The Seamen's Church Institute (SCI; formerly known as the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey) is an American maritime nonprofit organization that serves mariners and seafarers through chaplaincy, crisis response, training, feasibility studies, legal advocacy, and maritime policy. Founded in

Lower Manhattan Lower Manhattan, also known as Downtown Manhattan or Downtown New York City, is the southernmost part of the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Manhattan. The neighborhood is History of New York City, the historical birthplace o ...

in 1834, it is affiliated with the Episcopal Church. With a budget of over $7 million, SCI is the largest, most comprehensive mariners’ agency in North America. The institute is headquartered in New York City and operates the International Seafarers’ Center in

Port Newark A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manche ...

, Centers for Maritime Education in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

, and

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

, Texas, and the Center for Mariner Advocacy in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

. Annually, its chaplains visit more than 2,000 vessels in the

Port of New York and New Jersey The Port of New York and New Jersey is the port district of the New York metropolitan area, New York-Newark metropolitan area, encompassing the region within approximately a radius of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. It includes the sy ...

and along the American inland waterways system. SCI provides free legal advice for merchant mariners worldwide and advocates for their rights to the

United States government The Federal Government of the United States of America (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the Federation#Federal governments, national government of the United States. The U.S. federal government is composed of three distinct ...

, including the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature, legislative branch of the federal government of the United States. It is a Bicameralism, bicameral legislature, including a Lower house, lower body, the United States House of Representatives, ...

, the

Department of Homeland Security The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, roughly comparable to the interior, home, or public security ministries in other countries. Its missions invol ...

and the

US Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the armed forces of the United States. It is one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, mi ...

, as well as other governments, the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, the

International Maritime Organization The International Maritime Organization (IMO; ; ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for regulating maritime transport. The IMO was established following agreement at a ...

, the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

, and maritime trade associations. SCI instructors provide

professional development Professional development, also known as professional education, is learning that leads to or emphasizes education in a specific professional career field or builds practical job applicable skills emphasizing Praxis (process), praxis in addition t ...

and educational programs for inland and coastal mariners using simulator training facilities at SCI-Paducah and SCI-Houston. SCI's Christmas at Sea program annually provides more than 25,000 hand-knit gifts to mariners at the holidays. CAS was founded in 1898 during the Spanish–American War. SCI is led by the Reverend Mark S. Nestlehutt, President & Executive Director. Mr. Nestlehutt is an Episcopal minister who previously served in maritime parishes and as a naval officer.

Historical highlights (1834–2023)

1834: SCI is founded as the Young Men's Church Missionary Society 1844: SCI builds the Floating Church of Our Savior at the foot of Pike Street on the

East River The East River is a saltwater Estuary, tidal estuary or strait in New York City. The waterway, which is not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island, ...

to provide a place of worship where seafarers could feel comfortable and welcome 1846: SCI builds the Floating Church of the Holy Comforter at the foot of Dey Street on the North

Hudson River The Hudson River, historically the North River, is a river that flows from north to south largely through eastern New York (state), New York state. It originates in the Adirondack Mountains at Henderson Lake (New York), Henderson Lake in the ...

to accommodate seafarers and local residents 1868: SCI builds its first mission house at 34 Pike Street in the bustling New York sailortown 1896: The Joint Conference for the Protection of Seamen, a consortium of seafarers' missions and maritime law practitioners, was founded under the leadership of SCI administrators J. Augustus Johnson and the Rev. Archibald R. Mansfield. 1898: The Christmas at Sea program begins, supporting mariners during the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

1899: The beginnings of Maritime Education at SCI. An International Committee of Christian Workers for Seamen is founded with Mansfield as secretary. 1906: The Society formally changes its name to the Seamens Church Institute of New York 1908:

Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...

joins SCI's Board, on which he remained until his death in 1945 1913: SCI opens the doors of its 12-story building at 25 South Street in

with room to house up to 580 seafarers in dormitory style rooms. The headquarters also housed a shipping bureau, a restaurant, a postal service and a chapel. 1917: SCI begins training merchant marines for

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

1920: Janet Lord Roper begins running the Missing Seamen's Bureau 1924: SCI opens an emergency homeless shelter for seafarers affected by the shipping industry's economic downturn. 1938: The SCI in New York hosts the first offices of the National Group of Seamen's Agencies (NGSA), a precursor of the

North American Maritime Ministry Association The North American Maritime Ministry Association (NAMMA) is an ecumenical Christian seafarers’ welfare organization and professional association for seafarers’ welfare workers. History Founding organizations and early coordination The ...

