Born in London, England, on January 3, 1816, Anne Ayres came to America with her family in 1836 and settled in New York City. Until 1845 she supplemented the family income by teaching daughters of well-to-do families. In the summer of that year she heard Dr. William Augustus Muhlenberg preach on ╥Jephtha╒s Vow╙ at St. Paul╒s College and determined upon a life of religious service. On All Saints╒ Day, November 1, she was consecrated Sister Anne by Muhlenberg.
There were at that time no sisterhood orders in the Episcopal Church in America or in the Church of England. The few women who joined Sister Anne in conducting a parish school and doing charitable work among the poor were formally organized in 1852 as the Sisterhood of the Holy Communion, with Sister Anne as ╥First Sister.╙ The sisters adopted regulation dress but no habits and instead of vows made pledges of service, renewable in three-year terms. In 1853 they opened a small infirmary, and five years later they moved to the new St. Luke╒s Hospital, built by Muhlenberg╒s efforts. Sister Anne directed both housekeeping and nursing work at St. Luke╒s until 1877. In 1865 she joined Muhlenberg in opening St. Johnland on Long Island, a rural refuge for the poor, handicapped, orphaned, and homeless, and she remained there after leaving the superintendency of the hospital. The sisterhood came to be known sometimes as that of St. Luke and St. John. In 1867 she published Evangelical Sisterhoods, in 1875╨1877 she published Evangelical Catholic Papers, an edition of Muhlenberg╒s writings, and in 1880 she published The Life and Work of William Augustus Muhlenberg; she was unwilling throughout her life to have her work appear as more than a part of his. Sister Anne died at St. Luke╒s Hospital, New York City, on February 9, 1896. The Sisterhood survived until 1940.
