We said farewell, thanks and “We love you” to Nancy Seals Pryor Sunday as she retired after 22 years as Executive Secretary to the Senior Minister. Yes, she could write a book filled with juicy stories that would probably land her on Oprah, but for now at least, she’s going to take time to rest and walk in the sand.

After two-plus decades of working with brides, baptisms and folks wanting to see the preacher for this and that, she has earned every uncluttered moment.

It was moving to stand to the side Sunday morning in Jubilee Hall and watch members share an embrace and reminisce for a moment. Surely there wasn’t a person on line who wasn’t touched in some meaningful way by Nancy, whether it had to do with a father’s funeral, a daughter’s wedding or lilies ordered to honor a loved one at Easter. She didn’t deliver sermons (though she probably could have). But Nancy’s ministry reached most every other corner of the church, and most every home in the congregation.

At the heart of her ministry was longevity – being here long enough to figure out the history and workings of this complicated institution, to get to know people, to understand their hopes and fears, to walk beside them from middle age to old age, to serve as the thread that binds the faithful to their faith home.

In and out of the church, I worry that we undervalue the gifts of experience and loyalty – that in this age of downsizing and change, we no longer appreciate the permanency provided by someone who stays a long time because they care. We’re a culture with a short attention span, one that craves the newest and neatest, one that views transition, turnover and turmoil as inherently good. When folks like Nancy have reached the age and earned the right to retire, I fear that no one will come along to put down roots in the church in the same way, in part because we no longer affirm the importance of deep roots. The value of a veteran is even more vital in The United Methodist Church, where clergy come and go.

In a sense, Nancy and people like her – the ones who are here year after year after year – are the ones who become the heart of the church.

At Myers Park United Methodist Church, we have lost a piece of our heart. We will always cherish Nancy and her husband, Larry. May we in the faith community cherish as well what she stood for all these years, and understand the importance of honoring what she started by honoring the sweet fact that she stayed.