Candlemas brings a fresh crop of commissionings

debbiethrower0
23 hours ago
2 min read

Snowdrops, often also called Candlemas Bells because they tend to be open by the beginning of February when the church celebrates Candlemas

Today (Sunday, February 1) sees three Anna Chaplaincy commissioning services taking place. Joanne, is commissioned as an Anna Chaplain in Bournemouth today and Allyson in Kent. In Cornwall, in St Austell, five Anna Friends – Alison, Jan, Edwina, Kirsten, and Paul – are being commissioned by the Bishop of Truro, focusing their ministry through a new social prescribing initiative to meet spiritual needs in the town.

We pray for each of them as they begin their ministry among older people. We pray too for the Candlemas services and events taking place in many churches both today, tomorrow and during the coming week.

Anna Chaplaincy Ministry Lead Debbie Ducille will be in the Somerset cathedral city of Wells on Monday meeting local coordinators and their teams. She has published an article for BRF Ministries marking the season when the church celebrates the Presentation of Christ in the Temple and the faithful older people Simeon and Anna described by Luke in his gospel. The prophetess Anna is, of course, the inspiration for the name 'Anna Chaplaincy.'

Anna (Credit: Mother Anne, Malling Abbey, Kent)

Debbie describes in the article: 'Great old age may be increasingly common in this country, but is not for the faint-hearted.'

'Yet, as the Australian academic Elizabeth Mackinlay observes throughout her work, "Spiritual growth is not simply possible in later life, it’s likely."

The calling of every Anna Chaplain is to seek to accompany a person, regardless of their beliefs or values, in this significant season: being present, listening, affirming their story and their value, honouring their wisdom and experience, and encouraging their spiritual vibrancy and growth to the very end of life.

As we celebrate 11 years as a national movement, Anna Chaplaincy as a ministry of presence is now offered by hundreds of extraordinary women and men, called and sent out by their local churches throughout the UK. A significant number are older themselves, widowed and with their own experience of loss, just like Anna. Theirs is a vital work, and the need for this ministry is only growing in every community in the country.'

She also quotes the words of author and theologian Martyn Percy:

"Anna Chaplaincy is a profound, prescient, and prophetic sign for our age… Anna Chaplaincy – in seeking out older people, the lonely and the isolated, does exactly what Jesus would have us do: and in so doing, we might challenge and transform our contemporary society. The work of Anna Chaplaincy is a vital sign of the Kingdom of God, and on the cutting edge of ministry today."

Meanwhile, on Monday Debbie Thrower and Anna Chaplaincy coordinator for BRF Ministries Marian Muskett will also be with Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends who are taking part in a local Gathering entitled 'Living Stones- the Power of Storytelling' in the Anglican Diocese of Portsmouth. The Bishop of Portsmouth Jonathan Frost will also attend.