Thank you for 30 years of ministry at Smoke Rise!
Three decades is a long time—even when you’re having fun. Just ask Lynne Ginn who has just marked 30 years as a vital part of the Smoke Rise staff. You can find Lynne in her office in the music suite of the church. Over those 30 years, Lynne has worked with three (count ‘em) –three different ministers of music! (Jerry Naff, Marc Beaver and Danny Vancil.) Think about that! She has had to learn the idiosyncrasies and proclivities of three different personalities – how they work, what they expect, the things that annoy them, etc. Some would say that alone qualifies her for sainthood! (Have you met Danny Vancil?!) Her husband, David, is a magician, author and lecturer; but Lynne might be considered a magician as well.
Lynne has been the right hand for each of these ministers. (The fact that of the three, one had a heart attack and one had a stroke cannot be laid at her feet!) Her responsibilities include the management of the entire music library, seeing that choir members have the required music for rehearsals and worship services, and acting as the church’s wedding coordinator. She is patient and a good listener with a very necessary sense of humor.
Each week, Lynne edits the order of worship for the upcoming Sunday. In addition to typing out the text of the anthems for the congregation’s benefit, she also types out the texts for each hymn in the order of service for the streaming audience. Lynne does not consider that a chore at all. In fact, as she goes through the order of service each week, reading the scriptures, hymns and anthems, she finds that to be a personal time of worship. If you happen in her office at that time, you might even catch her shedding the occasional tear.
She loves working with the entire staff of our church—their cohesiveness and cooperation and how they relate to each other and to the congregation with love and care.
Lynne grew up in the small South Georgia town of Sylvester. She and her husband, David, met at the University of Georgia where both were journalism majors, working on UGA’s newspaper, The Red and Black. They have a grown daughter, Autumn, a graduate of Smoke Rise Baptist Church Preschool, who teaches music at Shiloh Elementary School.
Her introduction to Smoke Rise came through longtime employee, Jill Wade, who convinced her to apply for an open position at Smoke Rise. When Truett Gannon did a final interview with her, he was delighted to find out she had grown up only 20 miles from his hometown of Cordele. Dr Gannon would always ask her “what was going on in South Georgia.” She would always tell him that they still had not erected a monument to him in the town square.
Lynne loves baking and gardening. If you ever tasted one of her Italian Cream cakes or seen the beautiful blooms that are often on her desk, you would know that she is darned good at both.
When people ask her why she continues to work, she responds, “I love my job, the people I work with, and the blessings I both witness and hear about.”
Thank you, Lynne, for 30 years of unselfish service to all of us. Scripture speaks of the man who had lost a pearl of great price. We might say that Smoke Rise found that pearl in Lynne Ginn.
– Clarissa Strickland, Personnel Committee Member