An Interview With… Terry Beranek

Recently, Ministry Support voted to officially make Terry Beranek our new Church Sexton.  I sat down with him last Sunday to chat about what it means to take on this new role.

 

Kerrie:  So, you’re our new Sexton now!  How is that different that your usual role here at the church?

Terry: Well, I guess I’m just working now in an official capacity.  I’ve always done work here at the church as things needed to get done.  Or as Pam has asked me to take care of things. But, now I guess I need to know now who to go to when big stuff needs to be taken care of.

Kerrie:  Are you planning to work with Sam (Pfieffer) and George (Himes) for a while as you get started?

Terry: Oh, most definitely!  There’s a whole lot of stuff that I don’t know about!  One day recently I was changing a light bulb in one of the emergency exit signs and I shorted out the whole circuit.  Don’t even ask me how long it took for me to find the circuit breaker box!

Kerrie: How long?

Terry: Well, let’s just say that it will be much easier to find the next time I need it!

Kerrie:  You and Pam have been members here for a long time. Do you think you’ll be spending more time at the church than in the past?

Terry:  We’ve been members since 1976, and I’m usually here at least one day a week – other than Sunday – most of the time.  But that will probably increase to two days – maybe three – depending on what is going on and what might need to be done.

Kerrie: When I first saw you today, you were walking through the sanctuary with a huge pair of pliers. Is that your new normal?

Terry: I worked at a school for a whole lot of years. There is no ‘normal’.  I can’t imagine that there will be anything around here that will be as weird or interesting as some of the stuff I saw at school.

Kerrie: You and Pam and I sat in the Parlor one Saturday before a wedding several years ago and took oscillating fans out of boxes and assembled them.  I thought that was pretty weird at the time…

Terry: No, what is weird is the fact that – for example – a while back we were trying to figure out an issue with the garbage disposal in the kitchen.  And, you know, lots of things around here are pretty old, including those pipes and seals.  And, at the time, we all kinda decided not to mess with things too much for fear of breaking it beyond repair.  Well, now, I’m officially in charge of taking care of things like that!  That’s what’s weird!

Kerrie: Yeah, how is that going to work?!

Terry: Well, I’m going to continue to rely on Sam and George for insight and then coordinate with Sara and the Ministry Support folks for budgets on these sorts of issues.

Kerrie: And maybe a prayer to the plumbing gods?

Terry: (Laughs) Yep!  Lots of prayers.

Kerrie: Terry, how do we reach you?  If I walk into the third floor bathroom and notice a light bulb out, how do I let you know?

Terry: Call me or text me.  Or call or text Pam.  Or Sara in the office.  Don’t ever email me!  I don’t do email.  But my cell phone is always right with me.  I might not answer right away if I don’t recognize your number, but I’ll always get back to you.  Just give me a call!