Looking ahead to Alton's new Anna Chaplain - already busy writing
- debbiethrower0
- Aug 16
- 2 min read
'It is not long now', writes Debbie Thrower, 'until Emily Spencer is commissioned as the next Anna Chaplain in Alton, Hampshire, at St Lawrence Church on Sunday morning August 31':
Emily will be the fifth Anna Chaplain to carry the torch for older people in the Hampshire town and villages where the Anna Chaplaincy movement began in 2010.
It was such a nice surprise, then, to see that already Emily is making an impact. She has written a beautiful article for the summer edition of the Plus magazine from Christians on Ageing - a Christian voice for older people. Plus is free to members of the organisation and may be received by post or email.
Emily has worked as a Methodist Lay Pastoral assistant in Wiltshire and, most recently, as a wellbeing support worker in a secondary school in Hampshire. She draws on her insights into the spirituality of older people in the piece entitled 'A Window into the Wisdom of Older Age.'
She writes of the 'wintering' of older age - a time of sharing our story, gathering our experiences together, imparting wisdom and guidance to those younger, future generations who will carry forward into spring.
She describes how much she relishes time spent among older people:
'I had always felt God's call to work with the older generation since my early twenties, and found an incredible sense of peace and awe when working with people a lot older than myself. It is true that society tends to label the older generation as entering the 'final stages' of their lives. As such they become a generation that gets forgotten about or cast aside in favour of the 'generations of tomorrow'.
Her five-page spread quotes from the poetry of J R R Tolkien, as well as contemporary opinion formers, and concludes:
'... it is the chance to be understood and heard. And this is what I have found to be most powerful in my ministry with older people. It is the act of active listening that empowers and provides opportunity to share their wisdom and experience. For me, this has been a window, a glimpse, into the wisdom of older age.'
We look forward very much to getting to know Emily better and to working alongside her and the large team of volunteer Anna Friends locally, when she begins work in Alton in September.
Do join us, if you can, for a celebration of Anna Chaplaincy at the 10.30am GAP (Greater Alton Project) service at St Lawrence Church on Sunday August 31 and meet Emily and past Anna Chaplains who have served in the town.
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