At 90 with no plans to retire

NICK EICHER, HOST: Today is Tuesday, September 3rd. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Nick Eicher.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: Another in our occasional series that we call “What Do People Do All Day?”

Many people use their days working all the angles to retire early. But today we meet a very capable church secretary who has done just the opposite.

WORLD Senior Writer Kim Henderson has the story.

SUE NELL MCMILLAN: And this was my first office right here . . .

KIM HENDERSON, SENIOR WRITER: Sue Nell McMillan knows her way around First Baptist Church in Mendenhall, Mississippi.

MCMILLAN: And when I first started the pastor’s office was right here . . .

She was just 28 years old when she took the job as church secretary. Now, she’s 90. Do the math, and you realize McMillan has accomplished something extraordinary—62 years on the job. Sixty-two years at one job. In one place.

Just think about how technology changed in that time.

MCMILLAN: I remember the old Gestetner printing machine. I used to hand crank it. You had to pump the ink in, and I've had it all over me before.

These days, McMillan’s desk sits in an office plex named in her honor. Two other secretaries share the space. McMillan’s desk is noticeably computer-free.

SHERI WARREN: The computer's in there. She doesn't want it on her desk. She likes to greet and talk to people, and she does still have bookkeeping duties and financials.

That’s Sheri Warren, the church’s music secretary. She says McMillan’s greatest strength isn’t a skill you can get in secretarial school.

WARREN: The people. She has been here so long, she knows everybody that lives here. She's a great historian too, because if you need to know something, she's the one that you can go to.

McMillan has served under 8 pastors. She typed their letters, took their calls, sent them on hospital visits. Sometimes it was hard to reach them.

MCMILLAN: You remember the old bag phones? They had them for a while. I thought, “What in the world?” But they were very helpful. A lot of times I called them on that.

James Smith was the church’s pastor in the 60s and 70s. He remembers McMillan had a knack for learning how to use office equipment.

JAMES SMITH: …copying machines when we got one, and an addressing machine when we got it, folding machines when we got it…

And she knew how to protect a pastor’s study time.

SMITH: She only bothered me when she knew I was studying if she felt like it was an emergency or something I needed to attend to. She was very perceptive in that area.

A big part of McMillan’s job as church secretary is answering the phone.

CHRISTY ROTENBERRY: Whenever you hear of anybody passing away, you call 847-2488.

Church member Christy Rotenberry explains.

ROTENBERRY: “Sue Nell, can you give us some information?” You know, I mean, if people are sick, she was just always the person you would call. Way before Facebook, she was Facebook.

Sometimes the phone calls are hard. You could even say it’s a ministry to the person on the other end of the line.

MCMILLAN: I try to listen. Lots of times you can't solve the problems for them, but you can listen and then maybe refer them to someone who could.

It’s a job that requires confidentiality. Discernment and wisdom.

MCMILLAN: I can be very quiet, but it does bother me to see that you try to keep that information within the church office, and then sometimes you get to town, and here it is. You wonder how it travels like that.

KIDS: Hey, Miss Sue!

MCMILLAN: Hey!

Sue Nell McMillan holding a plaque honoring her faithful service. Photo by Kim Henderson

McMillan still works 5 days a week. The highlight each day is lunch. She walks down the hall and eats with children who are there for preschool.

MCMILLAN: What’d we have for lunch? (kids talk) You save me some?

McMillan never married, and she lives alone in the house where she was raised. She doesn’t need a walker, and she doesn’t need hearing aids. She’s pretty amazing.

AUDIO: [Music from church]

In July, the church honored her long service with a “Sue Nell McMillan Day.” A church member pinned a corsage on her lapel.

PASTOR: Sue says be careful. She doesn’t want to get a tetanus shot. (crowd laughs) But I want you to see the wonder of a person’s faithfulness through all these years. This beautiful arrangement of roses up here…

62 red roses for each year McMillan has served as church secretary. But among all the red roses, a single yellow rose stood out. It signified her ongoing service. No retirement in sight.

MCMILLAN: It's the people that I enjoy working with. I've always heard this, and I think it's right. Love God, love people, and work accordingly.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Kim Henderson in Mendenhall, Mississippi.

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