2011 Year in Pictures
by Susannah Skiver, Communications & Development Associate

December 27, 2011

2011 saw expanding horizons for the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), kicking off with the first-ever public television profile by PBS’s Religion & Ethics Newsweekly and gaining momentum through the spring and summer. Friends and mariners alike celebrated the grand reopening and rededication of the Port Newark International Seafarers’ Center in May, marking the beginning of a new era in seafarer services and hospitality. SCI appointed Captain Stephen Polk as the new Director of its Center for Maritime Education, and this year Polk began exploring new areas of training with the coastal tug and barge industry and offshore supply vessels. Extending its reach to include offshore maritime workers and ensure that SCI “goes wherever the waters flow,” Ministry on the River transformed to Ministry on the Rivers and Gulf (MOR+G).

SCI’s special events focused not only on honoring superior maritime leadership but also raising awareness of the contributions of mariners through the captivating “I Am…” campaign. All over the world, SCI’s President and Executive Director, the Rev. David M. Rider, and other staff members represented the Institute and its mission, leading workshops and presenting distinctive viewpoints, including the Post-Piracy Guidelines for Seafarers v3.0. Progress abounded, too, for SCI’s archival collection, which relocated to a collaborative academic environment, and the 113-year-old Christmas at Sea program, serving more mariners than ever before. Throughout the year, SCI worked hard to meet the dynamic needs of the men and women doing the daily work that impacts people around the world.

This sampling of photos gives a glimpse of the past year’s expanding work. To see more of SCI’s chaplains, attorneys and maritime education staff in action, visit our Flickr page: http://www.flickr.com/photos/seamenschurch/

To extend of all of these good works into the New Year and help SCI do even more for mariners, make a donation before December 31 using SCI’s online giving page. Thank you for your support.