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When the folks over at the First Presbyterian church form a committee, then convene a formal meeting – all ahead of a congratulatory party to recognize a staff member for 30 years of exemplary service, you’ve got to figure that this individual is NOT a quiet quitter.

As a matter of fact, Janie Brooks is quite the beloved over-achiever. And her work ethic can be attributed to the environment.

“I love the people,” she said. “They are so sweet. And I think they are like part of my family now. And I think I’m part of theirs.

“They worry about me when I’m sick. They’ll call and say, ‘Somebody told me you were sick, are you sick?’ It’s really been a nice place to work.”

The job description provided by the committee was not immediately or easily forthcoming. Using well-developed reporting skills, it was determined that Janie basically does it all.

“I do all kinds of things,” she admitted. “I do the bulletin, I do newsletters, I help with all of the bulletin boards. You name it. Whatever they need help, I do it.”

Any and all printing is done in house, with the help of a hardworking copy machine and a Canon printer.

Rachel Colvin was an instructor at TCAT when Janie attended – let’s say a few years back – and helped her get a job at a local title company. Then the position at First Presbyterian opened up and Colvin happened to be serving on the hiring committee.

A covert operation ensued.

“She called me and said ‘I need you to send in your resume to this P.O. Box and don’t ask any questions.’ So I did, and here I am. That’s where I learned how to use a computer, because when I was in high school we didn’t have computers,” Janie said.

Janie has been married for 37 years this year. She has three children: Jessie, Tyler and ‘Doodle,’ along with seven grandchildren. They all live nearby, the furthest away are in Rutledge. Ross is the husband – “He might be upset if I leave him out,” she said.

The committee confirmed the rumors that Janie has quite the sense of humor, especially when it comes to decorating her work space.

“I’ve always put up signs,” she said. “If people see something funny, they’ll send it to me. And if I find something funny, I’ll put it up.”

Janie’s humor and her warm personality have developed into a ministry. People who have absolutely no church business to conduct will stop by her desk, just to talk.

They’ll call her cell in the evening, just to chat. One former member who moved away will call her a couple of times a week and will send her pictures.

“People will tell me, ‘You know what, I was in a horrible mood when I got here but I’m going to leave smiling today.’ Everybody says that after they talk to me they leave smiling,” Janie said.

Ahead of her official anniversary date, Jan. 23, 2023, Janie said she was trying to prepare herself for the big day. Normally, she doesn’t really like a big fuss.

“I’ve told people – the preacher and Melissa, the custodian, to be mean to me all day Monday, so I won’t cry. I cry so easily. So they’ve been practicing,” she said.

Her job description has included working with several interim pastors.

“She has trained the best and sent them on their way elsewhere,” Elizabeth Campbell, chair of the aforementioned committee, said.

During the official meeting held to say nice things about Janie, the list grew long fairly quickly.

“We want to recognize all the things that make her such an indispensable part of our organization,” Campbell said.

“You can ask anybody anything in the church and if they do not know the answer, it’s always ‘Ask Janie,’” Sally Morrison, Chairman of the Presbyterian Women, said.

“And Janie knows,” Ray Bible, church treasurer, said. “I’ve worked with her as treasurer for 20 years. And she has all the traits that you want: she’s pleasant, she’s accurate – the main thing about it is, working as closely as we have and so forth, you really appreciate the fact that she’s pleasant to work with, cooperative and very talented. She keeps the books. And if you call on the phone, she answers. She is the voice of First Presbyterian Church.”

“I’ve often said, if they took a poll, it would tell us all to leave and keep Janie. That says an awful lot about Janie. She’s just super. I hate to think about having to replace her talents,” Bible said.

“Janie has a ministry here,” Bill Hale, chairman of the finance committee, said. “Informally, I guess. People call her on the phone and she handles everything so smoothly on the phone. Some people just call to talk and she is so patient. She is the church to some folks.”

“She has the common knowledge over a period of time that Sam (Schaus) doesn’t yet have, being new. For the longest time – because he came to the church during Covid – he had trouble getting to know any of us. And Janie goes so far back … and knows something on all of us,” Bible said.

“About us,” Campbell quickly interjected.

“’On us’ may be a better word,” Bible quipped.

“Every now and then we say, ‘This would be a good chapter for your book,’” Hale said. “And it’s usually about Ray.”

“She just has a wonderful, delightful personality that allows her to make everyone feel comfortable in her presence,” Campbell said.

“Her institutional memory is only matched by a couple of people in the church, and we’ve been a church since the 1860s, Pastor Sam Schaus said. “Whenever something happens here and I need to know some information, Janie is the first person I go to: ‘Janie, what happened in 1993 whenever x,y,z did that something’ … She is indispensable, really, to the ministry we do here.

“She has a great finance background, a great editorial background; she puts together the reports for our committees and even our denominational structure. Without her, I wouldn’t get as much done in a day and I don’t think any of us would. Without her, we would be afloat at sea without any direction. She’s the rudder; she keeps us pointed in the right direction, so the ministry of the church can go with the wind, the spirit, Schaus added.

“She has the ability to keep all the bouncing balls in the air at the same time and is totally unflappable while she’s doing that,” Campbell said.

“We can’t replace Janie,” Schaus said. “But if we ever have to, we’ll need a five-year notice to train someone.”

“I think that’s only fair,” Campbell said.

“I’ve told her she couldn’t retire until she does my funeral bulletin,” Morrison said.

“In addition to the normal things, when we were building the Family Life Center, she had all the accounting for that side and worked it through beautiful,” Bible said. “That was now 15 years ago. That was in addition to the normal work she was involved with, week to week.”

The sense of humor is enjoyed by all. The signs include: “You don’t have to be crazy to work here. We train you.” and “Baptist Secretary” (an inside joke). The holiday decorations include a large quantity of snowmen and a Halloween broom.

“I’m too scared to play a joke on Janie,” Schaus said. “You never know what she’ll come up with to pay you back.”

There is the story from years back regarding Janie versus an interim pastor. They had a running competition as to who would get more Christmas cards. She addressed quite a few to herself and received three times as many. He felt bad about it. She felt so bad about making him feel bad that she confessed.

“That (her feeling bad) didn’t last long,” Bible said.

“Especially when I first got here, people came to her more than they came to me, even for advice,” Schaus said. “Until they started trusting me a little bit more. That’s a testament, to one to how long she’s been here, but two, just what she does here.”

“How easy she is to talk to,” Campbell added.

“And how much people trust her,” Schaus said. “Like Ray said, as far as a staff position, she’s been the most constant since 1993. She’s got that trust built up in the community.”

“And with me, she’s not just indispensable with the institutional history of the place, but if I need to figure something out about how to help someone around town, she’ll say, ‘Oh, call so-and-so down at whatever organization.’ Because she was born and raised here; she’s homegrown, local talent,” Schaus said.

Her ‘not liking a fuss’ relates to the fact that she prefers to work under the radar.

“She quietly does for all of us,” Bible said.

“She won’t preach, though,” Schaus said. “I’ve tried to get her to preach. She’s refused. She tells me I don’t want her to preach; there’s no telling what she might say.”