A Letter to Our Wesley Nurses

May 11, 2020

Dear Wesley Nurses:

This week, this month, this year—the spotlight is on you. 2020 marks the 200th anniversary of the birth of Florence Nightingale—pioneer of modern nursing—and has been designated the “Year of the Nurse” by the World Health Organization. More importantly, we are shining a light on you now because of the invaluable role you continue to play in providing compassionate care to the least served during the coronavirus pandemic.

As a young pastor, I served on staff at a church that received one of the very first Wesley Nurses. Since that time, I have observed and worked with Wesley Nurses from a variety of positions. I have seen lives saved through health assessments and prescription assistance. Pastors and other leaders have learned the wisdom of asset-based community assessment. I witnessed a whole congregation as it flipped from dying to thriving, through a nurse’s community connections. I have served alongside Wesley Nurses with gratitude and pride.

Now as a board member for Methodist Healthcare Ministries, I rejoice to see the collective scope and impact of your work. Across the 74 counties within the Rio Texas Conference, your work is nimble, creative, and contextual. All the nurses I have known personally have relished the working environment that allows them to bring themselves fully to the work of healing bodies and spirits, fulfilling the MHM mission of “Serving Humanity to Honor God.” The following reflection, written by a friend of the program, is a rendering of that labor of love.

A Wesley Nurse offers:

• healing in the face of hurting,
• compassion in the midst of chaos,
• faith that lifts others out of fear,
• perseverance despite the presence of obstacles,
• hope in the place of despair,
• peace that allows for progress,
• confidence to change circumstances,
• and, most importantly, hands and feet that faithfully follow God’s leading.

We shine a light of celebration and honor on you, Wesley Nurses, because your light shines so brightly amidst our church and communities. Thank you for your faithfulness and your service, which I know at times only God fully sees, and which has blessed us immeasurably. May God inspire and strengthen you, shining the true light from which all goodness comes, reflecting through you always as beacons of divine mercy and love.

Grace and peace,

Laura Merrill

Assistant to the Bishop and Director of Clergy Excellence