Celebrating Pam

Just for kicks, let’s consider the way things were in the third week of March, 1996. The Braves and Cowboys were defending champs, and the Jordan led Bulls were once again about to be. “The Birdcage” starring Robin Williams was on top at the box office. ER was the number one TV show, followed by Seinfeld and Friends. Mad Cow Disease was just confirmed to be a real thing. Murfreesboro’s population was barely a third of what it is today. And some guy from Arkansas and his Tennessee friend were asking America for four more years.

Perhaps sensing a trend, First Baptist Church elected to add a native Tennessean fresh off an Arkansas sojourn to its ministerial staff. Oddly enough, it was on my about-to-be forty-year-old son’s tenth birthday that Pam Pilote began her vocational service at the confluence of Main, Spring, and Vine. A seasoned social worker and mother of three young boys, she was already deeply engaged in the congregation. Thankfully some discerning souls recognized her great heart, warm spirit, delightful personality, and considerable gifts and “called her out from among them” to take on a new mantle, Minister to Senior Adults.

For three decades Pam has been a constant positive presence in this place. Through four pastors (and three pastoral transitions) she has nurtured deep relationships as she visited among, planned for, taught to, played with, cared about, and walked beside untold FBC folks and families. Many of those steps were taken during dark and difficult days. Then and there you would find Pam offering comfort, strength, and light right where, when, and how it was needed most. She took her work seriously but resisted any urge to take herself that way. I think that may be her secret sauce. Pam is easy to love and nearly impossible to dislike.

It has been my privilege to do life and ministry with this amazing lady for the better part of six years. Some fortunate staff members have done so for many more. Beyond Pam being a good and effective fellow minister, I have found this friend to be a source of great encouragement and wise counsel to us all. Her generations worth of institutional knowledge and insight are invaluable and will be missed. Thankfully, retirement will not take her too far away.

Pam tells me she is ready to reclaim a seat in our choir loft and, as much as we will let her, become just another sheep in the flock. But we know she will always be more than that. She has graciously offered to continue Wednesday’s benevolence work where her social work skills and minister’s heart have found their full employ. And I hear that one of her signature trips is on the horizon with the promise of more to come. That’s good news. Beyond that, she has earned the right to lay down all else she will and pick up only what she wants. I know we will all honor that as she moves into this new season of life.

And one more thing, thirty years ago the number one song on the Billboard charts was - get this - Celine Dion’s “Because You Loved Me.” You might even recall how the chorus goes.

“You were my strength when I was weak. You were my voice when I couldn't speak. You were my eyes when I couldn't see. You saw the best there was in me. Lifted me up when I couldn't reach. You gave me faith 'cause you believed, I'm everything I am because you loved me.”

Those catchy words that blared from most every radio that week capture the spirit of Pam’s life, ministry, and impact among us.

She has truly loved us and let us love her. 

And we are both better for it. A season spent in that reciprocal reality is a rare and precious thing, a gift to both the people and the pastor. This Sunday, we will celebrate the gift of Pam Pilote among us in our worship service and in a reception in the Fellowship Hall from 2-4 PM. It will mark a significant day for us all and I look forward to seeing you there.