A Letter from Rev. Elder Nancy Wilson about the Passing of Rev. Paul G. Fairley

Paul Fairley:

I loved the tributes that went out today from Paul’s mentors and colleagues. Every word they said was so true.

I saw Paul most recently at Rev. Elder Jeri Ann Harvey’s memorial in Toronto. He read scripture so movingly that day in September. All of us were so mindful of his declining health, and the poignancy of what he read and how he read it really broke open that service.

And, as was always true with Paul, there was another side, his gallows humor as we robed for the service. He kept imagining a reunion not very far off with Jeri Ann, and described it in great detail. He loved pushing the edge of everything, not really caring if it made us squirm just a little.

I hugged Paul and his Mom that Sunday after church at MCC Toronto, knowing it was probably a last hug. In a weekend of profound letting go, I found myself balking a little at letting go of him one more time.

I talked to him just a moth before he died, by phone, and we laughed about a picnic and walk through the park we shared in Sao Paolo, Brazil, nearly three years ago. I treasure his glee and giggle, his mischievousness, the way he played with ideas, with God and with us. I am grateful for his profound service to MCC, which I was privileged to witness at the World Council of Churches General Assembly in 2006. I think of his communion consecration at the MCC General Conference of 2005 in Calgary.

There must be a communion of saints, because all of that brilliance, life and love has to be somewhere. I know that somewhere is the heart of God who made Paul Fairley, who left us too soon.

Rev. Nancy Wilson
Moderator
Metropolitan Community Churches.