IACAC News

Hi my Dear Friends,
We want to share some amazing news from Melbourne. A contract has been signed today for chaplaincy to continue in the airport for the next five years. I have been offered the full time role as Coordinating Chaplain and the whole team will be moving across to the new provider. Unfortunately I have to resign as a Salvation Army Officer but I am okay with this because I am so excited about the new chapter that is about to start.
Blessings to all in what has and is such strange times and yet we have this awesone privilege to journey with people who are doing it so tough.
Major Martyn Scrimshaw.

Dear friends and Colleagues!
Tomorrow is my last day as an Airport Chaplain at Göteborg Landvetter
Airport. I´m so glad and thankful for IACAC NEWSLETTER almost 20 years. I´m also a little bit sad that I need to finish, but I can´t find out how to work with all the changes my vicar made. But God is good and I´ve found and got another nice job as a director and priest
in the Moravian Church in Göteborg. I will start the 1st of January.
As some of you know I had hip surgery on 4th of September. I´ve recovered very well and got a lot of help from our youngest daughter Klara. She has soon finished her education to be a physiotherapist. Thank for friendship, support and prayers! I´m also thankful for all years as a member of IACAC. My new e-mail address: mats@ebfgbg.se and new mobile +46 (0)708 261655
I wish you all a graceful Advent!
Mats

Dear IACAC Chaplains
On behalf of the Gatwick Airport Chaplaincy team, I want to wish you all a very Happy Christmas and hopefully, in the New Year, a revival of our aviation industry worldwide? Just thought you might like to see this short Gatwick Airport Christmas ad, which I was asked to help with. Hopefully it’s a bit of fun to brighten up your day?
Many Congratulations to Martyn and Mary, and the Melbourne Chaplaincy Team, for the wonderful news of your new 5 year future. What an answer to prayer and all your hard work has been valued and justified.
God Bless everyone.
Canon Jonathan Baldwin SMMS

From Fr Gabriel Feyisetan in Lagos: How are you all doing and Merry Christmas and prosperous New Year, we thank God for his love and protection and especially at this delicate time. May God protect you and guide you all and the coming year be glorious and gracious and may God help us to put an end to the Corona virus pandemic in our world and grant us peace in the world. Greetings to everyone. God bless you all

Chers amis,
En cette période de Noël, nous souhaitons exprimer nos meilleurs voeux à chacun d’entre vous pour le travail que vous menez dans les aumôneries des aéroports. Soyez assurés de notre souvenir dans la prière dans un temps qui nous reconduit vers ce qui est vraiment important. Nous sommes en effet appelés à témoigner de la Vie accomplie dans un Enfant, qui ne naît pas comme un Dieu venu à résoudre tous nos problèmes mais qui vient à aimer chacun de nous et à être aimé.
Mgr. Segundo Tejado Muñoz, Sous-Secrétaire –
Section Personne et Société
Mme Alessandra Silvi, Officier, Section Personne et
Société – Vulnérabilité et Mobilité

Dear Friends,
During this Christmas season, we wish to express our best wishes to each one of you for the work that you are carrying out at your airport chaplaincies. Be assured of our prayerful wishes during a time which brings us back to what is truly important. We are in fact called to give witness to the real Fulfillment of life, offered us in a Baby, who is not born as a God solving all of our problems but who comes to love each one of us and to be loved.
Msgr. Segundo Tejado Muñoz, Undersecretary –
Person and Society Section
Ms. Alessandra Silvi, Officer, Person and Society
Section – Vulnerability and Mobility Area

The IACAC Annual Conference has always played an important part in the life of the association. It was the opportunity for members to come together to renew friendships, learn from each other and share their stories. Each year the conference was hosted in a different country and was a special time for all those able to attend.

2020 promised to be no different with anticipation high at the opportunity to visit Kenya and join the Nairobi airport chaplaincy team as they planned to host the 53^rd annual conference. But the COVID19 pandemic stopped us all in our tracks and locked the world down as high rates of infections spread across many countries.  After much prayer and consultation the Nairobi Conference was cancelled for 2020 and rescheduled for 2021. However the desire to come together in some way was still strong and the idea of an online conference through the wonders of digital technology gained momentum.

It took some planning and on the 20th October our first online conference took place. One hundred and nine chaplains registered but for various reasons about 85 eventually logged onto the conference itself.

The theme chosen for the conference was “Challenges Of Chaplaincy In The Changing Aviation World” and each speaker and presentation explored the challenges facing both chaplains and the aviation industry as a whole. Two keynote speakers were featured. Professor Grace Davie, a British Sociologist, spoke on the role of chaplaincy in the context of a secular world. Airports are secular places and so are most airlines but many people who fly often have a strong religious identity, which is not always recognised by the aviation industry. Religion can either be seen as a scapegoat or a huge source of practical support and pastoral care.  COVID19 has provided many opportunities for connections in a digital form as well as personal contact. Anxiety, profound sense of loss, restrictions on movement and job expectations have led to high levels of uncertainty in our workplaces.  Chaplains are often the first responders in these situations and it becomes necessary to find a way to mitigate the most painful moments in such a way that is realistic for all concerned. In their role, chaplains are standing between the secular world of the airport and spirituality of the people. These challenges can provide new opportunities for everyday well-being and practices, which shape life.

The second keynote speaker, Kathy Malcolm Hall, talked on the “Griefs and Uncertainties of Airport Chaplains in 2020” She described grief as a constellation of many things and divided her session into three parts-

‘The What”’ – the concept of what is being suffered worldwide through loss of freedoms, safety, past security of employment leading to grief in its various forms.

‘The  Why’ – the neurobiology of grief and loss . The brain has three sections, which can be trained to interact together to avoid mental illness, stress, chronic pain and problems in the nervous system. COVID has made us rediscover the reality of death and loss. This has been shocking and confronting for many as they face situations such as redundancy in the e airport resulting in grief at the loss of job and job security.

The How – on how to deal with grief and the reconnection with b. Providing a presence to and for each other and helping build supportive communities.

The challenges facing the aviation world as it rebuilds and recovers from the devastation wrought by COVID19 was clearly articulated by Geoffrey Thomas, Editor-in Chief of “Aviation Ratings” The aviation industry has lost more than $85 Billion world wide and is in a very dire position. Of the 26000 passenger aircraft world wide, 13000 are grounded.  Most airlines are losing money at a frightening rate. The main driver for growth will be low fares and domestic travel will recover more quickly than international flights. Airlines are looking at enhanced procedures to reassure passengers and planes are probably cleaner and safer than ever before but passengers are frightened to travel before a vaccine is developed.

Three leaders in aviation agreed to be interviewed on what they saw as the challenges facing aviation and their views on the importance of the chaplain in their airports.  All were confident that aviation is a resilient industry that will bounce back and find new solutions by adapting and being innovative. They believed that aviation faced two challenges into the future – managing Covid 19 and ‘green’ air travel. To succeed it will be necessary to do business differently to achieve a safer, cleaner, greener environment for airports all across the world.

Each believed the chaplain was an integral part of their airport and had been the face of hope during the COVID crisis. The chaplain was seen as someone who offered solace, support and compassion throughout these difficult times

Presentations from the keynote speakers and the interviews with the leaders in aviation can be watched at https://www.iacac.aero/conf-prep/

Do take some time to either watch them for the first time or maybe revisit them again. There was much to learn from each one.

This section provides the latest news from Chaplains and Chaplaincies around the world.