Tribute to Bernie

Bernie died on Tues evening, 1st September. Forty-four years of age. That is very young.

Bernie was passionate, talented, loving and caring. She was a minister of religion.

Bernie was my friend and colleague and I loved her a lot. I still do and always will. She was an innovative and creative person with a great love for people and great skills in pastoral care and leading people.

Bernie was also a most creative worship leader. She was highly competent at creating inclusive, participatory, fun worship. What she ran was fun but was also very clearly worship.

Bernie had a deep love of God and a rich relationship with God. She was a person with a strong inner life and openness to the mysterious Spirit of life.

She had a great sense of humour, which was part of what made her such a joy to be with. She didn't take herself or the church too seriously. She had no time for jargon or anything that seemed dirge-like or irrelevant.

Bernie was "down to earth" and worked hard at making the Christian faith accessible to all. She would craft and re-craft sermons to ensure that everyone could understand what she had to say.

What I came to sense over the months of Bernie's horrid illness (cancer) was that:-
* Bernie had great self-knowledge. She knew who she was and who she wasn't. She knew what she wanted and needed and was comfortable pursuing that in an assertive way. Please be clear that I mean assertive and not aggressive.
* Bernie had a great presence and stature.
* Bernie was a person of deep faith in God. She was prepared to face hard things but also chose to hold onto hope and to dream of a miracle.
* Bernie was strong and courageous.
* Bernie loved people - her family, friends, people in general - and chose to put up with pain and suffering in order to hold onto those relationships and to hold onto life.
* Bernie was greatly loved and liked.
* Bernie loved to be free and this made being in hospital difficult. Bernie would claim freedom by walking. She would roam around the hospital, engaging with others.

In case you haven't picked it up yet, I loved and adored Bernie. Being with Bernie gave me huge support in ministry. As a minister, I felt less lonely and alone with Bernie as my friend and colleague. I will miss Bernie's company greatly but believe a sense of her personality and presence will stay with me. I hope so anyway.

I will endeavour to honour who and how Bernie was as a minister in the way that I care for people and seek to be creative, innovative and inclusive in exercising ministry.

I hope this tribute does some justice to Bernie, the minister. May it help those who didn't know Bernie to get some sense of who she was and and how wonderfully she exercised pastoral ministry.
Amen.
Sincerely,
Cynthia