Church Member Spotlight: LUCY MCKOWN

Debbie Snapp
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Lucy McKown has been a longtime and active member of Central Baptist Church for many years now, as she has been attending Central Baptist since the 1980s.

She has been a Sunday school teacher, a choir member, a member of the Triple L Club and leader of the church's Woman's Missionary Union, an auxiliary member of the Southern Baptist Convention, which is the largest Protestant mission-focused organization for women in the world.

McKown began attending Central Baptist Church soon after her marriage to Crafton McKown, as that was his family's church and he was already a church deacon at the time of their marriage.
Her husband's church became her church, as Lucy remains a member of the church even after Crafton died in 1992.

She continues to attend church services and special church affiliated events, but not as much as before. She has to depend on others now to take her places, as she no longer drives.

McKown, who recently celebrated her 92nd birthday in March, shares that she has been a member of several other area churches in her lifetime.

She says that her mother began taking her to church shortly after her birth; she was of the Methodist faith and attended church in Metcalf, Ga., where Lucy Roddenberry McKown was born and raised.

Her first husband, the late John Glosson Walker, Jr., brought her to the Monticello Community after their marriage. They attended his family's church, Elizabeth Baptist Church in Monticello. She was a very active member of this church also and attended for several years.

Later, when Lucy married the late William Joe Murphy, she attended Seminole Baptist Church in Tallahassee.

Lucy has four children, all were raised to be involved in church. When they were grown and moved on with their lives, they continued to attend a church of their choice. Her children are Annette Walker Deason of Monticello, Kaye Walker Bruce of Tallahassee, Joe Murphy of Milton, Fla., and the late Bunny Murphy Ritchie of Monticello. She also has two step-daughters, Mary Ann McKown Morgan, in North Carolina, and Jackie McKown Rittenhouse, in Washington State.

After her children were raised and on their own, Lucy began working for the Department of Education, where she eventually retired after several years of dedicated service.

Church has been one of the most important parts of her life. She has always been a Christian and is very proud to confirm this to anyone.

“I love the church,” she shares. “I am a Christian and I believe that every parent is responsible to raise their children to know the Lord. Church should be something all families do. It's a mainstay.

We should all be active and involved with a church family. I can't even imagine life without church and God. We can't do anything without the Lord.”