Congratulations as Julia Burton-Jones becomes a lay canon

debbiethrower0
Jan 20
2 min read

Sarah King and Sarah Poole, (local colleagues being admitted as a lay member of Chapter and installed as an honorary lay canon respectively), the Rt Revd Dr Jonathan Gibbs, Bishop of Rochester, together with honorary lay canon Julia Burton-Jones, and the Revd Canon Dr Gordon Giles, Canon Chancellor of Rochester Cathedral who is also the editor of BRF' s New Daylight Bible reading notes (Photo credit: Rochester Diocese)

An honorary lay canon in Rochester 'for services to older people'

We are delighted to report that last week, on Thursday January 15, Anna Chaplaincy’s Training and Development Lead Julia Burton-Jones was made an honorary lay canon in Rochester Cathedral, in recognition of her services to older people and of establishing Anna Chaplaincy in the diocese.

Julia has worked in Rochester diocese as a dementia specialist and then as Anna Chaplaincy coordinator for 11 years, and being made a canon of the cathedral was a highly fitting tribute, marking her tireless energy and care in these roles.

Duly 'Installed': Julia takes her honorary seat (Photo credit: Tim Burton Jones)

Julia’s commitment enabled Rochester to become the first Anglican diocese to embed Anna Chaplaincy strategically across their area, demonstrating at the highest level that older people matter, and that those who serve among them matter too. The local network in Kent and South London now comprises more than 70 Anna Chaplains and Anna Friends, with more individuals discerning and training for the role every year.

To read Rochester’s full story, a blueprint for any diocese or other denominational church grouping poised to establish Anna Chaplaincy in their own 'patch', known as the Rochester Blueprint - Anna Chaplaincy in Rochester Diocese: A blueprint for other dioceses across the UK . It is available to buy using this link (scroll down towards the bottom of the page):

https://www.annachaplaincy.org.uk/anna-chaplaincy-handbook

Thursday's service was a beautiful sung Evensong held in the Quire, which saw Julia and three others formally presented to and accepted by Bishop Jonathan Gibbs. Dozens of people came out - despite terrible weather - to support Julia, including Anna Chaplaincy Ministry Lead Debbie Ducille from Birmingham.

Debbie reflected:

‘It was a privilege to represent BRF Ministries and to show our appreciation of Julia, as she was installed as a lay canon this evening. She is a wonderful, compassionate and wise colleague, and all at BRF were delighted to hear that she has been recognised for her local coordination work and skill in Rochester. The service was full of symbolism and emotion, and I know Julia was deeply touched to see so many of the local network present at this special occasion, praying for her.’