Chad Varah

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Chad Varah , CH , CBE (born November 12, 1911 in Barton-upon-Humber , North Lincolnshire , England ; † November 8, 2007 in Basingstoke , Hampshire ) was a British Anglican clergyman who is often regarded as the founder of telephone counseling . Before him, Harry Warren in New York (1895) and Pastor West in London (1953) had tried to use the telephone as a bridge of contacts. In addition to founding an organization ( Samaritans ), Varah's merit is his concept of the Samaritans, which has left its mark on pastoral phone calls around the world to this day.

Life

Varah, the eldest of nine children whose father was a priest who was at Worksop College (north of the county Nottinghamshire ) and at Keble College of Oxford University trained and 1,936 ordained .

He became the vicar of St. Stephen Walbrook's Congregation in the City of London in 1953 and remained so until 2003.

Also in 1953, Varah founded the “ Samaritans ”, the first non - clerical telephone counseling service in the world that was accessible around the clock, and many more were formed after the model.

Contribution to the conception of telephone counseling

Varah began his work only slightly later as Pastor West. In the beginning there was the motive to prevent suicides. The telephone and anonymity only formed a bridge that led to personal support. Varah's Samaritans only felt responsible for suicide prophylaxis.

Varah's conception of working on the phone was to be gratifying . The Samaritan becomes a friend of the suicidal person for a short time and thus enables him to make new social contacts and a certain change in his life. For Varah, listening without interruption, without giving advice and without any religious influence is a basic requirement for a Samaritan. A fundamental openness and a willingness to respond to the wishes of the person seeking help, regardless of religion and denomination, are the focus of his conception, which continues to have an impact on pastoral telephone worries worldwide today.

Trivia

In 1994, Varah led the wedding of Lady Sarah Armstrong-Jones , Princess Margaret's only daughter , to actor Daniel Chatto .

Works (selection)

  • Chad Varah: Samaritans. Help over the phone. Kreuz Verlag, Stuttgart / Berlin 1966.
  • Chad Varah (Ed.): The Samaritans in the '70s: To Befriend the Suicidal and Despairing. Constable, London 1973, ISBN 0094583307 .
  • Chad Varah (Ed.): Samaritans in the 80's To Befriend the Suicidal and Despairing. Constable, London 1980, ISBN 0094631301 .
  • Chad Varah: Before I Die Again: The Autobiography of the Founder of the Samaritans. Constable, London 1992, ISBN 0094705801 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Ingo habenicht: Telephone counseling as a form of intentional pastoral care: history, phenomenology and theology. An investigation into the self-image of telephone counseling from a poimenic perspective. Kovac, Hamburg 1994, p. 55
  2. ↑ Ingo habenicht, telephone counseling as a form of intentional pastoral care: history, phenomenology and theology. An investigation into the self-understanding of telephone counseling from a poemical perspective, Hamburg: Kovac, 1994; P. 56f
personal data
SURNAME Varah, Chad
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British clergyman (Anglican), founder of the world's first telephone counseling
DATE OF BIRTH November 12, 1911
PLACE OF BIRTH Barton-upon-Humber , North Lincolnshire
DATE OF DEATH November 8, 2007
Place of death Basingstoke