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Crefeld. Emergency chaplains provide “first aid for the soul” when people are in need due to a sudden event. The alarm is raised by the control center of the professional fire brigade. This could be a death at home, a serious accident, a suicide or another crisis situation.
Volunteers and full-time employees from the two large churches are charged with providing emergency pastoral care (NFS). This requires intensive training as well as continuing education and training. In Krefeld, emergency pastoral care is provided jointly by the Evangelical Church District of Krefeld-Viersen and the Catholic Region of Krefeld in the Diocese of Aachen.
At present, 21 women and men are serving as emergency pastors in Krefeld. “To be well positioned in the future, we train new emergency chaplains every two to three years,” says Dietmar Krebbers, coordinator of the emergency chaplaincy (NFS) in Krefeld.
The next training course starts on January 30, 2023 and ends with a commissioning service at the end of October. The course comprises a total of 160 hours, including internships in the police and fire brigade as well as expert assistant emergency chaplains. “It is an apprenticeship in which, on the one hand, knowledge is transmitted, but in which one’s personality with all its resources is also required”, explains the coordinator Krebbers, “because one’s strengths and limits are faced”. participants what their potential is, how to use it and from which future emergency consultants they can draw their strength.
“The ministry of emergency counselors requires honesty in dealing with yourself and a good eye for people,” Krebbers points out. “This contact is perceived as support by those affected and they are grateful for it.” This can be confirmed by Claudia Gehl, who has been working in Krefeld on a voluntary basis since February 2020. “In every assignment I have received feedback on how good it is that you exist.” Doing something that is closer to people – this was one of the reasons why Gehl decided to take this course: simply to be there for others in emergency situations. “And if I need support, I get it,” says Gehl. “Our team works wonderfully.”
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