Category: News

* Brothers and sisters:

It is with great sadness I inform you that Deacon Ben Wenning of St Gabriel Parish in Charlotte recently passed away.

Eternal rest grant unto him, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon him. May his soul and the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.

Deacon Ben was married to the love of his life, Dorothy (Dot) Wenning, for 66 years. He was a faithful servant of the Lord and his people.

He served in the US Navy and belonged to the volunteer fire departments when living in New Jersey and Virginia. He and Dot moved to Charlotte and Deacon Ben was second in charge of air traffic controllers at Charlotte Douglas Airport. He was ordained as a permanent deacon in the diocese in 1988 and was the first deacon assigned to Airport Chaplaincy at the Charlotte Airport. He also served as Director of Deacons for the diocese. At St Gabriel Parish he taught RCIA, worked in Marriage Encounter and served many other ministries over the years – truly a “deacon’s deacon.” A mentor and kind friend to many. Deacon Ben loved his family dearly and leaves behind many children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. 

Please keep Dot and all the family in your prayers for consolation and peace.

* Recently the Prayer Room at Munich Airport has has added a “Book of Concerns” for visitors to add comments and prayer requests. The  Rev Christine Stöhr, has been greatly touched by the beautiful thoughts and prayers that have been written into the book.

* A display along the transit corridor at Paris Orly Airport features an innovative visual device that showcases ancient statues  dressed in today’s fashions. It is titled the “Hipsters in Stone “ Exhibition and has been attracting much attraction from passing passengers.

*Recently we have fielded two enquiries for new chaplaincies to commence.  One in Rwanda and the other in Memphis US.

Early discussions with chaplaincy providers and airports are taking place with support from the IACAC.

The payment of the annual membership for the IACAC is now due. The membership financial year is from the 1^st January to the 31^st December.  Payments made at the annual conference are usually for the next year and should be made in American Dollars. Please go to our website www.iacac.aero and follow the links to make your payment. The 2023 annual membership subscription for Active membersis $50 and $30 for Associate members.

It was with great sadness we received the news of the passing of Henri Dammane in Nice. Henri has been a long time member of IACAC and attended many conferences  where he and Denise formed life long frirndships with chaplains from around the world. He served as President from 2007 to 2009 and hosted the 2008  annual conference in Nice. Henri was a devout christian and was laid to rest following a Requiem Mass at Saint-Joseph church in Saint-Laurent-du-Var on Monday March 27. Flowers were laid in the name of ICHTUS and IACAC. Our prayers and sympathy were extend to his daughter, Dominique and her family. May Henri rest in peace and rise in glory.

Condolences

Our prayers and sympathy are also extended to  the Rev Romeo Dabee from JFK, New York, who sadly lost his mother over Easter. Her funeral service was held on the 15^th April and our prayers were  with Romeo at that time. May she rest in peace and rise in glory.

Helsinki

Good news from  Rev Hanna Similä whohas worked hard to establish a chaplaincy at Helsinki Airport in Finland. She has been able to establish an agreement with the airport management, Finavia, and celebrated the opening of a Quiet Room within the airport in January.  As the first airport chaplain in Finland she has attracted a large amount of media attention,(one TV interview, twice on radio and up to ten newspaper articles)  during which she has spoken of the great support she has received from her IACAC colleages. For this she is very grateful as she does not feel alone. During one interview she was asked what ‘Holy’ means to her. Her reply “ The trust that in the upper most control tower there is always someone who is awake and hears us” rings true for each of us. Hanna is an inspiation to us all and we look forward to hearing more about the development to the Chaplaincy in Helsinki.

Melbourne

The chaplaincy at Melbourne Airport has also attracted some media interest with a TV film crew spending five hours with members of the team filming a day in the life of the chaplaincy. The segment went to air as part of the daily news broadcast on the 1^st of April. It can be viewed on the Melbourne Airport Chaplaincy Facebook page.

Lagos

 Fr Gabriel Feyisetan from Lagos, Nigeria sends his greetings  and thanks very much for the Newsletter. He asks that God may bless us in our daily struggle to win the victory of glory and be among the family of saints. Gabriel went on to say,”May God guide and grant us the grace of Eternal Easter. Bless you all happy preparations for our next conference.  Greetings to our beloved colleagues, God bless you all. Have a blessed week and a blessed month”.

Nairobi

The team at Nairobi Airport gathered together for a day of fellowship and growth. Those chaplains who attended the Nairobi conference in person or online have many wonderful memories of the friendship offered by the Nairobi team. The Airport Chalaincy in Nairobi  is one of the longest existing airport chaplaincies in Africa and it is wonderful to see it going from strength to strength.

