End of one era and start of another for Julia and colleagues in Kent
- debbiethrower0
- 1 hour ago
- 4 min read
Fittingly, on Candlemas Sunday Julia Burton-Jones attended her final commissioning service in the role she has held for 11 years as Anna Chaplaincy lead for Kent. Julia is leaving her post in Rochester Diocese so she can increase the hours she works as Training and Development Lead for Anna Chaplaincy at BRF Ministries - from two to four days a week - from 1 March.
Allyson Edwards was commissioned as the third Anna Chaplain at St Luke’s Lighthouse Church in Hawkinge, joining Maggie Smithard and Sarah Grinsell. Allyson was supported not only by the congregation at St Luke’s but also by friends from other local churches and her colleagues at Mission Aviation Fellowship where she has worked for 25 years.
St Luke’s has a thriving ministry at the local care home Hawkinge House where Allyson has joined her vicar, the Revd Rob Grinsell and Anna Chaplain Maggie at weekly Communion services attended by up to 40 residents. St Luke’s also welcomes people with dementia and their carers each Wednesday lunchtime to the Lighthouse Cafe.
In his sermon Rob spoke about Jesus and how little detail is contained in the gospels about his personality. An exception to this is Matthew 11: 29 where Jesus says he is ‘gentle and humble in heart’. Rob said this described Allyson perfectly and these characteristics have been demonstrated in the way she connects with residents at Hawkinge House.
During the service Allyson was invited to share her story so far. This is what she said:
'I have always got on well with people but in recent years I have discovered a special fondness for the elderly.
There have been some significant people at times in my life; when I have been making important decisions like taking exams, becoming a Sunday School Teacher, leaving School and thinking about which career path to take. In one of the training evenings we were asked to think about people who have made a difference to us in our lives and when I looked back, many of those people were older, very wise and wonderful people. Rob reminded us at Hawkinge House on Wednesday how God speaks to us through significant people in our lives and I firmly believe that God was speaking to me through these older friends.
After caring for my parents in their later years, the last 18 months, I have found myself with some extra time which I wanted to use for something good rather than feeling sad and sorry for myself.
For the last 25 years and I have been working at Mission Aviation Fellowship in the Folkestone Head Office. I now work for three days each week and so I began to pray and ponder what I could do during one of the other days. I am fortunate to be able to walk to work and that has been a great time to think and pray as I walk along.'
'I kept coming back to doing something with older people and Anna Chaplaincy popped into my mind as it had been featured on Songs of Praise a few years ago and I have seen Maggie and Sarah’s Commissioning about four years or so ago. For those of you who know me quite well, I am not known for rushing into decisions and so I kept thinking about it!'
'I spoke to Rob and Maggie to see what they thought about it and they were both very positive, as were the PCC. I attended a meeting one Saturday morning at Diocesan House in Canterbury with Maggie which was an opportunity to find out more about Anna Chaplaincy and to meet the team and some other Anna Chaplains. I decided that I would apply to do the training which I completed in October.
During that time I began to go along to Hawkinge House with Rob, Maggie, Steve and Anya and get to know some of the residents and help out with the Communion Service, which I have absolutely loved. It has been a privilege to get to know some of the ladies and gentleman, hear about some of their lives, their losses and some of their sadnesses. They are so happy to be able to go along to the Communion Services each week and feel that church comes to them. They love singing the old hymns that they sang back in the day and some newer one as well.
They one thing that many older people seem to have is time – time to think back, to reminisce and at times to worry about the future and what may lie ahead. I now have some time which I hope that I will use to make a difference to some of the older folk in our community. I am very excited to see how this ministry will grow and develop in the weeks, months and years to come.'
'I would like to finish by reading Psalm 100. It resonated with me and got me thinking about Anna’s response to seeing Baby Jesus with Simeon in Luke’s Gospel. It is also a wonderful reminder of God’s faithfulness through all generations.'
Psalm 100
A psalm. For giving grateful praise.
1 Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Worship the Lord with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
3 Know that the Lord is God.
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving
and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
5 For the Lord is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Amen
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