In this issue

Founded in 1834, the

Institute is a voluntary,

ecumenical agency

affiliated with the

Episcopal Church that

provides pastoral care,

maritime education, and

legal and advocacy

services for mariners.

The Seamen’s Church Institute seamenschurch.org

W

Elsewhere in this newsletter, read about SCI’s Annual Fund. By underwriting SCI’s

comprehensive services, you provide for the

personal, professional and spiritual needs of mariners

around the world.

SprIng 2012 VOLUME 104/nUMBEr 1

ashore and those working on the world’s navigable waterways.

People based on land offer hospitality in foreign ports, continuing maritime education, and legal advocacy. SCI provides these services and more—each one significantly strengthening the industry. Through volunteering and financial support, you enable all of this.

As much as we depend on mariners, mariners depend on shoreside folks like you and me. SCI supporters play an important part in the interdependent network of the maritime world. When everyone works together for the common good, the whole world benefits.

In the pages of this newsletter, SCI has asked, “Where would the world be without mariners?” Now, consider an equally weighty question: “Where would mariners be without SCI and your support?”

On a merchant vessel, everyone has a job. One person navigates, while another manages the safety and security of the ship.

An engineering team oversees the vessel’s propulsion systems, and somebody else prepares and serves meals. The successful operation of a vessel depends on each person skillfully completing his or her responsibilities on board.

A good crew builds on the strengths of its members. Each member possesses an expertise or gift, and the best crews include experts in multiple disciplines. They form a partnership in pursuit of a common goal: the welfare of everyone aboard and the efficient execution of sailing orders.

Like the partnership of mariners on a vessel, everyone—whether on land or on water—has a role to perform in the efficient operation of maritime commerce. This collaborative industry hinges on the relationships between people working

A Win-Win Partnershipby Jennifer Koenig, Associate Director of Development

Director’s Log

2SCI’s Annual Fund

3SCI and the Titanic

4Speaking Out for Shore Leave

5

SCI Loses Valued Volunteer

6piracy on the High Seas

7Why I give

8

2 • The Seamen’s Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2012

Executive Director’s Log

© Spring 2012 Volume 104, Number 1

Published byThe Seamen’s Church Institute

seamenschurch.org

212-349-9090fax: 212-349-8342sci@seamenschurch.org

Richard T. du MoulinChairman, Board of Trustees

The Rev. David M. RiderPresident and Executive Director

Editor, Oliver BrewerAssistant Editor, Susannah Skiver Design & Production, Bliss Design

The Lookout is printed on recycled paper.

SCI SUSTAINING SpOnSOrS

The old saying “two heads are better than one” holds true when it comes to the work of SCI. Partnerships with maritime industry leaders, government officials and concerned citizens make possible the Institute’s services to mariners. SCI

could not provide legal advocacy, continuing maritime education, knitted garments at Christmastime or thought leadership in the industry without the expertise and collaboration of others.

TransparencySuccessful partnering requires good communication. Equal partners rightly want to see the performance of their investments. I value SCI’s strong partnerships, and I believe that its partners should not expect anything less than complete transparency of how their donations contribute to our common cause. But because not everyone can visit us regularly, travel with our advocates or sit in classrooms at our training centers, we must find creative ways to share an account of our day-to-day actions. Enter social media.

SCI has long operated at the forefront of online information sharing. You can stay in touch with us via our website, our blogs and video channels and on Facebook and Twitter. In 2012, however, I have upped the ante. I have set in the Goals & Objectives for every staff member working in the field at SCI to share on a weekly basis his or her work via social media—posting a photo, a story, a quote or a video. I intend to unite SCI’s partners along the entire spectrum of our varied work so that we can celebrate our successes—no matter how small or large.

In addition to the postings online from our staff, I invite you to share, too. All of us work together for the same goal: the welfare of mariners. Your comments, “likes,” and retweets contribute positively to this work and touch the hearts of those we serve.

