Plan now for the 2023 IACAC Annual Conference to be held in St Louis, Missouri, USA. Proposed dates for the St Louis conference are the 23-28th October 2023. Put the date in your diary and we look forward to you being with us in St Louis next year.
IACAC Conference 2024
Have you thought about whether your chaplaincy could host the 2024 Conference? We are looking for a host chaplaincy for 2024. Please think and pray on it. The IACAC Board will be there to support, encourage and assist any chaplaincy willing to undertake a conference. If you would like to know more about what is involved contact the IACAC Board. We would love to hear from you.
President’s Letter | August 2022
Dear Friends and Colleagues,
Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to live together in harmony! (Psalm 133)
The summer holidays season of the Northern hemisphere has hit the planet and airports again after a 3 years hiatus. Families are coming together and reuniting, tourists are discovering again new destinations and meeting new people.
Air travels are bringing again possibilities of enriching encounters and harmony in a world that desperately needs it when wars are raging in different parts of the globe separating families and friends. Air travel contributes to build bridges between people and cultures where conflicts and political shrinking builds walls of rejections and hatred. It feels great to see our airports filled again, doesn’t it? It feels like a blessing (sometime an overflowing one!) although we must admit that the crowds who tend to have forgotten about the specific rules and requirements of air travel and airports added to lack of staff in airlines and airports makes the experience a little less harmonious than we wished it were.
But that’s where we come as airport chaplains! We are a very small and humble part of the rich and complex airport environment. But we certainly are a drop of oil in these incredible gear systems facilitating the journey of lost passengers whom we help and put back on the right track so that they could fly to the heavens!
On this regard, the very nice story that was shown on Australian TV with our colleague (and incoming IACAC President) Martyn Scrimshaw and Melbourne chaplaincy was a perfect example To view the film clip go to Melbourne Airport Chaplaincy Facebook page).
Humbly being there to help, guide and comfort those who need it is at the core of our ministry and how we become blessings to others. That is how we become like the fragrant oil and the refreshing dew that are mentioned in Psalm 133. Are we aware of the many blessings we share every day? As you read these lines I invite you to pause for a minute and remind yourself of a few people you were a blessing to in the past few days.
Oh, how good, how pleasant it is for brothers and sisters to live together in harmony!
It will soon be time for us to receive the blessing of meeting again for our annual conference in London Heathrow. Learning together and from one another, meeting old friends, making new ones, enriching the harmony of our fellowship are the main benefits of our annual conferences. We had a great time last year in Nairobi but due to the pandemic and economic situation, most international delegates were unable to attend. This year, the number of people who has already registered is promising but there’s room for more! So, don’t wait, register and join us in LHR!
Pierre de Mareuil (CDG)
President
55th Annual Conference: Register now!
A cordial invitation is extended by the International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains to all airport chaplains to attend the 55th IACAC Annual Conference in London (Heathrow) Monday 19th September – Friday 23rd September 2022.
Conference Theme:
“Learning From Adversity – Equipped for a Post Covid Industry”
A Request from Munich Airport Chaplaincy
Dear colleagues of IACAC and at the airports worldwide,
I have a very special request for you today:
Munich Airport and with it the Chaplaincy are celebrating their 30th birthday this year!
On this occasion we want to tackle a project.
We would like to decorate the walls in front of our offices with pictures – pictures of many chapels, churches and prayer rooms in / at airports worldwide!
On Sunday, July 24th, the memorial day of St. Christopher, we want to celebrate our 30th anniversary with a religious service, a vehicle blessing and the official opening of the newly designed corridor. It will be wonderful for all the visitors to see the very different religious place at the airports worldwide.
Continue reading “A Request from Munich Airport Chaplaincy”