An out of the blue moment

Published on: 9 March 2022

I first became interested in the Anna Chaplaincy movement when my husband and I were studying for a certificate in ‘Older People’s Ministry’ at Cliff College, led by Debbie Thrower, the pioneer of this ministry.

In my previous existence as a Methodist layworker, the emphasis was always on family and youth work, perhaps often ignoring the contribution of older members of the church, and their evangelistic potential in reaching out to others of the same age. After reflecting on my own experience with Age UK, Cruse, hospital chaplaincy and my work with older people within the church and community, I started to think and pray about the possibility of becoming an Anna Chaplain myself. When I got home, I asked whether there were any Anna Chaplains in the Norwich diocese but no one seemed to know anything about them, so I almost forgot about it, moved house and got on with the lock down and endless zoom meetings.

It was during one of these that I mentioned that I was interested in becoming an Anna Chaplain and somehow my name was passed to the Revd Peter Leech who had been tasked with forming the first group of Anna Chaplains in the Norwich Diocese! It was an “out of the blue” moment that leaves me in no doubt that God often works by himself when he wants something done. The opening words of the commissioning service (which have followed me around for the past 20 years) seemed to confirm both this and my call to this ministry:

‘I am about to do a new thing, now it springs forth. I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert’ (Isaiah 43:19).


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