Strategic PlanA good partnership also needs a clear project roadmap. Everyone must be able to carefully assess the usefulness of a new or continuing partnership. To form a successful partnership, one allies with persons who share the same values, aspirations and vision for the future.

So that all can see where the Institute’s future lies, our Board has worked diligently to create a new Strategic Plan outlining a vision for the next five years. I look forward to sharing this exciting plan with you in the coming months. With it, SCI reinvigorates its mission for a new generation and sets out on a steady course to continue wise use of its resources.

Yours faithfully,

The Rev. David M. Rider President & Executive Director

In addition to the training a mariner undertakes, he or she must have a basic aptitude for life on the water. Some people call it sea legs. Mariners’ gifts include time and talent for work that few others can or are willing to do. not everyone is cut out for this challenging life.

Partnerships with SCI support a specialized workforce.

seamenschurch.org The Lookout Spring 2012 • 3

To emblemize the Annual Fund, SCI has chosen the compass rose, a circle showing the principal directions on a map or chart. Within each of its 360 degrees exists the complete realm of navigable possibilities. Within each of those possibilities lies the opportunity for SCI to serve mariners no matter where their journeys take them. With a goal of $360K, each $1,000 representing each degree of the compass brings us closer to covering all of the points around the globe.

SCI’s Annual Fund

Even in this high-tech age, mariners look to the stars. Aboard large merchant vessels, seafarers use celestial navigation for compass calibration and error checking at sea when no terrestrial references are available. Thousands of celestial bodies move across the night sky, but one remains in a seemingly fixed position. Located just off the handle

of the Little Dipper, the North Star points captains and pilots safely toward their journey’s end.

SCI depends on faithful guidance, too. The financial support of our donors helps the Institute stay on course to care for future generations of maritime professionals. Contributors to SCI’s Annual Fund form the foundation of SCI’s philanthropic support, distinguished by their unwavering commitment. Their example shines like a beacon on the world’s navigable waters.

SCI has set a lofty but attainable goal for financial support through individual gifts in 2012.

$360K:The 2012 Annual Fund GoalIn this newsletter, we have included an envelope addressed to SCI. Use it to make your pledge or first contribution to the Institute’s 2012 Annual Fund. You can also log in online to your own personal financial giving page at http://donate.seamenschurch.org

by Laura E. Amerman, Associate Director of Development, Major & Planned Gifts

Did you know a bequest is one of the simplest ways to ensure that SCI continues critical work for future generations?If you have made a bequest for the future of SCI’s service to mariners, please let us know!

For more information on remembering SCI in your will, or how to make a life income gift, visit http://smschur.ch/jroper or contact Laura Amerman, Associate Director of Development, Major & planned gifts; 973-589-5828, ext. 206, legacy@seamenschurch.org .

O4 • The Seamen’s Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2012

by Carrie Christensen, Special Events & Online Giving Manager

On June 7, SCI gathers close to 1,000 friends at Pier Sixty for the Institute’s 35th Annual Silver Bell Awards Dinner. This year’s event celebrates the careers of two business partners who have created an expansive and solid business model—Mr. Paul R. Tregurtha and Mr. James R. Barker (pictured above). Associates since 1971, their business covers a

wide range of the transportation industry—from tugboats operating in ports along the East and Gulf Coasts, bulk carriers serving the Great Lakes, barges for transporting dry cargoes and petroleum products and ferries operating in the New York and Massachusetts harbors.

Strengthening the partnership between SCI and the Episcopal Church in New York and beyond, SCI honors the Right Reverend Mark S. Sisk with this year’s Distinguished Service Award. Bishop Sisk serves as SCI’s Honorary Chairman of the Board of Trustees.

The Silver Bell Awards Dinner is SCI’s largest annual fundraiser. Funds raised are used to support SCI’s many programs. For more information about the 35th Annual Silver Bell Awards Dinner, visit us at seamenschurch.org or call (212) 349-9090 x244.