,"for correlating and standardizing the work of seamen's agencies across the country". 1942: SCI's Merchant Marine School expands all the way through the 13th-story roof at 25 South Street to provide rooftop instruction and pilothouse training to meet increasing wartime demand for qualified seafarers 1961: SCI dedicates its International Seafarers’ Center in Port Newark, NJ 1968: SCI's New York City headquarters moves to an 18-story building at 15 State Street. Services include a chapel, hotel rooms, restaurant and bar, reading room, post office and credit bureau 1976: Updates name from the Seamen's Church Institute of New York to the Seamen's Church Institute of New York & New Jersey to reflect its earlier expansion into New Jersey in 1961. 1978: SCI hosts its first Silver Bell Awards Dinner, an annual event to honor an individual or group for outstanding leadership in the maritime community, significant commitment to merchant mariners and engagement with issues facing the maritime industry 1982: The Center for Seafarers’ Rights is established, with approval from the

International Christian Maritime Association The International Christian Maritime Association (ICMA) is an ecumenical association of 26 Christian organisations, Protestant and Catholic, representing different churches and Christian communities actively engaged in welfare work for people who w ...

. 1991: SCI's New York City headquarters moves to 241 Water Street. The building housed a chapel, meeting rooms, legal aid offices, classrooms for maritime education and training, an art gallery, a cafeteria, and internet access and phones for mariners' use. 1997: The Institute opens CME–Paducah in Kentucky, the first training facility of its kind for America's inland river mariners 1998: Ministry on the River begins, the only full-time pastoral care service available to mariners working on America's inland river systems 2001: SCI dedicates CME–Houston, a facility for maritime training in the

Port of Houston The Port of Houston is one of the world's largest ports and serves the metropolitan area of Houston, Houston, Texas. The port is a complex of diversified public and private facilities located a few hours' sailing time from the Gulf of Mexico. Loc ...

2001: SCI's NYC headquarters is transformed into an emergency relief station for

9/11 The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

rescue workers, providing thousands of meals and distributing truckloads of donated supplies to aid Ground Zero workers 2005: SCI raises and distributes over $155,000 for mariners affected by

Hurricanes Katrina Hurricane Katrina was a powerful, devastating and historic tropical cyclone that caused 1,392 fatalities and damages estimated at $125 billion in late August 2005, particularly in the city of New Orleans and its surrounding area. ...

and Rita 2009: SCI launches a groundbreaking study on the psychological effects of piracy on merchant mariners 2009: SCI assumes administrative responsibilities for the Life Saving Benevolent Association of New York (LSBA), an organization founded in 1849 to "“recognize and reward courage, skill and seamanship in the rescue of human life on the sea or any navigable waters..." 2010: SCI opens the doors to its renovated Seafarers' Center in

. In addition to housing SCI's Center for Seafarer's Rights and Christmas at Sea programs, the new Center contains an Internet café, telephone carrels, recreation lounge, chapel, business services, and a Health and Wellness Center—all vital services for maritime transportation industry workers. 2011: SCI sells its headquarters building at 241 Water Street and transfers its archival collections to

CUNY Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing, Queens, Flushing. Que ...

on permanent loan. The collections are housed at the college and open to researchers, in addition to serving as teaching resources for archives students in the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies. 2013: SCI hosts first Mountain Challenge fundraiser team race over 25 miles of rugged terrain in western

Maine Maine ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the United States, and the northeasternmost state in the Contiguous United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Provinces and ...

2014: SCI moves to new headquarters at 50 Broadway in New York City 2015: In response to the tragic loss of the '' MV El Faro'' with all hands in October 2015, SCI established the ''El Faro'' Relief Fund to provide financial assistance to the surviving families and dependents of lost seafarers of the ''El Faro'' and other U.S. flag merchant vessels 2016: CME broadens its service offering to mariners through a new online Health, Safety and Environment e-learning program 2017: SCI conducts its first two-day Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) workshop for shore-side personnel in the inland river industry at CME-Paducah 2017: CME becomes the first maritime training center in the United States to receive

ISO 9001 The ISO 9000 family is a set of international standards for quality management systems. It was developed in March 1987 by International Organization for Standardization. The goal of these standards is to help organizations ensure that they meet ...

certification for its quality management system 2018: SCI celebrates the 120th anniversary of the Christmas at Sea program by launching the 1898 Society, a planned giving initiative for volunteer knitters 2018: SCI's Ministry on the River program opens a branch office in

Baton Rouge, Louisiana Baton Rouge ( ; , ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Louisiana. It had a population of 227,470 at the 2020 United States census, making it List of municipalities in Louisiana, Louisiana's second-m ...

