43
Saving souls is mission in more ways than one
By LINDA M. LINONIS
BOARDMAN
As ministers, the Revs. Kathryn Adams and David Joachim tend to people’s souls.
As lifeguards, they watch over people in the pools at the Davis Family YMCA.
The Rev. Mrs. Adams has been a lifeguard there since 2010, first working part time and now as a substitute. The Rev. Mr. Joachim has been a lifeguard there since 2008.
She is a retired Methodist minister who served from 1995 to 2014 as director of Protestant Campus Ministries at Youngstown State University and led 22 mission trips to Russian orphanages. He is pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church and is a substitute lifeguard and teaches swimming to preschoolers at the YMCA.
Mr. Joachim said he was a lifeguard when he attended Mount Union College. He was involved in the YWCA in Williamsport, Pa., when his four children (now adults) were growing up, and taught swimming there.
Mrs. Adams said she learned to swim at a YMCA. At Bedford High School, near Cleveland, she participated on the competitive and synchronized swim teams.
Both are certified lifeguards. Lifeguards must take a 35-hour course, be recertified every two years and participate in a monthly inservice. The course includes rescue techniques, CPR, first aid, how to deal with multiple victims, shallow- and deep-water rescues and one- and two-person rescues.
“Swimming is my passion,” Mrs. Adams said. “I just love to swim ... splash in the water and go down the slides.”
Because she derives so much enjoyment from the watery activity, Mrs. Adams said she wants others to have the same experience while being safe.
Mr. Joachim said he liked the idea of lifeguarding and saw the training as a bonus that would help him on church-related mission trips.
The ministers said the “core values” of the YMCA — honesty, respect, responsibility, care and faith — are in harmony with what they pursued as their life’s work. “Practicing those core values also contributes to a healthy mind, body and spirit,” Mrs. Adams said.
“The atmosphere here at the Y is wonderful,” Mr. Joachim said.
“This is a wholesome environment where people can enjoy themselves,” Mrs. Adams added.
Mr. Joachim continued that being a lifeguard and teaching youngsters how to swim is another avenue that “gets me out in the community.” He said the lifeguard position offers an outlet different from his career as a minister. But, at the same time, he said, it is like being a minister because “you’re watching over people.”
“I like the way it keeps me involved and connected to people,” he said.
“When a child learns to swim, it’s a rewarding experience,” the minister said, noting the skill might save their lives some day. On Mondays, his day off, Mr. Joachim also teaches guitar lessons at the YMCA.
Mrs. Adams said she likes knowing she is “helping to keep people safe while they’re having fun.”
“It’s a humbling form of service,” she added.
Lifeguards at the YMCA rotate pools every 30 minutes. There are two outdoor pools: leisure and lap; and three indoor: leisure, lap and therapy.