Secretary Grant holds special place at Trinity

Lillian D. Grant took business courses in high school, made good grades and went to Trinity Baptist Church every Sunday.

Her academic excellence and church attendance didn’t go unnoticed when she graduated from Wilson High School in 1959.

Clyde Reese, one of her teachers, H.S. Pearson and Prince Williams came to her grandmother’s house a month or two after graduation. All were members of Trinity Baptist Church.

Grant and her sister lived with her grandmother.

“Apparently they needed a secretary at Trinity,” Grant recalled. “I didn’t feel like I was qualified, but they thought differently. They offered me the job.”

It’s the only job Grant has ever had. And 50 years later, her services are just as vital as they have always been.

Grant was honored recently during a special ceremony recognizing her half-century of service to Trinity. She’s even been there longer than the venerable pastor, Dr. William P. Diggs, who came in 1962.

I’ve grown with the job,” Grant said. “I’ve taken on more responsibilities through the years.”

Grant wears many hats. Among them are office manager, secretary, bookkeeper, manager of Trinity Baptist Church Federal Credit Union (it has assets of more than $2 million) and supervisor of Trinity Baptist Church Preschool.

“I enjoy working here,” said Grant, who has never married. “It’s a headache and a lot of stress sometimes, bit I still enjoy the work. I feel like in a way I’m kind of working for the Lord, too.”

Grant said she can devote most of her time to the church because she isn’t married. She works Monday through Saturday and is at church every Sunday.

Computerization has made the work much easier. Everything was manual when she first started, including the typewriter.

Fridays are the busiest days.

“I’m trying to wind things up,” she said. “That not only includes secretarial things, but work with the credit union and preschool. I also start on the Sunday church bulletins on Fridays and finish them on Saturdays.”

Among the many awards she has received is one from Crescent Temple 148 and Crescent Court 143. It was presented during a Black History Gala for excellence in leadership.

The plaque reads: “You have been instrumental in the struggle to keep our people informed of the facts, aware of our heritage, free from the negatives and strong enough to continue to fight the obstacles.”

She is a former secretary of the Florence branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and has attended state and national conventions. She was one of the multitudes who attended the famous March on Washington in August 1963 when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his indelible “I Have A Dream” speech.

Grant likes to tease Diggs, telling him that she’s been at Trinity longer than he has.

“Dr. Diggs is a handful,” she said with a laugh.“I always tell him that he can’t catch up with me unless I leave.”

She also teases him about the old things he likes to keep, especially cars.

“I don’t have to worry about him getting rid of me because he likes old things,” Grant said.

Meanwhile, Grant’s favorite hymns are “His Eye Is On The Sparrow” and “Great Is Thy Faithfulness.”

And Proverbs 31: 29-31 was read at her 50th celebration. It reads: “Many women do noble things, but you surpass them all. Charm is deceptive, and beauty is fleeting; but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised. Give her the reward she has earned, and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.”