A beaming Pastor Craig Fritchley reflects back some of the love he and his family received during a farewell service Sunday, Jan. 8, at The Sanctuary of Syracuse. Fritchley resigned after 20 years of pastoring the church to take another position in Iola, Ill. Photos by Ray Balogh.

By Ray Balogh
InkFreeNews

SYRACUSE — For three-plus hours Sunday afternoon, Jan. 8, The Sanctuary

Framed by a parishioner’s uplifted hands of praise, Associate Pastor Scott Wirebaugh, left, and Pastor Craig Fritchley join in worship.

, a Pentecostal church south of Syracuse, positively brimmed with sincere expressions of deep, heartfelt love.

The bittersweet occasion was marked with tears and cracked voices, smiles and laughter.

The purpose of the assembly was to bid a fond farewell to Pastor Craig Fritchley, who shepherded the flock for 20 years; his wife, Lisa; and their two adult children, Andrew, 27, and Alayna, 25.

Fritchley resigned his position at The Sanctuary in late December to take the pastoral helm of Calvary Apostolic Tabernacle in Iola, Ill., a village barely nudging a triple-digit population in the south central part of the state, where he first took to the pulpit on Jan. 1.

Sunday’s combined farewell service and reception drew more than 80 parishioners and friends, many of whom gave moving testimony about what the Fritchleys meant to them and the church.

The Rev. Richard Hoffman of Laporte delivers the message, “New Paths,” during the farewell service for the Fritchleys Sunday, Jan. 8, at The Sanctuary of Syracuse.

Pastor Fritchley’s longtime friend and colleague, the Rev. Richard Hoffman, lead pastor of the First Pentecostal Church of Laporte, delivered the message, “New Paths,” based on 2 Kings 2:9-15, which tells of Elijah bestowing a double portion of his anointing upon his successor, Elisha.

Hoffman started with a personal sentiment about Fritchley. “I like him because he makes me a better person.”

Citing some of Fritchley’s accomplishments at The Sanctuary, Hoffman said, “For 20 years this church has had stability. Everything is in a much better place than we they (the Fritchleys) came here.”

He ended his presentation with an exhortation to the congregation “not to compare the new pastor with the way Craig Fritchley did things.”

Hoffman then had the men and women in attendance form two lines to the altar to individually receive prayer and benediction, the men from Pastor Fritchley, the women from Lisa.

Associate Pastor Scott Wirebaugh gives an emotional tribute to his friend and colleague, Pastor Craig Fritchley.

After several individual testimonies, Associate Pastor Scott Wirebaugh gave his emotional farewell wishes from the pulpit. Addressing his dear friend, he said, “You and your family are the best family a guy could every have.”

Fritchley said his fondest memories about his time in Syracuse is “watching our children grow up in this beautiful area and having made many friends along the way. Living in the Wawasee area has enriched our lives.”

He added, “Being a part of the Syracuse-Wawasee Ministerial Association has been a true blessing.”

Fritchley served as president of the association from 2003-2005 and 2019-

Attendees form two lines to await prayer and benediction from Craig and Lisa Fritchley. Lisa tended to the women, Craig to the men.

2020, and served several years as vice president and secretary. He was pivotal in obtaining a 501(c)(3) exemption for the association a couple years ago.

He also served on the Syracuse Food Pantry board since January 2010, and was board president from January 2012 until last month.

Fritchley cited two challenges during his pastorship in Syracuse. “The distance from our parents in southern Illinois has been a real issue as their health failed and we traveled to help them. And navigating the COVID pandemic was challenging.”

He is gratified to see the positive changes during his tenure with SWMA,

The Fritchley family — Alayna, left, Craig, Lisa and Andrew — receive gifts of appreciation at the end of the farewell service.

particularly “greater participation among the churches and ministry organizations and the greatly expanded the scope of SWMA to include Compass and the Thrift Store.”

The Sanctuary was founded as a home church, Syracuse Pentecostal Church Inc., in 1967. The next year the church moved to a building at 107 E. Pearl St.

After a staccato succession of leadership, with new pastors being installed in 1972, 1978, 1985, 1988 and 1995, Fritchley was elected pastor on March 7, 2002. His 20-year tenure is triple the length of the next longest-serving pastors, who served seven years.

More than 80 parishioners, family and friends attended the farewell service and reception Sunday, Jan. 8, to honor the Fritchley family for their 20 years of service in Syracuse.

In 2006, Fritchley introduced “Vision 2010,” an expansion initiative to acquire a larger facility, and the church purchased its present facility on March 30, 2011.

Fritchley’s second major initiative, “Vision 2020,” was dedicated “to fulfill the Great Commission, become what God envisioned and retire the mortgage” on the church facility.

The mortgage burning occurred on June 1, 2020.

The Fritchleys’ indelible mark of service will be enjoyed by many for the foreseeable future. Alayna, dedicated to serving The Sanctuary’s youth group, will continue her gentle leadership in Iola.

The church hosted a reception after the farewell service with separate entree and dessert buffet tables.

A cake at the dessert table reflects the sentiments of the congregation.

Andrew is attending seminary in St. Louis and said he seeks to pastor a church “wherever the Lord tells me to go.”

The Sanctuary is located at 10121 N. SR 13, Syracuse. For more information, call (574) 457-2638.