Letter to the Congregation

A message from Pastor Beryl Barraclough

Hello everyone at SouthWest and beyond:

As we continue to hear upsetting news from around the world and here at home, it is time to step back a bit, take a deep breath, reflect and pray. Yes, I said pray.

We should focus our thoughts and prayers for our situation here and, more importantly, for those areas of the world, the poorer countries, that do not have the health care infrastructure we are so privileged to have.  We should also pray for our selves, our families and our neighbours.

Although we are being advised to socially distance ourselves, it is still vital to connect with one another. How, you might be asking yourselves?  Well, we should be using every mode of communication we have at our disposal to reach out to one another - family, friends, everyone who comes to mind (both here and abroad).

We have such a wide variety of ways to do this: telephone, email, face book time, messaging, even sending handwritten notes the good old-fashioned way.  It is a great way to share our anxieties but also to balance them with words of encouragement, hope and positive news.

We are a resilient species with great imaginative capabilities.  This is the time to use all the gifts we have been given to weather this storm.  To walk on water, if you prefer to use a biblical reference.

Together and with the help of God, we will get through this.

Let’s be well and be kind.

In peace

Beryl