This Saturday (2 April 2022) sees our first Anna Chaplain being commissioned in Scotland – in the rural setting of Upper Clydesdale, South Lanarkshire.
We already have network members in Nairn, near Inverness, and on the island of Orkney. But, of course, it’s a drop in the ocean compared with all those who could benefit from the Anna Chaplaincy model spreading more widely in Scotland.
We are holding a free webinar in conjunction with Edinburgh-based Faith in Older People for everyone interested in seeing more Anna Chaplains across the nation. It’s on Wednesday 6 April, from 4.30 pm for 90 minutes.
The pandemic has shone a spotlight on the complex needs of older people. We have seen a steep rise in the number of people wanting to help those in the older age category by becoming Anna Chaplains. The movement is named after the faithful widow ‘Anna’ who appears in Luke’s gospel and all the chaplains are community-based. Independent research shows, ‘Anna Chaplains are present with older people, their families, and care staff in a multitude of ways: as friends, pastors and ministers; sharing conversation, hopes, fears, prayers and laughter. They’re in family homes, communities and clubs, church groups, care and nursing homes, through joy and loss, life to death. To those they serve, they are quite simply, essential.’ (Impact Report 2021) The Anna Chaplaincy network is now more than 220-strong. Anna Chaplains (male and female, lay or ordained) often pursue a vocation to work in their own communities on reaching retirement age themselves, finding renewed meaning and purpose in local ministry.
If you’d like to find out more, then do come along (and bring your friends) to this joint webinar with Faith in Older People led by the Anna Chaplaincy team, including the pioneer of the movement and former broadcaster, Debbie Thrower.
Location Online event Speakers Debbie Thrower Date Wednesday 6 April Time 4.30–6.00 pm Cost Free
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