Abstract
Aim: Pastors serve in the fire service. This paper focuses on a very important aspect of their duties – the pastoral conversation. A chaplain’s service primarily involves communicating with other people. A fire-fighter-rescuer needs support and someone to talk to – including a pastor. However, holding a pastoral conversation requires a priest/pastor to be spiritually prepared, knowledgeable and experienced. These three aspects are emphasised in this paper.
Introduction: Nowadays, chaplains serve in all uniformed services. Are they really necessary in the fire service? A perfect answer to this question can be found in the words of the Chief Fire Officer of the State Fire Service: „A fireman will never come to a psychologist, even if he is a top professional who can perfectly handle traumatic experiences, to talk about his personal issues: that things are not fine, that his child is keeping bad company, that his mother is dying of cancer, that he hits the bottle, that... The list goes on and on. The only person a fireman will open up to is a fireman-chaplain” [25, p. 16]. We have to be aware, however, that a chaplain’s service involves not only responding to traumatised fire-fighters who are asking for help, but also reaching out to those who have not yet asked for it. When necessary, the chaplain will fight the fire, but his primary role is to listen and talk. Holding a conversation is not as easy as it may seem, since each person confiding in the chaplain is a different person. This paper highlights the role of a chaplain as being primarily that of a confidant who can devote his time to listen what firefighters have to say. Establishing a rapport with someone we know is always relatively easy. It is much more difficult, however, to establish it with a person we do not know and perhaps see for the first time. Many external and internal factors come into play. It has to be underlined that the pastor in not the only person who provides help. He should cooperate with psychologists and doctors. Only then can a pastoral conversation or advice be regarded as satisfactory for both sides.
Conclusions: Pastors who serve in the fire service should not be guided by religious considerations only. They must be prepared for every conversation and this requires continuous self-education. Pastors should reach out to those who need to talk instead of waiting for them. A pastoral conversation is not a monologue by a chaplain, but an actual dialogue. During this dialogue, the chaplain is trying to help the person in need to find the right solution to the problem. In doing so, however, he must not cross the line drawn by the person who confides in him.
Keywords: pastor, pastoral conversation, help