Chaplains on the River

Greetings, and welcome to our new blog!  We are the chaplains from Ministry on the River, of the Seamen’s Church Institute of New York and New Jersey (SCI).  Our ministry is the only full-time ministry that works with the towboat industry.  Chaplain Jim Wilkinson ministers to towboats working on the upper Mississippi, Ohio, Tennessee, and northern areas.  Chaplain Pam Stephens provides ministry to the Gulf Intracoastal Waterways including the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and Houston areas.  Ann Mills, Coordinator of Special Projects, is responsible for organizing our Christmas on the River and Easter on the River boxes that go out to each towboat working on those holidays. She also provides ministry from her home office in Paducah, Kentucky.

The towboat industry is, literally, constantly moving!  You towboaters know that your boats rarely stay in one place for very long.  River conditions change constantly; crews change regularly; special events like luncheons and company meetings happen weekly, our families’ lives continue on daily, as we work on the river and inland waterways.  This blog is a place where we river ministers can give you short, easy-to-read updates, stories, and thoughts about life on the river.  This blog has been created with you, the towboater, in mind.  We will have items of interest to the churches and individuals who are interested in assisting with our ministry, too.

You’ll find that there are already some blog entries below. We wrote these over the past few weeks as we practiced writing for you!  We hope you’ll read these entries and enjoy them, even though the events mentioned in them have already passed.  Our thoughts and prayers are always with you, just as they were when we wrote these entries.  And we hope you’ll continue to check our blog for new entries.  The three of us plan to contribute to the blog a few times a week, and we look forward to your comments as you read something that touches your heart or jogs your memory. 

Blessings to you reading this, and again, welcome to the MOR Chaplains’ Blog!

- Chaplain Pam Stephens