Fire Department of New York will swear in first female and openly gay chaplain

Fire Department of New York will swear in first female and openly gay chaplain

New York (AP) — The Fire Department of New York is swearing in its first female and first openly gay chaplain.

The Rev. Ann Kansfield is to be sworn in March 3. She’ll be the department’s eighth chaplain. Six are Christian and one is Jewish.

She’s a pastor at Greenpoint Reformed Church in Brooklyn.

The duties of FDNY chaplains include providing counseling to firefighters and department personnel and performing blessings and invocations. They work part time.

Kansfield tells The New York Times it would be great if she could be part of the effort to diversify the FDNY.

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