Anna Chaplaincy

What is Anna Chaplaincy?

Anna Chaplaincy is founded on the story of Anna in St Luke’s Gospel v 36-37. Anna was a widow who served in the Temple and after
seeing Jesus and his parents in the Temple talked to the people she met during her time there.

When learning about Anna Chaplaincy, I wondered what is the definition of a Chaplain? I subsequently found the following in the
Training manual: -

'The word chaplain comes from the Latin word for a cloak and the word grew out of the story of St Martin (of Tours) meeting a man begging in the rain with no cloak. If St Martin had met the man’s need by giving him his own cloak, he would have shifted the problem to himself, so instead, he tore his cloak in two and shared it. From this the understanding of a chaplain has developed as someone who shares support with those in the storms of life and offers some spiritual help and direction in difficult times.'
cuh.nhs.org.uk

This describes what Anna Chaplains are trying to do for older people, for it is a ministry designed to support older folk and their
families, in what I describe, as their “twilight” years. Many are living on their own, have or are starting to need additional support from their families or outside services. Others maybe living independently in accommodation designed for the elderly or in residential care. Anna Chaplains meet people with various forms of dementia.

Anna Chaplaincy is a ministry of the Bible Reading Fellowship (BRF). It is a non-judgemental, inter-denominational Christian
ministry, seeking to be alongside people with faith and those with none.

I first learnt about Anna Chaplaincy several years ago, when visiting family in Alton, Hampshire. The founder, Debbie Thrower, a
former TV journalist, lives in the area and the local Anna Chaplaincy team uses the Methodist Church there as their “operational” centre.

In 2025 Brenda died. She’d been a member at St Andrews in the Doncaster Methodist Circuit for many years. It was only towards the end of her life that I realised that I knew very little about Brenda outside of Church. This led me to wondering if there were others in our Circuit who could be in a similar position, living on their own, the Church being very much part of their lives, and then for various reasons, unable to continue being part of the Church’s community.

I believe that Anna Chaplaincy can support those folk, and as importantly you, in making sure that all folk in their “twilight” years will have the opportunity to experience the love of Jesus Christ that Anna Chaplaincy can bring.

Roger Thirlwell

Anna Chaplain, Doncaster Methodist Circuit

17th November 2025