Poem inspired by Anna Chaplaincy

What an honour to learn that Anna Chaplaincy has inspired a poem by writer Faith Ford. Faith contributes to BRF Ministries' Upper Room Bible notes. She knows Hereford Anna Chaplain Diane Bates who has kindly sent it to us with Faith's permission to share it with you. We are very touched!

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'ANNA CHAPLAINCY' by Faith Ford

There are only a handful of us at the little chapel service

and I am reminded that where two or three are gathered

God is there, too, in our midst,

and that no-one is too small or insignificant to Him.

God doesn’t just reside in wealthy and majestic Cathedrals

but He is found with His faithful people

In little churches and chapels throughout the land.

God searches for us, calls us by name to Himself,

and watches over us faithfully to the end.

This the elderly congregation have discovered

as they battle all the wars of older age-

poor or failing health,

some with strained relationships,

others like the mother with her son in the chapel

supported with loving family care.

And God has called a movement of chaplains

to minister to His holy people’s needs-

to banish loneliness, to foster the sacred,

to create or support community.

It is a costly ministry - unglamorous and often unseen.

But we know it is of inestimable value to those who receive its blessing-

for those in care homes, or housebound and imprisoned by their illness or frailty.

But God sees and knows us all

and no task is too difficult or impossible for Him.

He meets with us as one of us

and we hear and know His call.

©Faith Ford 2025

Faith has a new book out - Kingdom Moments - a Miscellany of Poems and Reflections - which was published at the end of 2024 by Aspect Design. It contains 51 of her poems and reflections and illustrations by artist, the late Barbara Stephens, who sadly died at the start of the pandemic.

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