A warm welcome to Tricia Calway who, in her own words describes 'the long journey to becoming an Anna Chaplain.'
'To become an Anna Chaplain, you need support from clergy, sometimes this is enthusiastically forthcoming, sometimes not. Obstacles and an interregnum have made my journey three years long but finally here I am, an Anna Chaplain, which enables me to extend my calling for service to the elderly.
What joy. My learning lesson: with perseverance and all in God’s time, it will come.
I am delighted to be able to lead a new Anna Chaplain Later Life Ministry in the friendly Rossendale Valley. The opportunity came through a caring, compassionate Rector with his nine parishes.
Our first objective will be to build a team to enable a sustainable ministry, which will stand the test of time. We need more Anna Chaplains and trained Anna Friends all with DBSs of course.
Rossendale has an exceptional supply of charitable organisations which cater for all ages and abilities for people in later life, and I look forward to being a part of the local network of faith and non-Christian organisations. We will work together to build on existing initiatives and create new ones.
Introducing a new ministry will take time. Respect needs to be given to existing services, and we need to go slowly taking people with us, recruiting like-minds as we go and sharing ideas and resources with other organisations. My experience with people in later life, here and in Cumbria, is as a pastoral lay minister and I look forward to the cooperation with other agencies which will make Rossendale an even more special place to be.
Training for would-be Anna Chaplains is provided by the diocese, and we will use the Anna Chaplain Friends training aids to upskill our ‘Friends.’ The Anna Chaplain network is there to share ideas and best practice, and I look forward to sharing the support and experience with fellow Anna Chaplains. Exciting times.
If you are interested in helping and improving the spiritual life of people in later life in the Rossendale Valley, please get in touch. Tricia Calway tcalway@me.com 07949 140108.'
These thoughts on ‘joy’ were written the morning after my Anna Chaplain commissioning ceremony on November 28, 2024. They are heartfelt and sincerely meant.
Joy
Joy is what we notice and begin to see.
Joy is the tears in an old man's eyes as he suddenly remembers the chorus to ‘All things bright and beautiful.’
Joy is holding Elsie’s 102-year-old hand in prayer as she communes in her world with a sense of the divine.
Joy is the contented face of a person in later life patting my Pets as Therapy dog’s head.
Joy is the beauty of the earth.
Joy is in the bare trees, the sparkling frost, the crunch of snow underfoot.
Joy is my love and inspiration received from God on high.
Joy is becoming an Anna Chaplain.
Joy is God given.
Thank you, Lord, for all this wonderful joy, the gifts you have given and the beauty you have created.
Stay with me Lord so that I can serve and share your love and compassion.
Amen
Tricia Calway Lay Minister and Anna Chaplain
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