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Next time you’re at DFW International, while running from a TSA checkpoint to your gate, or reading a book during a layover, you may look up an see a priest roaming around the terminal – saying hello and projecting calm in an environment that can be anything but.
“Not everybody is going to Disneyland … people are going to do life here,” says Father Greg McBrayer — Executive Director and Corporate Chaplain at DFW Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy and the founder of American Airlines IOC (AA) Christian EBRG Monday Ministry Chapter.
“I grew up loving airplanes from the time I was a child – I was flying them by the time I was 17,” but poor eyesight ended his dream of a career at 35-thousand feet.
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Instead, he used his extensive knowledge in aviation to become a Licensed Flight Dispatcher, which placed him on the flight plan to his current roles at AA and DFW Airport – it was a perfect integration of his vocation and profession which started in 1979…and was divinely combined on September 11, 2001.
On that day “I had flights coming into the New York Center airspace, and I said, ‘Captain, I’ve got Richmond clear for you; you need to land immediately and call me on arrival.’
Father Greg, as he’s affectionately known, remembers helping get his flights out of the five thousand planes that are in the sky at any given time, safely on the ground. A long day gave way to a sleepless night and a lot of praying.
“When I went into that operations control center the next day – there was nothing flying, nothing on the radar, no noise at all, just a deafening silence. I thought to myself dear God, my life and my work will never be the same! Lord we need you here! It was at that moment I heard God clearly tell me, that’s why I placed you here.”
He stopped compartmentalizing his faith at that moment and today sits on the flight control bridge in American Airlines Integrated Operations nerve center as a Bi-vocational Priest and Chief Flight Controller—picture the biggest newsroom you’ve ever seen. Each person is responsible for a different part of your journey: licensed flight controllers, meteorologists, customer service specialists, crew scheduling personnel, and aviation maintenance experts, all working in concert to safeguard your flight. “These mechanics are experts for each type of aircraft that American has in service. If the pilot calls his flight dispatcher with a problem, we will then get the maintenance person on the line and have a three-way call to make the determination if it needs to make an unexpected landing and where that might be or continue and address the issue at the final destination.”
Even on a day with ‘routine’ hiccups, this can be a very stressful atmosphere. Part of Father Greg’s mission as a corporate chaplain is to maintain peace, and diffuse situations when they do arise. It’s a role he thinks every corporation should have – someone who is there simply to make things go smoother and help hold people together. He compares this job to common household products …
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“What does every home need? WD40 and duct tape – that’s what chaplains are like,” he says. Like WD40 and duct tape, chaplains can ease friction and help people hold things together.”
According to the International Association of Civil Aviation Chaplains, chaplaincy ministry is available at more than one hundred airports around the world. The one at DFW International Airport is one of the first and is the world’s largest.
At American’s Fort Worth campus, which houses roughly 6000 employees – and at DFW Airport, where roughly 65-thousand people work – Father Greg is well known, and well-liked.
“Heeeey Padre,” says one, while extending his hand for a high five.
“Hi Father Greg,” says another while walking by.
He doesn’t proselytize or try to recruit members to his congregation. Instead, he brings what he refers to as ‘the priceless ministry of presence’ to anyone who needs it. For the employees and the roughly 200-thousand travelers who come through DFW daily, he offers 30-minute chapel masses on Sunday mornings and throughout the week. And he always begins the same way:
“You probably didn’t know you were going to be here today, but God did, and you heard His voice over the airport intercom invite you to this Chapel today to receive something He knew you wanted or needed on your journey.”
He and his Chaplaincy team respond to the spiritual needs of airport employees, first responders, our military, the TSA and travelers through their DFW Airport Interfaith Chaplaincy—DDFWAIC chap app. Download it at dfwairportchapel.org
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The channels may change, but his message remains the same: “God is ahead of you on every step of your journey to eternity.” And if He’s there for eternity, of course He’s going to be there for your trip to Nashville. Father Greg and his chaplaincy team, just try to make Him more accessible. For the times he’s not available for a one-on-one, his presence can be found in the Chapel at DFW or in one of the Interfaith prayer rooms he helped bring to American Airlines’ headquarters campus. They are quiet Interfaith prayer rooms for people of every faith — there, you will find numerous Holy books, prayer rugs, and ablution stations for the Muslim’s ceremonial foot washing. The prayer rooms ironically double tornado shelters, and the symbolism isn’t lost on Father Greg.
All Are Welcome.
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