Praying with Fire

Pic caption: The Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Inwood, Revd Barbara Johnson and BLFRS Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller.

Over 100 people attended the Commissioning and Licensing ceremony for Revd Barbara Johnson as Service Chaplain for Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service at Kempston Fire Station.

The Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Inwood said:
“A great partnership has been established with BLFRS and we hope this will be a model for other chaplaincies.”

Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller added:

“Barbara, on behalf of BLFRS we welcome you to the continuation and development of your role as our Service Chaplain and assure you of our full commitment and support.”

Addressing guests at the ceremony, Revd Barbara Johnson said:

“Thank you for coming this afternoon - it is wonderful to be part of your family here at BLFRS. A huge thank you for this wonderful support. It is such a joy to be here in this place with those who work to save others.”

More about the chaplaincy.....

The Reverend Barbara Johnson, retired Civil Servant and serving Church of England minister formally became the Bedfordshire and Luton Fire and Rescue Service's in house 'vicar' on 15th October when she was licensed as their Service Chaplain at Kempston Fire Station.

In what is believed to be a first, the Bishop of Bedford conducted the ceremony, which would normally take place in a church or chapel, emphasising Barbara's role at the heart of the fire service community.

Barbara has acted as chaplain since 2006, but this formal recognition of her role is a step forward. Barbara will be there for the fire crews and support staff in good and bad times and will even conduct weddings and baptisms with the permission of local clergy.

Barbara’s role as the co-ordinating chaplain for the organisation, means she is a listening ear, a shoulder to cry on, a friend in need in the good times and the bad. She regularly visits the HQ at Kempston, the Kempston Fire Station, the Bedford Fire Station, the Northern Area Office and the offices at Mile Road. She has only one other chaplain, Reverend Sue Chapman, who visits the Luton Fire Station and Southern Area Office, but is keen to recruit further volunteer chaplains to cover the other 14stations.

She has already conducted two wedding blessings for BLFRS staff and has been asked to carry out two baptisms in the near future.

During her chaplaincy role she has conducted the BLFRS Christmas Celebration service at Woburn Parish Church, preached at the UK Firefighters' Memorial Service at St Bartholomew the Great in London, dedicated a memorial garden at Sandy Fire Station, been on the touchline at the Rugby Cup Final and represented BLFRS at a number of national events. She was recently appointed Vice Chair of the Fire and Rescue Service Chaplain's Association.

Chief Fire Officer Paul Fuller said: “BLFRS is here to serve everyone and we try to reflect all those communities within the organisation. Barbara is a Christian Chaplain but she is there for all without exception, those of all faiths and none.”

The Bishop of Bedford, the Rt Revd Richard Inwood, said: “Barbara's licensing is recognition that the Church and the Fire Service recognise the real value of her support for all the men and women who risk their lives daily or who support them in this task.”

Barbara, aged 65, worked for 37 years in personnel management in the Civil Service and in retirement took up theological studies at St John's College Nottingham, being awarded a BA in Theology in Ministry. It was during that time that she felt called to ordination to the priesthood and more particularly to ministry in the workplace. She has been a Curate at St John the Baptist Royston and an Assistant Curate at St Mary's Goldington in Bedford.

“I always felt called to ministry in the workplace. I am terrified of fire but when asked which chaplaincy I felt closest to it had to be the Fire and Rescue Service, having been visiting the Stevenage Fire Station when two fire-fighters were so tragically killed fighting a fire in a high rise block of flats. I thought 'That is where I need to be - out there where people are risking their lives to save others'.