2019: The U.S. Coast Guard publishes final regulations on seafarers’, chaplains’, and other persons’ access through marine terminals, culminating advocacy efforts by SCI that started in 2001 in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks 2020: SCI adapts to the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

health crisis by connecting with mariners safely via video chats, phone calls, and text messages; port chaplains arrange gangway visits and shop for seafarers unable to leave their vessels; river chaplains ramp up production and delivery of morale boxes, lowering them on ropes to towboats passing through locks; and volunteers send SCI a bumper crop of hand-knit items for Christmas at Sea gifts. 2021: SCI's Center for Mariner Advocacy (CMA), formerly known as the Center for Seafarer Rights, relocated its office to

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

. 2022: Updates name to the Seamen's Church Institute, reflecting its geographic expansion with physical structures in five states and a network of chaplains located in more than a dozen states within the U.S.

Pastoral care and chaplaincy services

In the

, SCI chaplains visit thousands of vessels annually, providing practical services to crews and offering hospitality and pastoral care. Seafarers are offered free transportation services to and from their vessel, enabling them to visit local shopping areas. Those who visit the SCI International Seafarers' Center in Port Newark can access the Internet, contact their families at home, and enjoy a range of other amenities free of charge. SCI's ''Ministry on the Rivers'' ''(MOR)'' program reaches out to mariners and maritime workers on the inland waterways and in the

Gulf of Mexico The Gulf of Mexico () is an oceanic basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, mostly surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north, and northwest by the Gulf Coast of the United States; on the southw ...

. Two full-time chaplains and more than a dozen part-time volunteer river chaplain associates board

towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squa ...

s and offshore vessels to offer pastoral care and hospitality.

Maritime education and training and feasibility safety studies

SCI instructors provide

and educational programs for inland and coastal mariners using advanced simulator training at facilities in

and

Houston, Texas Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

. SCI also conducts feasibility studies that serve to make waterways and commercial ports safer. Feasibility studies are performed to ensure that safety parameters are evaluated and met, traffic flow is not negatively impacted, and safe navigation is maintained.

Mariner advocacy

SCI's Center for Seafarer Rights (CSR) is the world's only free legal-aid program for merchant mariners. Available for consultation at any time, CSR mediates between parties to reach a resolution acceptable to everyone, often referring individual mariners to pro-bono law firms for assistance. Working with seafarer advocacy and international groups from around the world, CSR has been instrumental in improving safety and security for mariners, as well as implementing new standards relating to stowaways, piracy, repatriation, medical care and shore leave. Taking on a new dimension to advocacy, in 2012 CSR published guidelines on "The Psychological Impact of Piracy on Seafarers". This has been followed by various studies on health and wellness among seafarers and inland mariners, including the introduction of suicide intervention training in 2017.

Christmas at Sea

With more than 1,200 knitters and crocheters drawn from all 50 states, Canada and Europe, SCI's Christmas at Sea program provides over 16,000 handcrafted gifts to merchant mariners working over the Christmas holidays. Begun in 1898 during the Spanish–American War, Christmas at Sea relies on SCI chaplains who distribute gifts to international seafarers, inland river mariners and offshore workers in the Gulf of Mexico throughout the holiday season. Handcrafted items such as hats, scarves, slippers, or cowls are placed into “ ditty bags” with various toiletries, candy or treats, and holiday cards made by schoolchildren are added into the care package for the mariners.

Notes

Other references

PBS Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, January 7, 2011

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080213174005/http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81799_94721_ENG_HTM.htm Seamen's Knit 4 Lent initiative to serve mariners working in Gulf Coast, Episcopal Life Online, February 7, 2008]
David M. Rider named president, executive director of Seamen's Church Institute, Episcopal Life Online, October 2, 2007 https://web.archive.org/web/20080217041310/http://www.episcopalchurch.org/81831_90629_ENG_HTM.htm

* [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9502EFDC153FF937A15754C0A9659C8B63 DANIEL J. WAKIN, Marooned, Just Feet From Shore; Tighter Security Keeps Foreign Crews on Ships , The New York Times, New York and Region, July 24, 2003]
JEAN SMITH (Rev.), A Seaman's Plight, The New York Times, Opinion, December 5, 2001

George Harding, On Admiralty Service, Harpers Magazine, December 1917

Norman Duncan, Youngsters of the seven seas, Harpers Magazine, December 1910

External links

*
Christmas at Sea
project
SCITV

Vimeo Vimeo ( ) is an American Online video platform, video hosting, sharing, and services provider founded in 2004 and headquartered in New York City. Vimeo focuses on the delivery of high-definition video across a range of devices and operates on a ...

channel {{DEFAULTSORT:Seamen's Church Institute Of New York And New Jersey United States Merchant Marine Social welfare charities based in the United States Episcopal Church (United States) Christianity in New York City Organizations based in New York (state) Anglican organizations Port of New York and New Jersey 1834 establishments in New York (state) Organizations based in Newark, New Jersey Christian missions to seafarers

Historical highlights (1834–2023)

Pastoral care and chaplaincy services

Maritime education and training and feasibility safety studies

Mariner advocacy

Christmas at Sea

Archives

Further reading

Notes

Other references

External links