Ministry in Disaster Settings: Lessons from the Edge
Stephen Robinson

Since 1962, when I first joined an emergency service (Bush Fire Brigade), since 1973, when I became peers support/chaplain to a brigade/SES unit, since commencing ministry (1979 as a lay pastor and being ordained in 1991), having a passion for emergency services and being caught up in various disasters, I have dreamed of this book.

Stephen has brought together in a very readable format the challenge to the church to be much more intentional in its approach to disaster ministry.

That this ministry is undertaken by the church and its ministry agents in disaster settings no-one questions; that it is done well - there is little qualifying research; that there is preparation and support is …

The book is divided into four parts, each subdivided and self explanatory:

• Case studies of Ministry in Disaster Settings
• The Nature of Ministry on the Edge
• Biblical and Theological Reflections
• Lessons for Ministry on the Edge.

It makes the book easy to read and thus very useful. I think it may well become an essential text for anyone thinking about ministry in disaster settings (which we all should be).

Will we ever be involved in disasters? We will be, as victims, or as prepared victims. Disasters come to you; there is no need to go searching.

Stephen has chosen four high profile cases to recount. The first thing that struck me was the similarity of experience of the ministry agents. Most had previous experience with emergency services, most were physically present (or geographically nearby and available), and all shared a deep compassion for victims and rescue workers.

Secondly, the response and common experience of lack of support rang bells of recognition and horror.

I recall being criticised for cancelling church services and making the church available as a dormitory during the Gippsland 2003 fires; instead, we held brief services in the fire shed during shift change.

The one experience I have not had is opposition from the local congregation. I'm sure I would not have survived in ministry if that had been the case.

While the high profile and high trauma cases make good studies, we must keep in mind that all disasters are not like these.

Slower occurring floods have a different set of challenges, as do even slower occurring droughts. Their trauma may not be as blatant and "upfront", but their effects can be just as serious and their lack of profile as much a challenge as excessive media attention.

"Nature of Ministry on the Edge" is, for me, the best part of the book. Having recently read (struggled through) Paul Collins Burn I became aware I was still in distress from the '03 Gippsland fires.

I read Paul's book two pages at a time and had to talk through many issues. This part of Stephen's book became another step in my own defusion.

It became an example of flexible support for ministry agents in remote locations and with subsequent moves.

Stephen approaches issues like role conflict, lines of accountability, stress and compassion exhaustion with a practicality that is often absent in more purely academic presentation. He has obviously been in the midst of chaos and it shows in the wisdom and practicality of his analysis.

Other comments I would add relate to the stress initiated by competing agencies and the disruption to victims, the risk to persons, and the frustration of uncoordinated responses - another disaster in itself.

And then there's the ethics of proselytising and evangelism. Stephen mentions it in several ways: heavies displaying the denominational flag at media occasions, independents taking their own "god inspired" lines.

Any one involved in a disaster setting must be accredited and abide by the ethics and morality of compassion. Taking advantage of people in trauma does not serve the gospel.

The "Biblical and Theological Reflection" section is subdivided into two: scriptural case studies and a theological reflection.
The case studies are fascinating, applying 21st century trauma stress psychology to biblical characters. It's not totally new but it is interesting and may bring a further understanding to the biblical stories.

In the case of Elijah and Paul, Stephen brings out some interesting insights which help interpret their actions and message. In the case of Jesus, while the concept of "Cosmic Disaster" is fascinating, I think it is much more a case of eisegesis than exegesis.

The Jesus of the gospels is much more a character of faith testimony that a historic person, the differences between the Jesus portrayed in each of the gospels makes this an exercise to be approached with caution.

Mark/Matthew's Jesus is definitely a trauma victim, Luke's Jesus is more the compassionate chaplain, and John's Jesus is more like Incident Control.

Taking the cosmic disaster theory (at the fall the whole cosmos suffered a traumatic disaster and Jesus is God's Response and Recovery Team) works - it portrays an event for which we require outside intervention to begin recovery - but what is "normal"?
In the event of universal disaster, normality is a mythological hope, a subjective and complicated factor. It would make an interesting debate over strong coffee into the early hours, and may prove a fruitful discussion.

Chapter 6, "Theology from Disaster", is a good summary of the traditional material concerning the problem of suffering.

There is a lot of rethinking around the whole issue of providence, presence, omnipotence, and so on, going on. The traditional answers are less and less satisfying.

Stephen acknowledges the problem: if God is powerful, he is dispassionate or evil; if God is good he lacks power to intervene.
While Job never gets a satisfactory answer from YHWH, he does get the honour of God's attention, presence and support.

The traditional answer that God's participation (active or passive) is something we mere mortals cannot fathom is not a satisfactory answer, and to appeal that one must have faith in a higher power contrary to the evidence of one's own and communal experience is religious bulldust.

That sort of god may be feared, or hated, or ignored as irrelevant; never loved, served or worshipped. More and more, that sort of god is, rightly, ignored.

This book is not big enough and probably not the place to explore some of the emerging theology of God.

Other issues that need further development are the humanitarian and other faiths issues.

I am involved because the compassion of God constrains me, but I was involved before any conscious Christian faith component constrained me, and many people of no faith and different faith are involved.

How does the Christian faith component uniquely inform what we do as crisis response workers?

"Lessons for the Pastor" and "Lessons for the Pastor's Carers" should be pasted into diaries, on sun visors, on toilet doors, into bishops' and presbytery ministers' handbooks, on the windows at theological halls and framed in the corridors of church offices.

For an organisation whose primary responsibility is communication and care we are sometimes not very good at it.

These lessons have been learnt in places - so far not enough places.

While high profile traumatic situations occur less frequently, every one in ministry will be involved often in traumatic disasters.

The biggest disaster in any disaster is disaster planning and application. I hope this book will become a call to the church to establish much more intentional preparation and support structures for the inevitable.

May your next disaster be bigger - only because you are more prepared and the smaller ones will no longer be as disastrous.

Rob Dummermuth ministers with Uniting Church Frontier Services Esperance West Nullarbor Patrol.