The start of 2024 brings a lot of excitement to the Living Out team – great plans are developing for the coming year. But all of this is tinged with real sadness because our wonderful friend and colleague, Anne Witton, has made the decision to step down as our Content Director.
This hasn’t been an easy decision for Anne to make because she’s loved the job, but she needs a well-earned break. Her convictions haven’t changed, but time on this contested front-line has taken too much of a toll on her wellbeing. The hope is to explore some of this in a podcast with Anne soon so that you know how you can be praying for her and for others who inhabit this contested space.
I have the great pleasure of writing an appreciation of Anne. Where to start?!
But for now, I have the great pleasure of writing an appreciation of Anne. Where to start?! She first came into Living Out’s orbit as part of the second tranche of storytellers – telling us about her love of steam trains. Rewatching that film just now reminds me of why we wanted to recruit her to the staff team as soon as possible – her sense of humour, her powerful story of meeting Jesus, her honesty about the ups and downs of following him, and her ability to communicate what people like us most need.
Anne’s arrival on the staff team in 2019 was a massive fuel injection. She made our new website happen – researching options, choosing a developer, working with them to make something fit for purpose, and writing plenty of the new content we relaunched with. One of the best ways of appreciating Anne is just to spend some time on the website – enjoying its looks, functionality, and content.
I love the different perspectives Anne has always brought in her writing for us – speaking into the lives of those who are ill, unemployed, lonely and pressured or reminding us that we’re all different. This has been reflected in every conversation I’ve had with her and in her contributions to staff discussions, where she’s led the way in making sure we are connecting with as many different life experiences and situations as possible.
Speaking at an event with Anne is signing up to be upstaged by both her and her PowerPoint. Many forget my words and handouts, but few ever forget Anne’s openness, humour, and the indelible image of the ‘cat bag’. Anne’s ability to engage an audience, to offer them help and hope, is constantly mentioned in feedback we receive.
But it’s her dulcet tones welcoming people to the Living Out podcast that is probably the context in which she has become most appreciated by more and more people. She’s made our podcasts happen – researching how best to do them, dreaming up series, producing tight episode outlines, editing every single episode. Whenever Living Out team members are on the road we are thanked for the podcast and the impact it’s made on people’s lives – all of this is down to Anne and the huge amount of time and effort she’s put in (even in recent months painstakingly editing an episode in which I’d managed to lose much of what she needed).
I could go on and on (as Anne knows from her editing of me) but can’t close without paying tribute to Anne’s ability to keep going herself when so much has been thrown at her in recent years. When you list all that she’s been through you realise that so many others would have given up a long time ago but that, incredibly, Anne has persevered. On the team we have all been so encouraged by that – and the good that has come from it – but recognise that it is now more than about time she had the space for some rest and refreshment.
When the time’s right, we’re looking forward to Anne contributing to the ministry of Living Out in new ways. But for now – thank you Anne! We love you lots and are praising God for all you’ve self-sacrificially given us all, in so many ways.