Major Melvyn B. Ackroyd

Greetings to you and to all who remember Betty and me from our days at Heathrow.  As you will recall, we retired in November 2012 after serving an extra 2 years before retiring.  It is always interesting to receive the IACAC Newsletter – thank you – and to catch up a little on what is happening in the IACAC world. After retirement I served as a hospital chaplain for 8 years before Covid got in the way and I had to stop frequenting the hospital because of my age and the danger being there imposed on me.  Unfortunately, getting back proved an issue mostly because Betty’s health has deteriorated and I didn’t feel it appropriate for leaving her alone for long periods of time.   I’m still doing a form of chaplaincy, visiting other retired SA officers with Betty in tow.    I’m also the Vice President of the Retired Officers Fellowship in South London and editor of their magazine.  So I keep myself busy! We have wonderful memories of IACAC. Betty joins me in sending our greetings. Major Melvyn B. Ackroyd

USA: Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport

Ruth Agrusa from wrote to say.  “I want to let you know that we are celebrating the 5th anniversary of the MKE Airport Meditation Room at Milwaukee Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee Wisconsin in the USA.  Time has really flown by quickly. We are hosting an open house event on November 15, 2022 in the room from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm.  There will be refreshments and gifts for those who attend.  Wish you could come and join us.

The room continues to be a place for reflection and prayer.  We still hope to have chaplaincy there some time in the future. That is not possible now but we still hope.    The guests that come, have left many wonderful comments that they appreciate having the room and had a good experience there.  We are so happy that we can provide the space for them”.

Nigeria: Lagos

 Fr Gariel Feyisetan sends his greetings  and thanks very much for the newsletter and happy feast of all the Saints. May God also bless us in our daily struggle to win the victory of glory and be among the family of saints. Have a blessed week and a blessed month, God bless you all.   

Finland: Helsinki Airport

Good news from  Rev Hanna Similä whohas been working hard to establish a chaplaincy . She has been able to establish an agreement with the airport management, Finavia, and will be celebrating the opening of a Quiet Room within the airport in January. It is wonderful news and we look forward to hearing more about the development to the Chaplaincy.

Melbourne Airport Chaplaincy team were extremely saddened by the sudden passing of one of their team, Chaplain Graeme McClimont. He will be remembered for his weekly visits to the ramp, bag rooms, engineers, cleaners and anyone else he could find to have a chat with airside.

Our deepest condolences are extended to his wife, Chaplain Helen, and the extended family.

We honour and are grateful for his more than eleven years of service to the airport. Rest In Peace

To all those in our chaplaincy teams who celebrated Diwali on the 24^th October. We hope it was a joyous time with your families and communities.Diwali, meaning ‘a row or cluster of lights’, is celebrated by cultures and religions around the globe, with lamps, fireworks and bonfires illuminating the sacred holiday.

The 18^th October was a very special time for the Frankfurt Chaplaincy when they celebrated the 50^th anniversary of the founding of the chaplaincy. Fr Walter Maader, the first permanent Secretary of the IACAC, was the early chaplain at Frankfurt and still keeps in touch with the team there.  An ecemenical service was held during which representatives from other churches and the airport spoke. Chaplains from around the world were invited to send  short video messages to the Frankfurt Chaplaincy and share in the celebration. Frankfurt Chaplaincy are considering hosting the 2024 IACAC Conference.

Welcome to the Rev Hanna Similä whois working hard to establish a chaplaincy at Helsinki Airport in Finland. Hanna attended the IACAC conference in London this September and it was a pleasure to have her with us for the week. Many other chaplains established connections with her and we look forward to hearing more about the development of the Helsinki Chaplaincy.

The next meeting of the  British Isles and Ireland Airport Chaplains Network( BIIACN) will be held at London Gatwick Airport on Wednesday November 16^th 2022. As yet the final programme has not been finalised but they hope to learn more about the work of Border Force.

The Australian Airports Association National Conference and Industry Expo is to be held in Adelaide, South Australia  from the Tuesday 15^th Novemebr to Thursday 17^th November. Mr Martyn Scrimshaw from Melbourne and Mr Gus Yearsley from Hobart Airport Chaplaincies have been invited to attend. Along side national and international aviation companies, they have been given the opportunity to not only have an exhibition stand but to make a 20 minute presentation on airport chaplaincy to those attending. What an opportunity to spread the word about airport chaplaincy within the aviation community.