Millicent Spencer
Melbourne Airport chaplain Martyn Scrimshaw, tells Millicent Spencer about his unique role at the airport.
What is your connection to Melbourne’s north-west?
I have been the chaplain at the airport for five years. In my five years, I have had two good years before COVID . I was the chaplain through COVID and saw the devastation throughout the industry, and the bounce back in the last 12 months. .
I also live close by in Epping which is great for when I get a call during the night. The chaplaincy provides 24-hour support to travellers and staff so we do get calls in the middle of the night. Recently we got a call for someone who had a heart attack and passed away in the terminal. We got called back to help the family.
Tell us a bit more about what you do?
My role is to provide spiritual and emotional support to passengers and staff. Everyday is different for my team but we usually drop our bags at the start of the day and begin our rounds. We go and visit the staff and say ‘G’day’. We bring a multi-faith approach to our chaplaincy, meaning any staff member can speak to us. We support people of no faith or all faiths. Our team is predominantly made up of Christians but we do have one Buddhist chaplain.
What do you like the most about working at the airport?
I think the pastoral element of the role – coming alongside people, listening to their stories, and helping them find a bit of hope. That might mean helping them with flights, or supporting them if they aren’t traveling for a good reason (such as a funeral). For example, I recently got called by an airline to assist an elderly lady who was disorientated. She thought she had a flight out of Melbourne to Europe. I took her for a coffee and found out she had packed up without telling her family in Brisbane that she was coming to Melbourne for her flight to Europe. I managed to contact her family and we worked out it was still a few weeks until her flight to Europe was booked. After talking with the lady and her family we worked out she was happy to return to Brisbane to spend time with her family before flying to Europe. It was great to be able to find her family and reunite her with them.
Where is your favourite local place to spend time?
I couldn’t name one, but I definitely have a couple of favourite coffee shops which I take staff and travellers to for a cup of coffee or a hot chocolate. I just love being amongst retailers and going into our coffee shops and retail stores to have a chat with the staff.
Tell us something people would be surprised to know about you…
I suppose people wouldn’t know about my hobby, but for the last seven years I have been a conductor for a brass band. I have just given that up as I was elected to be the president of the International Association of Chaplains for the next two years. I am looking forward to taking on the role of president and working with airports like JFK and Heathrow to grow the global vision of airport chaplaincy.
