A Tribute To Linda Pollock
Albert Bogle
November 17, 2024
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Our dear friend and Sanctuary First contributor Reverend Linda Pollock died in Aotearoa New Zealand from a massive heart attack this week on the morning of November 13th at Hawkes Bay Hospital. In a tribute to Linda her friend Jill McDonald has written:
“She had been here in New Zealand for just over a year, first on sabbatical and then working as a Community Minister. She was dearly loved and enjoyed by our St Andrews church whanau and all who she encountered — and that was a lot of people!!! She was a gift to us all and will be sadly missed. She loved New Zealand and experienced it as her spiritual home.”
Linda's New Zealand Memorial service will be at St Andrews Hastings. The service is not being live streamed but it is being recorded.
Many of the Sanctuary First Community will miss her deeply thoughtful, biblical reflections as one of our most popular contributors. James Cathcart who edits our Daily Worship writes about Linda:
Linda always wrote with such depth but also with an immediate emotional clarity — a passionate, creative writer who kept the love of God at the core of all she wrote. Whether she was writing a reflection, prayer, monologue or meditation she had a gift for picking up on evocative details to draw the reader in. One of her Daily Worship pieces that will always stay with me began with an ingenious analogy using the balletic folding and unfolding of newspapers from squashed up commuters on the New York Subway to tell us about God! The gradual, deliberate choreography of careful folds (so as not to elbow fellow passengers) giving her — and therefore us — a compelling picture of how the Kingdom unfolds bit by bit as we learn to join this dance of folding and unfolding, of ongoing revelation side by side.
As a gifted writer she also knew when to hold back, when a simple direct phrase was enough to say everything that needed to be said, like this incredibly powerful line: “Eternal God, thank You for walking with us despite our inability at times to walk with You.”
This beautiful piece she wrote for us a couple of years ago: ‘In, with, for, through’ beautifully expresses the deep mysteries at the edge of human language and understanding as we try to understand who Jesus is. She concludes “We cannot view Christ Jesus, God in the flesh through the lens of the intellect alone, we must live in Him, live with Him, live for Him and through Him if we want to see a full picture.”
I will hugely miss working with Linda, we had a running joke about how often she would write about wallowing in God’s love and we would often encourage one another to take time to wallow in that love! Linda, now may you rest in loving peace with God, whose love you expressed so well. I’ll conclude with Linda’s own prayer from ‘In, with, for Through’
“O God Who cannot be confined by our intellect or imagination, thank You that you are beyond our ken yet closer to us than the air we breathe. Thank You for the glimpses of the Divine we receive and for the way Your Holy Spirit reveals You in diverse ways and to whosoever has eyes to see You. Amen.”
It was during the lockdown that Linda stepped up and made a sizeable contribution to the ministry of Sanctuary First. She was an incredibly gifted communicator working as a regular presenter of Sunday Live and also contributing to our creative writing team. Her greatest passion was to find ways to enable children to worship God. She often reminded us that children more than anything else should be included in worship, allowed to lead and contribute to the act of worship. She questioned the models of church where the children are removed for worship. For her they were part of the covenant of grace and members if the body of Christ.
Linda had an extensive knowledge of the Bible and she loved to share her Irish heritage with her listeners this often was used as a clever introduction to hold the attention of her listeners. Laura Digan Sanctuary First’s lead minister who heads up our morning prayer ministry shares how she and Linda created the popular Time of the Month’ podcast:
Linda and I both shared a passion for highlighting the women of the Bible and the impact they made on our faith. Our discussions were always lively, challenging and full of God's love.
Linda was a wise woman filled with grace. I would always leave our times together having learned from her wisdom and blessed by a deeper appreciation and understanding of situations.
I personally will miss her loyal friendship, her warmth, her sense of humour and her words of encouragement.
All of us at Sanctuary First give thanks to God for the gifts and ministry of Linda Pollock and share our deepest condolences with her family, friends, and all who loved her.
“I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day—and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.’”
(2 Timothy 4: 7-8)
Albert Bogle
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