Church guide

Our CAS knitters hail from all 50 states!

Under signature of SCI President & Executive Director The Rev. David Rider, and composed thanks to Doug Stevenson's continued service to seafarers, SCI sent letters to President Trump and Secretary of State Pompeo yesterday. The following is an excerpt of the content. To view the letters in their entirety, please visit SCI's website at https://seamenschurch.org . I write to respectfully ask you to review the recently published intention of the Department of State to revoke visas from seafarers who are employed on ships that assist the IRGC by transporting oil from Iran to Syria. SCI believes that such an action by the Department of State would unfairly penalize seafarers and jeopardize maritime safety and security. Most seafarers working on commercial tankers are employed on contracts of up to twelve month’s duration. Typically, oil tankers do not operate on regular schedules or routes. Rather, tankers’ routes are determined by individual charters that are arranged by the vessels’ owners or operators. Because tankers’ cargos and routings are determined by vessel owners or operators, seafarers have no say in their vessel’s routes or cargos. They are, however, obligated to live up to their employment contracts. Seafarers who refuse to work on their vessels would breach their employment contract and thereby jeopardize their careers. Seafarers could also be subjected to administrative or criminal penalties for refusing to work while at sea. Global trade and maritime security depend on seafarers who operate merchant vessels. Shore leave is essential to seafarers' well-being and vessels' safe operations. In addition, seafarers have a key role as essential members of the maritime domain awareness security team through their ability to identify suspicious activity on their vessels and in ports, and report the activity to authorities. Seafarers have proven themselves to be valuable and reliable security assets. We believe that treating seafarers as if they were maritime security risks jeopardizes maritime safety and security.

Throwback Thursday to the 1960s! #TBT From Stefan: As New York City's waterfront shifted to Newark Bay, The Lookout often took a turn for the nostalgic. The August 1969 issue included articles on the history of coastal lights, the compass rose, buoys, mermaids, and an appreciation of seagulls, along with a brief piece on addressing seafarers' mental health (an issue still central to SCI's work). Below is the cover of the June 1969 issue.

Both the Rev. Kempton D. Baldridge, SCI Senior River Chaplain and SCI Chaplain Thomas Rhoades support and participate in RiverWork Discovery's Career Fairs, one day events held in cities across the U.S. targeting high school juniors and seniors. Cristina Del Castillo, Crewboat Captain with Turn Services, worked with Tom on RiverWork career presentations to students, and will be featured in an upcoming article in the Fall issue of SCI's printed newsletter, The Lookout.

"There is a growing awareness among the maritime family that mental health is the next great concern to confront. The last thirty years our maritime family has faced the challenge of safety, and have significantly reduced the number of fatal incidents upon our waterways. The climax of this shift in culture has been the implementation of subchapter-M in which the Coast Guard now regulates towing vessels through inspection. Prior to this year only ships were inspected vessels for safety of life and environment. Now we need to expand and deepen our focus in mental health. Our maritime family is recognizing this need and in response SCI now offers Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training by Living Works. Our chaplains discuss suicide awareness at captain’s meetings. Recently I posed this question to a group of our captains, “Do you think that towboaters are more vulnerable to suicide than our general population?” The answer came a resounding, “Yes!” and one of our captains began to tell his own story. To create a culture that allows for people to move toward wellness of mind, we will be offering an ASIST class October 9-10 at Team Services in Baton Rouge. There is a limit of 15, so sign up early to make sure you secure a place. ASIST will provide you with the skills to help someone move to emotional safety." - Rev. Tom Rhoades, Seamen’s Church Institute of NY & NJ Rivers and Gulf Chaplain Enrollment: (270) 575-1005

Doug Stevenson, SCI's former Director of our Center for Seafarers' Rights, continues to provide leadership on important seafarer-rights issues. He has written a position paper in response to the U.S. Department of State's recent press release stating its intention to revoke visas for seafarers on ships that assist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by transporting oil from Iran to Syria. For the full statement, here is a link to our website: https://seamenschurch.org/ Founded in 1834 in affiliation with the Episcopal Church, SCI remains a non-partisan organization deeply committed to the interests of our mariners in brown and blue water.

SCI Director for International Seafarers’ Center Tim Wong and Ship Welfare Visitor Cora Koehler recently gave visitors for Maersk a tour of our Welcome Center, the port and a a few Maersk ships. Here are some photos from their tour.

SCI is offering Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST): a two-day interactive workshop in suicide first aid October 9-10 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The LivingWorks ASIST program teaches participants to recognize when someone may have thoughts of suicide and work with them to create a plan that will support their immediate safety. FEATURES: Scientifically-proven intervention model Powerful audiovisual learning aids Group discussions Skills practice and development Balance of challenge and safety For more information see: https://seamenschurch.org/asist To enroll, please call (270) 575-1005 Please forward to interested professionals in the maritime, military, police, first responders, and academics!

A nice note from a CAS knitter

The Department of State recently issued a press release stating that it intends to revoke visas for seafarers on ships that assist the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps by transporting oil from Iran to Syria. SCI believes that such an action by the Department of State would be a draconian penalty for the many seafarers who have no knowledge of or the ability to influence their vessels' routings.

