Pastor Beryl is on a study week. The service on Sunday (Feb. 27) will be lay-led.
Every year at this time I find myself looking through old newsletters and pondering the previous year as I compile the SouthWest Annual Report. Although it sometimes feels as if time has stood still since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic almost two years ago, in fact there have been many ups and downs.
2021 was the first full calendar year of pandemic, and for us it began similarly to 2022: with churches closed and services pre-recorded and shared online. On January 6th we watched an attempted insurrection play out in Washington DC and tut-tutted about our neighbours to the south. Little did we imagine the scenes we would witness in Ottawa barely a year later. We lost our beloved Ethel Jenkins on the 20thof January.
The hoped-for reopening date of February 8th came and went and we remained shut down. Pastor Beryl shared special readings for Lent, and even a fool-proof pancake recipe for Fat Tuesday. By the end of February the first vaccines became available and people over 80 were prioritized. SouthWest people gladly rolled up their sleeves for the jab, and helped each other make, and get to, appointments.
In March Keith Wood had surgery which thankfully went well, but our dear Beverly Ross passed away. Churches were finally allowed to open for a maximum of 25 people at the end of the month, just in time for Palm Sunday. Strict measures were in place including masks and distancing.
In April we celebrated Easter; Centenary United moved from Fortune Street to St. Columba House; We sent greeting cards to MUHC nurses to thank them for their dedication throughout the pandemic; Joelle Leduc gave birth to baby Jacqueline, and after two false starts, Dennis Brown finally got his heart operation.
In May, Pastor Beryl baptized baby Zoey, although it was done on a Saturday rather than during a Sunday service because of attendance restrictions. Aline Sorel read a poem in memory of Steve during the service one year after his passing; she also got the knee replacement she had been waiting for so long. Former choir member Brian Carleton passed away. At the end of May came the announcement that unmarked graves had been found at the site of a former “Indian” residential school in B.C. They have proved to be just the tip of the iceberg as this tragic story unfolds across the country.
In June people started to get their second doses of Covid vaccine, and by the end of the month Quebec had become a “yellow zone” with restrictions easing somewhat. We were able to have outdoor cookies and lemonade following the service on the 27th – quite a treat! May Cook moved into the Real Morel residence. Four members of a Muslim family were killed and a 9-year-old child badly wounded in a hate-fueled attack in London, Ontario.
Pastor Beryl took a needed vacation in July. The newsletter went out every second week, and we tried to get people interested in an informal online Bible study. Patricia Rickert, sister of Denis Pantridge and a former member of SouthWest, passed away in Grimsby, Ontario.
In August, with the restriction on congregational singing more-or-less lifted, we resumed live services. Church Council met that month for the first time since January 2020. There were two baptisms, and an earthquake in Haiti. Denis Pantridge passed away on the 14th and the family was able to celebrate his life in church two weeks later.
In September, Pastor Beryl and team were able to return to the Floralies Lasalle for an Outreach service. We collected school supplies for Verdun Elementary School, and wore orange shirts in solidarity with survivors of residential schools. There was a Federal election that left things pretty unchanged with the Liberals continuing to lead the country. Jan Barr passed away in New Brunswick; We lost Norman Butt on the 21st at age 97.
In October, we resumed our once-a-month food collection for the Dawson Food Bank (Manna Verdun). We celebrated Thanksgiving in the church, had a visit from Sheila Morrison to update us on the Breakfast Club at VES, and held our All Saints Memorial on October 31st.
November brought a Municipal election, a time change, and the start of Advent on the 28th. Our beloved Shirley McGowan passed away on the 19th.
December started off strong with Advent services, a small Christmas market and bake sale on the 12th, and even a Candlelight service on the 19th. A planned Christmas Eve service had to be pre-recorded in the end as the province shut down again due to the Omicron variant.
So you see it was an eventful year. We laughed, cried and prayed together, even when far apart.
Amy
