Police chaplain serves near Twin Cities bridge tragedy

The Rev. Deborah (Debbie) Brown is an Episcopal Church priest in the Diocese of Minnesota and for the past 12 years she has served alongside first-responders as a volunteer police chaplain.

So last Wednesday, August 1st, when the Interstate 35 West bridge collapsed in nearby Minneapolis - Saint Paul during evening rush hour killing at least five and and injuring many other motorists, Debbie prayerfully readied herself for whatever response her team might be called upon to offer.

In her role as the Chaplain Coordinator for the Eagan, Minnesota Police Department, Debbie supervises other chaplains and shares the volunteer ministry with them. Also, for the past five years, she has served on the Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) team which means she is trained and certified to assist in debriefing first responders and others who have experienced the trauma that often comes in police related work.

The Office of the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies (where I serve at the Episcopal Church Center -- our denomination's national headquarters -- in New York City) our three-fold mission is to recruit, develop and support federal chaplains of our Church -- namely Federal Bureau of Prisons chaplains, Veterans Affairs Hospital chaplains, and military chaplains.

While our mission and work does not directly include "diocesan chaplains" such as Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, we do maintain a somewhat loose relationship with our brother and sister non-federal chaplains who serve under the oversight of their own local diocesan bishop as chaplains for local hospitals, correction facilities, police, firefighters, emergency medical responders, etc. Police Chaplain Debbie Brown serves under the watch-care of her local diocesan, Bishop James Jelinek.

When the Bishop Suffragan for Chaplaincies, the Rt. Rev. George Packard (my "boss") and I learned of the tragic bridge collapse, Bishop Packard who is currently temporarily away from New York City, asked me to check with Mr. Richard Ohlsen, the Episcopal Relief and Development's (ERD) director of Domestic Disaster Preparedness and Response, just three floors up from our offices.

I learned from Richard that he had already offered ERD assistance to Bishop Jelinek in Minnesota and was standing by for their response. I shared with him that our office database indicated there is one diocesan first-responder chaplain, Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, located in a community very near the collapsed bridge and that I would phone her to see if our office might support her in any way.

Concurrently, Bishop George Packard contacted Bishop Jelinek in Minnesota and assured him that while ERD's Domestic Disaster office would appropriately be the first point of contact and support for the diocese from the national church headquarters, his office in NYC would also be available to support him, his Police Chaplain Debbie Brown, and any of his clergy, should we be needed.

Since last Thursday, I have stayed in contact with Debbie by way of phone calls and emails. In a call I had with her late today she said the bridge situation is still quite fluid and the metro Minneapolis-St. Paul area is still trying to deal with the grief and unknowns of this sad event.

Debbie also said one of several hopeful and positive signs was the recent interfaith worship service that was coordinated by a committee of various area faith group leaders.

The service was held at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral in downtown Minneapolis and attended by over 1,400 people from many of the metro area's religious traditions. Readers and prayer leaders came from Jewish, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Native American and Hispanic faith communities.

We all know from such events as the 9/11 attacks, the Katrina storm and floods, the recent deaths of nine firefighters in Charleston -- and of course the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan -- that grief and various other kinds of stress can impact communities, families, and individuals in many ways for weeks and sometimes for months and years.

Volunteer first-responder chaplains such as Deborah Brown in the Twin Cities and Rob Dewey in Charleston stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the victims, police, firefighters, EMT teams, families, and countless others touched by life's tragedies. Chaplains, other clergy and lay ministers become to many the incarnation symbol of God standing beside and walking with them in their confusion, pain and loss.