Rev. Janae Pitts-Murdock had to wait more than a year because of the pandemic, but she was officially installed as senior pastor at Light of the World Christian Church, where Pitts-Murdock became interim pastor in 2019.
The church voted to make her its senior pastor in November 2020, but an installation service was put off until March 6. Pitts-Murdock is the church’s first female senior pastor, and it wasn’t lost on her that she was installed on the first Sunday of Women’s History Month.
“It means I am the fulfillment of my ancestors’ dreams,” she said.
Bishop T. Garrett Benjamin, senior pastor emeritus at Light of the World, said at the installation service more churches will start opening their doors to Black women.
“I guess it is clear now that we cannot consign our history to one month, but we are breaking barriers and ceilings every day,” he said. “This is the year of the woman. This is the year of the Black woman.”
Pitts-Murdock originally didn’t consider the permanent position because her contract as interim was for 15 months and stipulated she wouldn’t be considered for the role. Meanwhile, a search committee tried to find the church’s next senior pastor.
Keeping the mindset of an interim pastor is important, Pitts-Murdock said, because her role was to stabilize the church through a transition and make immediate adjustment so a permanent leader could come in and look to the future.
“I would say I want to be such a good interim that the permanent pastor writes me a thank-you note,” she said.
Pitts-Murdock learned the term “good” is relative because she was in her interim role for only about seven months before the COVID-19 pandemic forced major changes. Whereas Light of the World, like any other church, would typically measure success based on how many people show up at services, how much money comes in, how many baptisms there are and other metrics, church leadership’s mindset had to shift.
Suddenly it was all about how broad online engagement was — not just paying attention to how many people watch a livestreamed service but how many people watch it throughout the week.
A daily prayer call every morning at 7 averages 100 people, Pitts-Murdock said.
“I’m proud of us because we’ve adapted so well,” she said.
The church is still in a hybrid mode with both in-person and online ministry.
At the installation service, Dwayne Montgomery, head of the search committee, said he made more than 100 calls to people all over the country as he looked for someone who was the right fit at the church.
“We were looking for someone who absolutely loved Jesus Christ,” he said. “We were looking for someone who could bring a powerful word to the congregation.”
That process eventually led to Pitts-Murdock.
“As we were looking for the best,” Montgomery said, “I’m here today to tell you that’s exactly what we found.”
Contact staff writer Tyler Fenwick at 317-762-7853 or email at tylerf@indyrecorder.com. Follow him on Twitter @Ty_Fenwick.
