather Burke – Associate Pastor, Adult Bible Study
Bryan Anderson – Facility Related Technology
Paula Essary – Facility Rental Requests and Receipts
Pam Pilote – Kitchen, Tours for Rental Requests, Weekly Admin Meetings
Glen Money– Supervision of Administrative Staff, Adult Discipleship
Cindy Sullivan– Coordination of Business Meeting Agendas with Moderator
Pastoral Staff – Christian Formation Initiatives
Again, we will be saying more in the days ahead, but we wanted you to know we have been working ahead and had already made the transition in some of these areas. Without exception, our staff has enthusiastically stepped up to take on these responsibilities. Phil served us well and handled a lot. But know also, we have a wonderful remaining staff that works hard and works well together, and is very prepared to lead and serve into this new season of life and ministry.
Glen