Throwback Thursday to our South Street facility: The Government of Sweden provided funding for the Swedish Reading Room at SCI, building camaraderie among the many Swedish seamen at SCI. #TBT

Openings Available for Rose Point Training at CME Paducah on September 5! ROSE POINT ELECTRONIC CHARTING SYSTEM • 1-day (8 hr) course, applying Rose Point ECS in a range of underway scenarios • Employs sophisticated navigation simulation with access to complete full-mission bridge simulator system, equipped with ECS • Designed to enhance navigation safety by providing knowledge and skills necessary to utilize Rose Point ECS fully and efficiently • Cost: $300 per person Call (270) 575-1005 to book or see https://seamenschurch.org/cme for more information.

Pictured here with Director of SCI's International Seafarers’ Center Tim Wong, Hannah van Hemmen joined the Women's International Shipping & Trading Association (WISTA) while employed as a forensic engineer with Martin & Ottaway. Hannah said that she could work a whole day at that time without interacting with another woman, so her WISTA network meant a lot to her - and still does! WISTA is SCI's 2019 Silver Bell Award winner.

Meet Hannah van Hemmen, a fourth generation maritime engineer who works for The Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, and is an enthusiastic WISTA Sista. She participated in Christmas at Sea Packing Days as a child! To read more about Hannah, look for the Fall issue of SCI's newsletter The Knit Before Christmas.

Throwback Thursday Part Deux: The Cross on the roof of our 25 South Street location was illuminated at night, and could be seen 30 miles out at sea. It often appeared on navigational maps because it was a fixed point. #TBT

For Throwback Thursday from SCI Associate Archivist, Stefan Dreisbach-Williams: "When I saw the last Throwback Thursday piece posted online I immediately recalled (too late for press time) one of my favorite photos in the collection. One in a series of seemingly staged photos from 25 South Street, the image of this informal band is endlessly fascinating to me with the details of their expressions, clothes, hairstyles, whatever the guy next to the ukulele player is hiding under the brim of his hat, at that anchor emblazoned light fixture on the wall behind them." #tbt To view more from SCI's extensive digital archive collection, see http://www.seamenschurch-archives.org/

The Paducah Sun article presents the story of a member of SCI's professional volunteer support system on the river. Bill Coscarelli, a retired college professor, is trained in Critical Incident Stress Management and Applied Suicide Intervention Skills. "'You're on a boat and you're away from family," Coscarelli said. 'Nowadays, with the web and everything, there's a little more communication, but you're missing birthdays. You might be missing Christmas. These boats don't stop. Some loneliness can set in as well.' Coscarelli volunteers with the Rev. Kempton Baldridge of Paducah, someone he calls the 'patron saint of the inland waterways.'" "

SCI's Senior River Chaplain, the Rev. Kempton D. Baldridge, or "Chaps" as he is known on the river, is featured in a front page story in the Sunday 7/6 edition of The Paducah Sun. "During a recent visit to the Institute, Baldridge had several boxes inside his office that were headed for the river. The boxes were filled with household items -- such as toothbrushes, playing cards and postcards -- to give to maritime workers during his chaplain calls. After all, he explained, chaplains don't visit only when something bad happens. 'The vast majority of mariners will go through life and they'll have stresses and they will have times of isolation and loneliness and all of that,' Baldridge said. '. . . If the only time a mariner ever meets a chaplain is on the worst day of his or her life, then they don't necessarily want to see us again because we remind them of something horrible.' Chaplains often make social calls to be whatever they're needed to be, even a 'floating guidance counselor.'"

Beautiful color palette from one of our knitters!

SCI Director for International Seafarers’ Center Tim Wong and Ship Welfare Visitor Cora Koehler recently gave visitors for Maersk a tour of our Welcome Center, the port and a a few Maersk ships. Here are some photos from their tour.

SCI has a long tradition of christening boats and ships that continues today. From our archives in honor of Throwback Thursday, here are images from the 1943 Liberty Ship Janet Lord Roper Ship Christening Ceremony! #TBT

Great to celebrate summer with everyone at our Food Truck Fest in Port Newark yesterday! See you again next year!

Maritime Training Benefit Luncheon St. Regis Hotel in Houston Thursday, April 25th, 2019 Enjoy!

This Labor Day, SCI celebrates the hard-working men and women of the maritime, who contribute so much to the strength and prosperity of our country. We salute you!

One from the archives! Vintage newsreel of SCI volunteer Ship Visitor and former Sandy Hook Pilot Tom Britton in action. Hats off, Tom! #tbt

No downtime for ships and tugs over the weekend -- here's the view from Bayonne, NJ on a sunny Sunday!

Every day is National Maritime Day for The Seamen's Church Institute! Support us, and thank the mariners who work so hard to keep our economy afloat: smschur.ch/1N1BAfF #MaritimeDay #SCINYNJ

It's #EarthDay! 🌎 And what better way to mark it - the SCI team at Port Newark got straight to work cleaning up the grounds of our Seafarers' Center. They picked up many bags of trash on this sunny (and chilly) day. Great job guys! Hats off also to the wider port community, and Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.