First Colchester Methodist Circuit Anna Chaplain is commissioned

New Anna Chaplain Jastine Diaz

The commissioning of the first Colchester Methodist Circuit Anna Chaplain took place on November 30, Advent Sunday. Julia Burton-Jones, Anna Chaplaincy's Training and Development Lead, was thrilled to be part of the service at Castle Methodist in Colchester as Jastine Diaz became an Anna Chaplain.

Jastine and the Revd Chris Preece

The church was filled with friends and supporters from churches in and around Colchester, and with many of Justine’s colleagues and family members who work in the care sector. Justine and his parents have established a homecare service in Colchester called Emanuel Care (Emanuel Care), and his wife Christelle works in a regional role with Care UK. The service was live-streamed and is available as a recording - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5FNes-b0BGM&t=21s We would encourage you to list to Jastine’s testimony which is to be found towards the end of the service

Superintendent minister, the Revd Chris Preece preached on the passage in Luke 2 where the infant Jesus is presented in the temple and we are introduced to the prophet Anna, after whom Anna Chaplaincy is named. You can read the full text of Chris’s sermon

here .

The service fell on the first Sunday of Advent, and Chris spoke about Anna patiently waiting for God’s promise to be fulfilled, drawing parallels with Anna Chaplaincy:

‘Worship and prayer are the foundation of our spiritual lives and at the heart of Anna Chaplaincy. This may be formal worship, but it may be expressions of worship which look quite different. For anyone coming alongside others, it is about recognising that in our worship we give praise to God for all he has done for us through Jesus. As we offer prayer, we do so to bring others before God and for them to come to know God better for themselves.  The spiritual care offered predominantly comes through being with another and offering our whole selves with integrity so the hope of God may be seen and Jesus encountered.

Anna was patient and she persevered in her prayers and in her actions. She was waiting for the fulfilment of God’s promises, which came as she met Jesus, but in the time prior to that she did not give up praising God and bringing others before him. Especially in a time of waiting, it is easy to get discouraged and to want to give up. We live in a world where we want quick results. Sometimes, we have to be patient and allow God to work in his time, not ours.  That is never easy but Anna is a shining example of it. 

Waiting does not have to be a passive activity but can be a time of focusing on God and allowing God to speak through prayer, people and circumstances. The love of Christ will be revealed, as it was through Jesus’ birth.  We have the understanding today of knowing that Jesus has been born, has died and risen again to bring new life to all. Anna met Jesus having faithfully waited throughout her life for Jesus’ birth to come to fruition. Her faith was a faith borne of waiting.

Anna was not afraid to come alongside others to share the love of God with them.  She was present to those in the temple and was able to speak about God to them because she had experienced his presence through the Holy Spirit for herself. She spoke about Jesus to all who were looking for the salvation offered by him. Anna recognised when the time was right to share with others the love of Christ. This came out of her sense of personal discipleship because she could only share what she herself had experienced. Sometimes our best witness is to be a calm and compassionate presence, to be alongside others, and not to be centre stage. It is to judge when the moment is right, and when the invitation is made to share the purpose of God’s love to others. These are often small, but faithful, steps. It is about being present to others, being alongside them, and allowing them to frame their experience of care and friendship, in the context of the story of God.'

Julia then spoke about Anna Chaplaincy at BRF Ministries, bringing greetings from the national team. Finally, it was Jastine’s opportunity to share his testimony. Julia said she was deeply moved to hear how God had been showing him through his work in the care sector the desperate need for spiritual care in later life. 

Seeing how the vision of Chris as superintendent minister and the Colchester Circuit to appoint an Anna Chaplain coincided with Jastine and his wife praying for structures to enable better spiritual care was a wonderful confirmation of the unique and divinely inspired contribution of Anna Chaplaincy. 

Jastine spoke with great passion and conviction, and his message was a call to action and a rallying cry from the heart. Here is his testimony in full:

‘Thank you for giving me this chance to share how God has brought me to this very moment of time, to this very spot that I am standing on now, and how he has positioned me for this ministry of Anna Chaplaincy. When I look back on the journey towards this very moment, I can see that God had begun preparing me long before I even knew about this role.

Both my wife and I spent many years working in the care industry supporting people in care homes and supporting people in their own home. Through that work something became increasingly clear to us. While physical care was provided, spiritual support was often minimal, and in some cases, non-existent. In many settings it only appeared at the very last stage where people are nearing the end of their lives.

We found that deeply troubling, not because staff didn’t care but because the structure wasn’t there. We saw people who loved God but were isolated from fellowship. We saw people longing for connection, for prayer, for worship, and simply for someone to recognise their spiritual need. And the frustration only grew more, at the idea of isolation, of loneliness, of separation from church family, that the sense of spiritual nurture had become an afterthought.

In those times, one Scripture spoke to me deeply. It is from Isaiah chapter 46 verse 4, where God says: ‘Even to your old age and grey hairs, I am he who will sustain you’. That promise reminded me that God has never forgotten the older people in the community – their warmth, their dignity, their spiritual needs.  If he sustains them, then surely his church must also walk alongside them.

So, me and my wife began to pray. We asked God, ‘Show us how we can help’. How we might help bridge that gap, how we might be able to support people to fellowship, be encouraged and have a spiritual companion right where they were. We even explored the idea of starting a social enterprise to provide logistical support for people to have the opportunity for fellowship. But we quickly realised that what we had envisioned would require resources and time beyond what we had. 

I remember praying for this particularly in early 2023, asking God to align us with something that could make a real difference, something that would open a door that we couldn’t open ourselves.  And looking back, I can see God’s hand clearly in this role, this calling as an Anna Chaplain in the Methodist Circuit. It has been as an answer to our prayers. 

It feels like God is saying, ‘Here’s the support. And here is the structure that you couldn’t build by yourself.’ Stepping into this ministry, I feel as though he had shown me over the years – everyone, every conversation, every moment of listening, every frustration over the lack of spiritual support – has been part of his preparation.

And now in this role I have the opportunity to walk alongside people, to honour their stories, to pray with them, to help reconnect those who have felt cut off from fellowship.  And as we move towards Christmas, I want to extend an invitation. We are scheduled to visit several care homes in the area. I would love to encourage everyone, - any age, ability or confidence level – to take part in whatever way they can. Your presence, your voice, even just by simply standing there with us brings so much joy to the people who often feel forgotten. For many residents, Christmas sparks memory of faith, family and happier times. It is a powerful way to share God’s love, and it would mean the world to residents.

‘So I stand before you today grateful.  I am grateful to be here, grateful to God for his faithfulness, grateful to God that he hears our prayers, grateful for the support and encouragement from Chris and my support group, to the Methodist Circuit for welcoming me with open arms, and grateful for the chance to serve in a ministry that reflects his compassion and his heart for those in later life.

My prayer is simply that I may be faithful to the calling he has prepared for me, and that those I meet will experience his presence through this work.’

The post to which Jastine has been appointed is a paid, 20-hour a week position.  The goal of the Circuit and support group is for the Anna Chaplaincy work to be ecumenical in its focus, drawing in volunteers from all the churches in Colchester (which have a history of working together effectively). 

The project launched with carol concerts in six care homes. Reporting a week after his commissioning, Jastine said: ‘So far the carols have been a hit and we've had an incredible response from both the care staff and residents. The support from the Circuit has been incredible!’

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