Work Place Chaplaincy Scotland Blog

Radio Borders Interview - Rev Marion Dodd with Volunteer Chaplain, Hans Waltl

WPCS volunteer chaplain and financial director, Hans Waltl (pictured) was interviewed on radio on Sunday morning. The following, courtesy of Radio Borders, is the text of the interview broadcast on Sunday morning’s ‘Cross Borders’ programme with Rev Marion Dodd.

Hans Waltl

Hans Waltl

Marion: Good Morning and welcome to Cross Borders, the Sunday morning Christian slot. This is Marion Dodd from Melrose, and I have with me Hans Waltl from Gordon. Originally from Austria, Hans was brought up across the Border in Northumberland, and has been in the Borders for 4 years.
Marion: Good Morning, Hans.
Hans: Good Morning, Marion.
Marion: Hans, in the four years you have been here in the Borders, you have immersed yourself in all sorts of things. You are an Accountant, I know, but recently have become involved in Workplace Chaplaincy. That used to be called Industrial Mission. How did that come about?
Hans: I’ve been active in the German Lutheran church, and over the years have found that with church attendances declining, there have to be other ways of reaching people with my work as an accountant, especially in small business, I find that there are times when ethical and spiritual questions become important. I came across WPCh Scotland more by accident than by design.
Marion: Tell me about it.
Hans: I was getting frustrated by the lack of a structured approach to WPCh and expressed that to a friend, who told me about WPCh Scotland and that they were recruiting in the Borders at that time. By the time I got home, she had already spoken to them – there were 2 emails and an answer-phone message waiting for me, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Marion: History to you, yes, but it’s quite a new idea to lots of people. So where do you it. I know you go to church in Earlston……. where’s the Workplace Chaplaincy?
Hans: It’s not a specific place, like a factory. There are 2 aspects to WPCS, one is formal, and I carry that out with the Royal Mail in the Kelso area – that involves Kelso, Coldstream, Lauder and, hopefully Melrose.
Marion: How much time does this take up?
Hans: I attempt to tithe one day a week for this.
Marion: That sounds like money.
Hans: Well, money is my business. :-))
Marion: But this is chaplaincy. How do you operate your chaplaincy in the post office?
Hans: It’s essentially chaplaincy by walking around, just being there, talking to people. Being open to people talking to you, listening to what they have to say, picking up from what they say and seeing where it leads.
Marion: The Post Office can be very busy. What if people haven’t time to talk?
Hans: Use your common sense, if they have something on their minds, they’ll have time. And my job is to find the time too.
Marion: Well, folks, listen again after a couple of songs, and we’ll hear more from Hans about Work Place Chaplaincy.
Marion: Welcome back to Cross Borders, with Marion, and I’m talking to Hans Waltl about Work Place Chaplaincy. Hans, you told us earlier about your formal involvement with Royal Mail, and what that involves. You said there was a second aspect, more informal. Tell me about that.
Hans: The second aspect of WPCS is just in the day to day life of an accountant, where I’m talking to managers, often of small businesses, and, believe me, with the economy the way it has been, there are many, many pressures on home, relationships, and faith. It’s very easy to to to church and to have faith when you have money in your pockets and things are going well. It is more difficult to see your way forward when you’ve got creditors hounding you on all sides, and the wife wants a holiday
Marion: I’m fascinated. Are these just one-man, one-person firms, or do you deal with larger organisations.
Hans: It ranges from the sole-trader, one-man band, right up to the medium-size companies.
Marion: OK, and if I am one of the small ones, and I am up to neck in work, and you come along, how do I have time for you?
Hans: This isn’t about double-glazing salesmanship, or tele-sales, it’s about engaging people in the workplace in real life with real life problems, often allowing them to sound off and seek for answers in their own lives. And within the context of that I am merely a channel, and not a purveyor of truths and solutions. I leave that to my higher management.
Marion: That must be God.
Hans: Yes, indeed and It might actually be worth pointing out that WPC Scotland is Scotland-wide, there are many volunteer Work Place Chaplains, like me, we are ecumenical in our approach and fundamentally prohibited from preaching and proselytising.
Marion: That’s when you leave it to the Holy Spirit.
Hans: My job here is just to open doors.
Marion: But you do more than that, I know.
Hans: Yes, they asked me to be the organisation’s Finance Director. But it’s ironic that within the WPCS team, I sit at the bottom as part of the local Borders team, as well as at top on the Board.
Marion: Go on!
Hans: Well, locally, I am one of a dozen or so WPCS chaplains that operate throughout the Borders and Lothian, and within this context I liaise to the area organiser, who ultimately reports to the National Director. And that does give me access to very practical advice and support when I encounter problems that disturb me.
Marion: So you are a Counsellor?
Hans: No, I am definitely not. I’m very pragmatic in my approach. Probably comes from my engineering, or accountancy background. But even accountants can listen. Most issues in life and in business revolve around relationships. And talking helps.
Marion: Hans, that has been so interesting. Thank you very much for sparing the time to talk to us, and all good wishes with your chaplaincy work. And to all our listeners, this is Marion for the Cross Borders team wishing you all God’s blessings as you go about your work this coming week.
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