Lonette Berg said she remembers hearing the words come out of her mouth before she could stop them.
“One of my best friends in the world was Dr. Frances Hamilton,” Berg said. “I was her student assistant in college; she was a professor in the history department, and I was a history major.”
During that time at Samford University, Hamilton “became like my second mama,” Berg said.
And some years later — as Hamilton was serving as director of the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission and Berg was in a successful career as an attorney — the two had lunch, and Berg said the thing she didn’t mean to say.
“She was worried because her assistant’s husband had just gotten his Ph.D. and was looking for a job, and so I heard myself say, ‘Oh, don’t worry about it, if he gets a job, I’ll come to work for you,’” Berg said. “I really was not worried about it, because back then those professor-type jobs were few and far between, they were hard to get.”
Just a few weeks later — in August 2003 — Hamilton’s assistant’s husband got a job, and Hamilton cashed in on that offer. Berg served as her special assistant until Hamilton retired at the end of 2006, and then Berg took her place. Now 17 years later, she’s retiring and so grateful for the opportunity.
“They took a chance on me,” Berg said.
She said she’s grateful for that — her family doesn’t take any opportunity for granted.
Beginnings
Years back in east Tennessee, her dad had grown up in a family of sharecroppers. Neither he nor her mother finished high school. Both later got their GED and encouraged their daughter to take advantage of the chance for a high school education.
“I had one job when I was in school, and that was to do my best,” Berg said. “I did well, and they were really proud.”
Her dad told her she was smart and asked if she wanted to be a doctor or a lawyer. She picked lawyer. When she got to Samford, her advisor told her history would be a good major for that.
That’s how she ended up working for Hamilton the first time — and the second time too, though that took some more encouragement.
“I was really focused on work, and it was an intense job,” Berg said of her years as an attorney.
But in 1997, her mother was diagnosed with cancer, and she took off work to care for her until she passed away. Berg found she also had time to do some other things that year, like start a Daisy Girl Scout Troop and teach Girls in Action and Sunday School. That same year, she had a brain aneurysm, which made her think even more seriously about the way she spent her time.
“I think what the Lord did with all of that was help me realize that my priorities needed to change,” she said. “Our days are numbered, and we don’t know that number.”
If all of that hadn’t happened, Berg thinks she would’ve told Hamilton she’d only been joking about working for her.
“But I knew that the Historical Commission would be a more normal job where I would still have the opportunities to be involved with my daughter, with school and with church.”
And as it turned out, she loved her work there.
“I got the opportunity to serve in ways I never would have imagined,” Berg said.
Over the years, she spent a lot of time driving to churches all over Alabama collecting their records to be microfilmed and preserved in Samford’s Special Collection. She also led workshops on how to archive materials, collect oral histories and celebrate major church anniversaries.
On the road
Then she attended those anniversaries to present churches with commemorative plaques and certificates in honor of those milestones.
Berg did those things so many times that she put more than 460,000 miles on her last Honda, and she already has more than 250,000 on her current one.
And along the way, she told stories — lots and lots of stories.
“I tell stories from Alabama Baptist history, some funny things, some serious things. I also tell them about some missionaries from Alabama they may not know about,” Berg said. “We also talk about their personal stories and why they matter and why it’s so important to take care of them.”
Stories of God’s faithfulness matter, and the next generation needs them, she said. “I always try to call people to remember that church history is God’s story, it’s His story. I believe God thinks history is important; the whole Bible is history.”
Berg is passionate about preserving that and passing it along.
“When we preserve and share church history or association or state convention or entity, we’re continuing that important work of recording for the future about God and his work in our world,” she said.
‘True servant leader’
Debbie Campbell, who chairs the ABHC board, said Berg is “an example of a true servant leader in everything she does, whether it is picking up and preserving boxes of historical records from a church or sharing inspiring and often funny stories about church life.”
Campbell called it a “joy and honor” to work with her.
“I, along with Baptists across the state, am grateful for her faithful ministry through the Alabama Baptist Historical Commission,” she said.
Rick Lance, executive director of the Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions, said Berg’s dedication to the cause of “helping Alabama Baptists stay in touch with our past so that we might be better prepared for the future is priceless.”
“Lonette is a vivacious and energetic person who draws people to her as she works with them in local churches. She is so meticulous in the way she does her work, and it is demonstrated by how her efforts make such a difference in the lives of people,” he said. “However, Lonette never takes herself so seriously that she becomes the focus of her work. Lonette is a devout believer in our Lord, and she exemplifies that commitment so well.”
Lance said Alabama Baptists will miss working with Berg because she has “a big place in our hearts, and we love her.”
When Berg leaves at the end of the year, she will leave ABHC in the hands of Wendy Westerhouse, executive director-elect, who has been serving alongside her since July.
Back to Tennessee
In retirement, Berg is looking forward to moving back to east Tennessee with her husband, Steve, to spend more time with her daughter, Elizabeth, son-in-law, Jonathan, and three granddaughters Ruth, Abigail and Anna.
But she said she will miss her Alabama Baptist friends and sharing all their stories.
“Alabama Baptists have been so good to me. I’ll miss telling stories, and I’ll miss listening to them,” Berg said. “To me it’s a gift when someone is willing to share that part of their life with you, and it gives me the opportunity to tell them thank you for what they’ve done and how they’ve been faithful.”
Berg endowment established
To honor Berg’s legacy, the ABHC has established the Lonette L. Berg Legacy Endowment Fund to recognize her “exemplary and faithful service to Alabama Baptists.”
The fund will provide a source of continuing support to the ABHC to perpetuate and expand Berg’s work in documenting and celebrating Baptists’ collective heritage through preservation of church records, recognition of key historical events and anniversaries and recording of oral histories.
Gifts may be given online at tbfa.org/berg or mailed directly to The Baptist Foundation of Alabama. Please note “Berg Legacy Fund” on your check and send to:
The Baptist Foundation of Alabama
PO BOX 241227
Montgomery AL 36124
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