The Bishop of Middleton, Mark Davies, commissioned a team of three Anna Chaplains and seven Anna Friends at a service at All Saints Church, Stand, in Whitefield, Bury.
Bishop Mark presided at the service supported by Revd Donna Williams, the incumbent at St Andrew’s, Hillock and St George’s, Unsworth, and Revd Michele Ryan, curate. The Anna Chaplains and some of the Friends contributed prayers, a reading and a brief overview of Anna Chaplaincy.
There is now a strong team heading up Whitefield and Unsworth Anna Chaplaincy. They are Sue Orrell, Fran Lawson and Revd Stephanie Mawhinney, (pictured from left to right below). Together with their volunteer Anna Friends, all are keen to work in partnership with other churches as well as other organisations working locally with older people.
Bishop Mark spoke about the influence of older people in his earlier life with some of his best lessons on prayer being listening to his grandma praying. He recalled the time he had spent in India with Mother Teresa and the Sisters (The Missionaries of Charity) and the impression it had made on him. He said that Anna Chaplaincy was also ‘a beautiful thing for God’.
Fran Lawson said, "I have attended my local church for over 40 years and have always played an active role there. When we had a presentation on Anna Chaplaincy at our PCC, I thought it was a wonderful organisation, but not for me as I was already so busy. I went to a follow-up meeting and God had other ideas, because I felt very strongly prompted to sign up as Anna Chaplain. My ALM elective is Prayer and Spirituality and I feel this will go very well with being an Anna Chaplain. I am looking forward to what God has in store for me in this very exciting new chapter in my life.’"
Sue Orrell is a lay assistant who has been supporting residents in care homes by visiting them and taking Holy Communion to them on a regular basis. She said, "I have, for many years, been drawn to the ministry to older people and this was reinforced when my father had dementia and when my mother later came to live with us and seeing her struggle with mobility and breathing."
Sue thinks the Anna Chaplaincy resources suit the differing needs of residents in the homes and she is pleased to be working as part of a pastoral team in meeting the needs of older people.
Steph Mawhinney said: "I was ordained deacon in July 2021 and joined the team at Hillock and Unsworth, where the possibility of launching Anna Chaplaincy was already under discussion. Our vicar Donna invited me to consider becoming an Anna Chaplain as part of my curacy. My first reaction was that this would be a good opportunity to develop my skills in ministry with older people, which is not an area where I have much previous experience.
As I reflected I realised that, following my mother’s death with dementia earlier in the year and being aware of how difficult lockdown had been for older friends and relatives, this was matched by my own growing desire to reach out to older people. I came to the conclusion that God had brought everything together to enable me to do this with the support both of a local team and the national Anna Chaplaincy network."