Storm chasing catholic ministry

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eirecool

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I know this idea might seem mad but just here me out. Is it possible to form storm chasing ministry as a priest alongside other catholic lay people. One person being a meteorologist, one being a driver, a medic and a priest. All four of them being devout catholics who do all the usual storm chasing including documenting a storm/tornado/hurricane while also bringing a sense of prayer and particularly the priest would provide for both the team and if a place gets hit the sacraments would be made available. The medic would also provide first aid. The team while also well in formed in meteorology would be well informed in their faith as well. Also maybe if there is some common sense policy in place.

Maybe there is already a team like this or maybe storm chasing would be a grey area. Just a thought.
 
Common sense tells me to stay out of the rain and not chase tornados.
 
My initial thoughts are that devastating tornadoes are pretty rare and these teams tie up a lot of time chasing for the rare occasion of getting a good shot or coming upon the damage. I don’t know how a priest would have time to join in on these teams
 
eirecool said:
I know this idea might seem mad but just here me out. Is it possible to form storm chasing ministry as a priest alongside other catholic lay people. One person being a meteorologist, one being a driver, a medic and a priest. All four of them being devout catholics who do all the usual storm chasing including documenting a storm/tornado/hurricane while also bringing a sense of prayer and particularly the priest would provide for both the team and if a place gets hit the sacraments would be made available. The medic would also provide first aid. The team while also well in formed in meteorology would be well informed in their faith as well. Also maybe if there is some common sense policy in place.

Maybe there is already a team like this or maybe storm chasing would be a grey area. Just a thought.
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Actually, yes, it is completely possible, and (I would say) perhaps even advisable.

You will likely not receive a whole lot of positive feedback on such a radical idea, as a lot of people don’t really understand what an apostolate can do. But the fact is, you could form any kind of apostolate you wanted, and - so long as it is serving the mission of the church - you could make a go of it.

The problem I think you will more likely confront occurs with sponsorship for it. It sounds like it might take some equipment and people, and then they would have to go into potentially dangerous situations. The insurances would be quite high for it, and the archdiocese risk management office is likely to take that into consideration (and likely reject it). So you probably wouldn’t get any official funding for it.

That said, you could still do it yourselves and call it an apostolate.

If you wanted to raise money, you’d probably want to go the extra step of forming a not-for-profit, which is itself a whole other, big proposition.

But in any case, the actual answer to your question is - yes… 🙂
 
I was just taking pictures of an ominous looking sky this morning, and thought that perhaps I should have been a storm chaser. Too old (and scared now!) to anything of the sort!
 
I find the idea of storm chasing to be really interesting, but in reality I bet it would be dead boring driving days across Oklahoma and Texas and stuff waiting for a few hours of a tornado if you manage to make it in time.
 
Which ever way this leads you, maybe I can offer a couple of suggestions.

If you haven’t already, try to locate a Skywarn Spotter network in your area. It would be a good idea to attend Skywarn training. Often a local amateur radio group will host a Skywarn spotter training session where a representative from the local office of the National Weather Service comes and puts on a video demonstration. There are sometimes separate sessions for severe summer and winter weather, depending on where you live.

If there is an Amateur Radio repeater in your area that holds regular severe weather Skywarn nets, you might want to consider getting you license and becoming active with them through ARES/RACES.

Just try to get a knowledge of the risks of severe weather before venturing out into it. Tragedies can and do happen.

After that you could begin networking with others you meet, and begin working on your “ministry”.

Good luck!
 
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I would be in this team in a heartbeat! I love storms and want to ride with a real stormchaser.
 
Canvas said:
I find the idea of storm chasing to be really interesting, but in reality I bet it would be dead boring driving days across Oklahoma and Texas and stuff waiting for a few hours of a tornado if you manage to make it in time.
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I do a bit of storm chasing and have a brother that is a fanatic. It has gotten very popular and for that reason gotten quite dangerous in a secondary way. Many times there will be so many people on the road that it is difficult to navigate the obvious improvisingly necessary conditions. As as you can imagine, drivers are not always following highway laws, due to the urgency of their endeavor.
 
And there have been storm chasers killed by the tornado itself or in auto accidents due to being distracted by watching the clouds and
not the road or traffic.
 
If one lives in “tornado alley” like I do, it doesn’t seem “mad” at all. I think it’s neat, myself. Of course, the priest would have to be very willing to undergo training. But you know, if my home was flattened by a tornado and a priest turned up, I would be exceedingly grateful for it. Around here, storm chasers and first responders are pretty much the same group. A priest in that? You bet!
 
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