Airport chaplains: Fly the spiritual skies

Photo by Quintin Soloviev

Whether for pleasure or necessity, air travel often indicates a break in the regular routine.

Breaks like these can zap a person out of ordinary awareness and into a whole new state of consciousness.  Such shifts have a way of bringing spirituality to the forefront.

That is a major reason why more and more airports are not only providing chapels, but also chaplains.  These chaplains represent numerous faiths and denominations.  Although scheduled worship services are held, most airport chaplaincy occurs on the fly.

Such chaplains can find themselves in the front lines during health crises, weather extremes, employee burnout issues, plane crashes, terrorist threats, family tragedies, etc.  When Rev. Dr. Donna Mote served at Atlanta's Hartsfield-Jackson, she observed the following: "There's the world in grief, the world in joy - really the whole world is passing through there."  

And when Rev. Hutz Hertzberg served at Chicago's two main airports, he aptly concluded: "In the 21st century, we need to bring the ministry to where the people are instead of waiting for them to come to our churches." 

Resources

https://chaplaincyinnovation.org/projects/donna-mote-atl

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/airport-chaplains-let-fliers-connect-heavens-080144213.html