IACAC News – Page 6 – IACAC | International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains

10/05/202210/05/2022

President’s Letter | March/April 2022

Dear Friends and Colleagues.
It is always worthwhile to ponder the truth of the often quoted observation that the world is now like a global village. What happens in one part of the world ripples like a wave on the water across the rest of the world touching all in its path. Nothing else brought this home more clearly than the effect of the worldwide pandemic from which we are emeging and grief and tragedy at the loss amd disruption of so many lives.

Chaplains often have a role in meeting and supporting vulnerable passengers who have become stranded for a variety of reasons. This has never been more so than in the past two years. Exercising this ministry of service to an airport community, means that sometimes (often!) we simply put ourselves at the disposal of those whom we serve, and if there is a crisis which requires an urgent response, then we need to respond.

09/05/202210/05/2022

IACAC Conference, September 19 – 23

Arrangements for our annual conference are now being made. Registrations will open shortly and a formal invitation to attend will be sent to all airport chaplains. The conference program will be available on our website when the registrations open.

Date: Monday 19th September – Friday 23rd September after Breakfast

Theme: Learning From Adversity – Equipped for a Post Covid Industry

Venue: Premier Inn, Bath Road, Hounslow

Cost: £700 per person
(An earlybird rate of £650 if registration and payments are made by the 1st July)

Post Conference Details not yet confirmed.

All registrations and payments are to be made through the IACAC website and should be made by the 31st July once registrations open.

We do hope that you are planning to join us in London for what promises to be an intersting and stimulating program.

07/05/202210/05/2022

Annual Membership Fee

The payment of the annual membership for the IACAC is now due. Each year members are encouraged to pay their annual dues and keep their membership up to date.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. Thank you to those members who have paid their 2022 membership. Please follow this link to make your payment to keep your membership current.

04/05/202210/05/2022

News from our chaplaincies

It was with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Christopher Baldwin, brother of our friend and colleague, Rev Canon Jonathan Baldwin at London Gatwick. May he rest in peace and rise in glory. Please hold both Jonathan and his mother Grace in prayer as they lay him to rest on the 13^th May.

April 26^th saw the belated blessing on the new landside Prayer Rooms at Melbourne Airport. They were completed during the Pandemic but the opening was delayed due to the successive lockdowns experienced by Melbourne. It was a much more subdued ceremony than originally planned but one of thanksgiving and blessings that this sacred space is available to all who pass through Melbourne Airport.

We wish all our Muslim colleagues a wonderful Eid ul Fitr as they celebrate the end of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month of fasting.

Fr Gabriel Feyisetan from Lagos sent greetings to all his chaplaincy friends and is hopeful that he may be able to attend the London Conference. Over the past two years he has really missed the opportunity to meet and connect with other chaplains.

On the 1^st May Franz Kohlhuber from Munich celebrated a significant birthday. We join his family and friends in wishing him a very happy birthday and many more happy years to enjoy.

Heathrow Airport Chaplaincy is looking for a new Head of Chaplaincy with applications closing for the position on the 10^th May. We ask you to pray for the Heathrow Chaplaincy and the selection panel and they seek to find the best person to lead them into the future.

28/02/202201/03/2022

Statement regarding the war in Ukraine

In response to the sad events unfolding in Ukraine which are having implications for aviation around the globe, the International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains calls each of its members, airport chaplains around the world and all of our friends in the aviation industry to earnestly pray and advocate for peace.

From its heroic times of pioneers and through the development of commercial flights, civil aviation’s dream and ambition has always been to bring people together from many parts of the world, from different cultures, religions and faiths. Wars, particularly between nations so close as Russia and Ukraine, bring enmity between neighbours and divides families.