Strathmore pastor receives prestigious honour
By Miriam Ostermann, Associate Editor
Photo Courtesy of Lisa Bastarache
PD, as she is commonly known, was among 46 recipients who received the award for 12 years dedication to or supporting the emergency services.
Wheatland County had never presented these awards previously.
“She’s a phenomenal person to bring peace and mental wellness to our crew, and it is really important to emergency service personnel to have someone who’s a sounding board, a chaplain … and she just comes by it naturally,” said Mac de Beaudrap, regional deputy fire chief for Wheatland County.
“We’ve never presented these awards in Wheatland County before, although people were entitled to them. We decided that now is the time, let’s catch up on the backlog of people who are very deserving and need this recognition. We put forward all their names and got them all approved.”
PD grew up in Calgary as one of three children and attended church on special occasions such as Easter and Christmas. She then pursued a nine-year nursing career in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Foothills Medical Centre, which she credits for her fondness of emergency workers. After nearly a decade in the nursing profession, PD knew she was destined for something else and became the Lutheran Church youth minister for all of Western Canada for a year. When it was time to return to nursing, she turned instead to becoming a pastor full time. The opportunity presented itself in Strathmore in 1994, when she took on her current role at the Strathmore Lord of All Lutheran Church, which at the time was housed in a doublewide trailer.
The job required her to dedicate up to 25 per cent of her time to community service; one of the reasons she was drawn to the position. She spent her days reading books to children during story hour at the Strathmore Municipal Library, served on the Youth Club of Strathmore board, played a vital role in the creation of Strathmore Victims Services, helped in the beginning phases of the Strathmore Overnight Shelter, and is marginally involved with the Wheatland and Area Hospice Society.
For the past 12 years, PD also served as the chaplain to members of the Strathmore Fire Department, eight fire departments in Wheatland County, and for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police under K-Division. On occasion she also makes herself available to Emergency Medical Services (EMS).
“I tend to try to make sure that I’m in the places where my skills, my abilities and my resources can be best used, and I guess I just go where I see a need and that changes from time to time,” said PD. “I don’t do it as a Lutheran pastor, I do it as someone who’s concerned for my community and overall wellbeing. I’ve been here so long, so I’m more known in that regards, but this is where my heart is.”
According to PD, her role as chaplain has no religion attached and is much more open-ended. She addresses the whole spiritual picture, helping people deal with anything in life from struggles to celebrations. She is also trained in critical incident debriefing.
On March 10, PD was taken by surprise when she received the provincial award, presented to her by Strathmore-Brooks MLA Derek Fildebrandt, and a certificate signed by Alberta Premier Rachel Notley and Minister of Municipal Affairs Shaye Anderson.
“It’s very humbling to be acknowledged for doing it. I don’t do this for the publicity or awards, I do it because I think it’s what I’m called to do,” she said. “In a world where so often faith gets hidden away or put to the side, there needs to be some recognition for chaplains. We’re not just people in the box of the church, and so for me this was not just about me, but about all the other chaplains out there, and there are many.”