A Newfoundland native is setting up roots in Collingwood, and hopes to provide a compassionate ear to the town’s most vulnerable citizens.
For this week’s edition of People of Collingwood we spoke with Alecia Barrow, 29, new pastor and officer at the Collingwood Salvation Army.
Q: Where did you grow up?
A: I was born in Cape Breton. When I was eight days old we moved to Newfoundland. I spent four years living on the west coast in Corner Brook, and then we moved to the east coast. I grew up mostly there. I also lived in central Newfoundland.
I moved to Winnipeg and Mississauga before moving here.
Q: Did you always know you wanted to get into this kind of work?
A: No. I actually grew up not wanting to be an officer. I told my parents if they became officers, I would not forgive them. (laughs)
I always knew that I wanted to do something with people. I started working with children with autism when I was 16 as an ABA therapist. After school, I would work. I always loved working with kids.
When I first went to university, I was going to do a science degree and do physiotherapy or speech pathology. That quickly changed about 100 times. I looked at psychology and nursing.
Nothing ever felt right. One day, I felt like this is what I was supposed to do. We refer to it as a calling. It’s a hard job. It’s not something a lot of people choose.
I had walked away from my faith when I first started university. I never didn’t believe in God, but I had been really hurt and I was really angry and I thought God has caused all this stuff to happen to me.
I was at a low point in my life. A friend had invited me to a weekend retreat. I didn’t want to go, but I just felt like I should.
As soon as I got there, the person who was speaking was reading a passage from Matthew where Jesus is saying, those who are heavy and burdened, basically tie onto me and I will make your burden light.
I remember weeping and realizing how burdened I had been. That started me walking back into my faith journey and realizing the misconceptions I had about what faith meant.
There’s a big difference between Christianity and religion.
As I moved out of religion into a relationship with Jesus, I felt unsettled about what I was going to do for the rest of my life.
One day I was praying, and really surrendered. I didn’t know what to do, and I couldn’t figure it out. I thought, I don’t even care anymore if God wants me to be an officer.
I stopped myself and thought, where did that come from?
Five minutes later I got a message from another officer asking me to come speak at a youth camp. I thought, it wasn’t a coincidence. I said sure.
When I showed up at the campground, I got out of the car and a man named Norm greeted me.
He asked me, “Do you want to talk about officership?”
I hadn’t told anybody.
That weekend was the first time I felt that calling.
I was 20 at the time though, so I didn’t feel ready yet. I asked the officer that invited me if there were other opportunities to explore it.
I dropped out of university. I started work in Grand Falls, Windsor in Newfoundland.
I considered going back to school, but at the end of the day, the only thing that brought me peace in my heart and spirit was this job.
Q: What does an officer do?
A: We do everything. It’s not a job in the sense that you get hired and there’s a salary and a job description. The primary responsibility of an officer is the spiritual care of the church, family services and operations. Officers can be appointed to shelters, family service units, churches. The primary focus of the covenant we sign is to seek those who are lost. It surfaces in a lot of different ways.
Here, I oversee the congregation and the church. I preach, I teach and lead that way. I oversee family services and the thrift store. I have great staff.
Q: Do you get a choice on where your appointments are through the Salvation Army?
A: Every year in April, they announce the moves for that year. You don’t move every year.
You get to speak to what would work for you. This feels like a very good fit.
I had been in Mississauga. I wanted to go to a smaller town setting. I had missed living in small towns in Newfoundland. I had missed that sense of community.
I’m a skier. I love to hike. I love the outdoors. I’m close to some friends and family here.
Collingwood really seems to pour into itself, which I think is beautiful.
I love being out in nature, and near water. Being from Newfoundland, this is the closest I’ve felt to being near an ocean in a while.
Q: For how long have you been in this new role?
A: A month.
Q: What are your first impressions here?
A: If we’re opening our eyes and looking around, we’re in a really tough season. While the Salvation Army is here to meet the needs, I feel very passionate about connecting with people.
The more I hear...the housing prices, the food prices, there’s such an increase in homelessness, the Salvation Army has a unique position to be able to meet some of those needs. We also have a chance to share the love of Jesus and share the hope that I, personally, experienced.
I just want to meet people and get to know people.
I feel very privileged as an officer to be able to walk with people through certain parts of their stories.
Q: Do you have ideas on new programs/services you’d like to bring here?
A: It’s still a bit early. I have a lot of ideas. I have to be careful with myself, because I will jump 10 steps ahead and try to do too many things.
Over the next few months, we’re going to be assessing.
A lot of food banks are transactional, where people show up, get their food and leave. We’ve been working on, how can we make our services not just transactional? How do we get to know people? How do we hear?
We want to hear about the needs. We could make a lot of assumptions, but the people coming might need something else. Listen and learn.
I’d like to keep my eyes and ears open to support the community better.
Q: Do you have other hobbies?
A: I have a lot of hobbies. I like hanging out with my friends. I like to hike. I’m big into crafting. I love to paint. I like to read. I like to play piano. I pick up a new hobby every few weeks.
Q: Is there anything else you’d like people in Collingwood to know about you?
A: Sometimes pastors in churches have reputations. I would want people to know that I’m here, and I love them. I strive to make my spaces safe places and places of non-judgment.
If anyone is ever in need and needs someone to talk to, I’m here. I’d be overjoyed to get to meet them.
For our feature People of Collingwood, we speak with interesting people who are either from or are contributing to the Collingwood community in some way, letting them tell their own stories in their own words. This feature runs on CollingwoodToday every weekend. If you’d like to nominate or suggest someone to be featured in People of Collingwood, email [email protected].
