Prayerful and hopeful
Listening God, as we pray for the isolated and lonely, we thank you for the growing ministry of Anna Chaplains across our diocese and for all who offer pastoral and spiritual support to older people. Sharpen the hearing of each one of us to those who need to be heard.
Listening God, we bring you those who mirror your own listening, all who pastor others by enabling them to feel heard. Give to the growing number of Anna Chaplains in this diocese the faithful, prayerful, hopeful qualities of Anna herself.
– From this month’s Diocese of Norwich prayer diary.
Meanwhile, Anna Chaplain Gaye Hailstone has written this piece for her local churches:
‘Today, we join together to thank God for the growing ministry of Anna Chaplains across this diocese. Anna Chaplaincy is a ministry that supports men and women spiritually in their later years. It is about nurturing and resourcing spirituality in its broadest sense, offering non-judgmental, person-centered spiritual care for elderly people of all faiths and none. It is a comparatively new ministry, developed by Debbie Thrower in Alton in 2010 and taken on by BRF as a national initiative in 2014.
‘Ministry for older people is not new in our diocese, but it can often be invisible and lack recognition and resourcing. Anna Chaplaincy gives definition and identity to this ministry which we are encouraged and excited to see growing and developing across this diocese.
‘Here at Yare Valley Churches, Gaye and Peta were commissioned as Anna Chaplains in September 2021 and are joined by a small but growing team of Anna Friends who journey together and work to grow ministry alongside older people in this parish.’
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