Hutz Hertzberg is the Protestant chaplain at Chicago's O'Hare Airport, which sees more than 72 million passengers annually.
Who attends airport chapel services?
Two-thirds of the people that come to the services on Sundays are passengers, the rest are employees. The chapel is a little less threatening than walking into a local church, so we get Mormons, every stripe of Protestant, and non-Christians. I think we have one of the higher percentages anywhere of practicing Catholics that attend a Protestant service.
Are you seeing an increase since September 11?
Numbers were much higher the first Sunday after the attack. Since then, the interest is still there, but the amount of people in the system is not as high. The problem of going through security twice is a deterrent.
What are worshipers feeling?
It's basically the same question: Why did God allow this? But there seems to be an enhanced awareness of spiritual things in airports. People don't take flying as much for granted as they did before.
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