“She was literally the poster child for the SBC,” Denhollander said. “It was not enough to make her valuable enough to truly fight for.”
During the memorial service, friends remembered both Lyell’s struggles and her remarkable life. Known for her brilliant mind and her knack for finding books that would speak to mass audiences, her supporters said she was also a kind and devoted friend who cared about teaching children to love books, especially the Bible.
Denhollander recalled that Lyell had sent her daughters T-shirts that said “I read after bedtime.” When Denhollander texted Lyell a photo of her daughters up late reading, Lyell was more than pleased.
“Tell them keep going — Miss Jen says it’s great,” Lyell texted back.
Former colleague Devin Maddox, now a vice president at Lifeway, recounted Lyell’s rise from little-known editor at Moody Publishers in Chicago to holding a vice president role at Lifeway.
“Quickly, word spread in the Christian book world about a young, clever, tenacious, new acquisitions editor that was changing the perception at Moody through aggressive acquisitions, insightful editorial and disciplined execution,” Maddox said.
When Lyell arrived at Lifeway, she exceeded all expectations, Maddox added. Despite her successes, she retained a missionary’s heart, he said, especially hoping to teach children about God’s love.
“Jennifer’s greatest ambition was for her children’s Sunday school class to believe that they could hang their lives on believing that if nothing else, the Bible can be trusted,” Maddox said.
Jennifer Lyell with her dog, Benson. (Courtesy photo)
Other friends at the service spoke of Lyell’s love for her dog, Benson, the music of Christian singer Rich Mullins and the television show “The West Wing” — her favorite episode was called “Two Cathedrals.” They also described her sense of humor, her generosity and her ability to see the good in others, despite the heartaches she experienced.
“She had every reason not to trust people, and yet she extended grace over and over and over again that believed the best of those that she encountered,” said Amy Whitfield, her friend and former co-worker. “I am a better person because she shared her whole self.”
During a sermon, Russell Moore, editor of Christianity Today, read a passage from the New Testament Book of Luke about a woman who was healed by touching the hem of Jesus’ robe as he walked through a crowd — a passage he had read to Lyell as she lay dying in a hospital bed. Lyell had been found unconscious in her home after missing a doctor’s appointment and never recovered.
In that passage, the woman, who had been ill for years, sought to hide from Jesus.
That was not quite like Lyell, said Moore, who was not one to hide in a crowd and would have likely approached Jesus “and tried to sign him for a contract.”
Yet, she, too, knew what it was like to suffer for a long time and feel forgotten. But Jesus saw her, like he saw the woman in the parable. And Jesus has not forgotten Lyell, even in death, Moore said.
“So, we commit Jennifer to sleep for a little while, and we do so with hope,” he said. “Jesus knows where to find her.”
In giving her tribute, Amy Whitfield, who is married to Pastor Keith Whitfield, summed up the feelings of many of the mourners as she quoted from a Mullins song called “Elijah.” The song about a biblical prophet who was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind was one of Lyell’s favorites. In the song, Mullins, who died in 1997 at 41, sang about wanting to go out the same way.
“It’ll be like a candlelight in Central Park,” he sang. “And it won’t break my heart to say goodbye.”
Whitfield, who was also at Lyell’s deathbed, said she believes her friend felt the same.
“I know that her whole self is at rest, and it did not break her heart to say goodbye,” she said. “But it sure has broken mine.”
This article originally appeared here.
