Brantley Parsley opens his ears to Sept. 11-related volunteerism to do his part for his God and country.
The Mobile Baptist is not a firefighter or policeman who jumped to the front lines of rescue in New York or Washington, D.C., but his work as a volunteer from his phone line in Mobile is no less heroic.
He slips away to his home library; snugly fits his telephone headset and listens with his heart through his ears.
Parsley is one of a 43-member national volunteer team forming the American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) Grief Support Line. From many locations in the United States the team members work shifts for free, counseling Americans stricken with grief from personal loss related to the Sept. 11 terrorism strikes against America.
Funded in part by AARP, the national phone support line may be called daily 9 a.m.–9 p.m. CST, according to the AARP Web site. This toll-free number is 1-866-797-2277.
“They have developed a computer in Washington, D.C. They said they needed people who have had experience with grief, so they went to the various widowed person services in the nation to find volunteers,” Parsley said.
“Somebody calls into their number and the computer switches the caller to a person on duty. The volunteer could be in Mobile, Minnesota, California or Texas, for instance — the caller would never know,” he said. What the caller will almost instantly know is that he or she is talking to a person who will compassionately hear them, no matter how distraught they are.
Parsley traveled to Washington, D.C., in February for volunteer training.
He explained that the national phone number was born soon after the Sept. 11 attacks but underwent reorganization in February to be available for more grief-stricken Americans throughout the country.
“Now they’re going to make more of a general appeal in the cities, so there is expected to be an increased demand,” Parsley said.
Currently, he spends eight hours a week with the national grief support line. On this and the local Contact Mobile helpline he works, he sometimes hears desperation in the voices of those he counsels; this can be depressing, but Parsley sees it as a challenge.
“At times when you’re on the line and someone is talking very low, very depressed, very angry and very filled with grief — wanting to hurt themselves or others, then at the end of the call you hear them perk up, and there may even be some humor during the call,” he said. “People always say, ‘That makes my day.’ Well, that makes my life,” he said.
Keeping himself upbeat and joyful is pivotal to being able to help others in the ways he does. He said part of the key to keeping upbeat is finding a purpose for living.
His purpose, especially during the last several years, has been volunteering with diverse organizations and finding new challenges through his volunteering, particularly after he retired in 1993.
To find new challenges in life, Parsley approached the senior volunteers program, coordinated through the Mary Abby Berg Senior Center in Mobile.
He spends about 150 hours monthly volunteering in various capacities. In a recent month, 77 of those hours were with the Contact Mobile Helpline and peer support for other volunteers.
He also volunteers with AARP’s Widowed Persons Service (WPS) of Mobile. He is a member of the board of directors of the WPS and a module (seminar) teacher for the organization. He is chairman of the Retired Senior Volunteer Program advisory committee, a clearing organization that coordinates volunteers among 103 organizations in southwest Alabama.
He is a volunteer chaplain for Mobile Infirmary Hospice. He spends about five hours a week preparing to teach his Sunday School class at Spring Hill Baptist Church, where he and his wife, Bettye, are members.
Parsley, whose first wife died in 1991, has been married to Bettye for about six years.
Whether through a community organization or the church, Parsley helps.
He explained that within churches, including Baptist churches, are people whose faces don’t always match the answer to the question, “How are you today?” They may say, “fine,” with a smile, masking the turmoil inside. Sometimes, there’s a misconception that if you’re a real Christian, you don’t hurt, and that’s a tragedy,” he said.
Many churches in Alabama have or plan grief support ministries. “We see movement and interest in it,” he said. “This is getting back to the basic ministry of Jesus — it’s the ill who need a physician, not the well,” he said.
Just being around Parsley and hearing his strong, confident voice evokes feelings of worth and hope. Operating from the love of Christ, who is in his heart, is the motivation that permeates his volunteering.
Parsley’s profession — which was mostly in Christian higher education, from which he retired in 1993 — makes him not only compassionate and caring, but able to act as a resource person, knowing which community or religious entities can help a hurting person.
He was pastor of Calvary Baptist Church, Albany, Ore., in 1957, before he felt led to pursue a ministry that involved Christian higher education.
He earned his bachelor of arts degree in 1952 from the University of Maryland, majoring in sociology and minoring in psychology. At New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, he earned his B.D. in 1955 and spent two summers in clinical pastoral education at the Southern Baptist Hospital in New Orleans. From NOBTS, he earned his M.R.E. in 1958. He earned his MLn (master of librarianship) from Emory University in 1965. He completed more graduate study in social psychology at Tulane University.
During his career, he worked in reader services at the New Orleans Public Library, was on the theology library staff at Emory University, and was the university library director at Campbellsville University in Kentucky and later at the University of Mobile.
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