Sharing Thoughts on Our Vital Phone Call Ministry

May 22, 2020 Uncategorized

I am one of the callers for the “phone call ministry,” staying in touch with other parishioners during this time when we are all struggling to cope with various issues but we can’t be together to worship God and to support each other. The conversations give a new insight into how important our church is in all the parishioners’ lives. Many talk about their appreciation for the ways St. Andrew’s is there for them, still active as our church, even during this pandemic.

I have talked to friends I’ve made at church over the last thirty years, and I am beginning to know people I hadn’t known well or have just now met for the first time on the telephone. We’ve shared personal stories, some serious and anxious and sad, and some entertaining. Often we find that we have similar views on how this crisis is or should be handled. I look forward to seeing and talking to my telephone friends in person at church. One of the only good things the COVID crisis brings us is a reminder of how much our relationships mean. Thanks to these calls, I am reconnected with a man who cut our grass when he was a teenager. I have learned a new game to play with my grandson on Facebook. I have, sadly, learned the word “endemic.” And I am encouraged to check on more of my friends, in and out of town, than I already have.

As Barbra Streisand sings, “People who need people are the luckiest people in the world.” I’m glad we’re making these calls.

Isabel Hatchett