The Rt. Rev. Mark S. Sisk, Bishop of New York

SCI and the Titanic: 100 Years Agoby Johnathan Thayer, Archivist

WHEN SCI OFFICIALLY BEGAN ITS WOrk AS A MArITIME MINISTrY, IT OPErATED THrOUGH missionary outposts scattered throughout Lower Manhattan. In addition to the iconic floating chapels (of which there were three), outposts at Pike Street, West Street and 1 State Street offered free reading material and tea or coffee for seafarers. That model changed in 1905, when SCI’s Building Committee purchased land at Coenties Slip and launched a fundraising campaign to finance construction of a centralized headquarters.

The city’s philanthropists came out in full support of the project. JP Morgan led the effort with a $100,000 donation, while John D. rockefeller donated the second highest amount—a respectable $50,000. Henry C. Frick, Augustus D. Julliard, Andrew Carnegie and a trio of Vanderbilts (Frederick, William and Alfred) also numbered among SCI’s founding donors. With such high profile support, the cornerstone laying ceremony for the new building

promised to be a grand event. The date was set: April 16, 1912. Hours before the guests assembled in the auditorium of the unfinished building, tragic news struck the New York waterfront—the unsinkable Titanic was lost.

The ceremony proceeded as planned, with speakers making last minute edits to their speeches to address the tragedy. Mayor William Jay Gaynor spoke first before sealing the

cornerstone shut with a Bible, SCI’s annual reports, and copies of New York daily papers displaying headlines of the Titanic’s sinking on their covers. SCI took up a collection to donate to the victims’ families and dedicated two of the new building’s bedrooms in honor of the Titanic’s crew. Building Committee President Edmund L. Baylies ended his speech with some reflections on the recent tragedy, still so fresh that he could only speculate as to the true nature of the accident:

“ When we learn the full details of the overwhelming disaster which has just taken place, I feel sure that the minds and hearts of each one of my hearers will be thrilled with deeds of heroism on the part of sailors. The history of the sea is full of such examples, and in attempting to establish here a home for some of the five hundred thousand men who annually come to our port, we landsmen are paying but a very small portion of the debt which we owe to those who follow the sea with so faithful and watchful care over those who travel on the great deep.” —Edmund L. Baylies

Honoring Partners at Silver Bell

seamenschurch.org The Lookout Spring 2012 • 5

In a recent Lloyd’s List article, reporter rajesh Joshi wrote on the restrictive shore leave policies that forced a crew of US mariners to remain on board a vessel over Christmas and New Year’s while docked in a Brazilian port for more than two weeks. Under the policy, which mirrors a similar one in the United States, seafarers

from other countries must have visas in order to disembark, and because these seafarers did not have the appropriate visa, they could not stand on Brazilian

soil. The Director of the Seamen’s Church Institute’s (SCI) Center for Seafarers’ rights, Douglas B. Stevenson, spoke about the unfairness of these policies in an

interview with the magazine’s reporter.

Stevenson focused on the importance of all maritime nations, especially the United States, ratifying ILO 185, an International Labour Organisation convention

that sets international standards for biometric identification documents issued by a seafarer’s homeland—documents that also serve as the equivalent of a visa. “Far from

compromising national security,” Stevenson told the Lloyd’s List reporter, “[ratifying ILO185] would in fact bolster it.”

“Seafarers’ right to shore leave existed in customary maritime law long before it was recorded,” Stevenson told Lloyd’s List. Citing a 1943 Supreme Court decision, he said, “Shore leave is an

elemental necessity in the sailing of ships … not merely a personal diversion.”

Interested in attending a Special Event on May 23,

2012, featuring author John Maxtone-graham,

author of Titanic Tragedy? Contact Laura

Amerman, Associate Director of Development, Major & planned gifts at

973-589-5828 ext. 206.

The archival materials related to the cornerstone laying ceremony offer some of the earliest recorded reactions to the Titanic disaster, providing primary insight into the collective trauma and mourning that occurred in Lower Manhattan hours after news

of the accident reached port.

On April 18, the Carpathia finally reached New York City’s Pier 54 with the Titanic’s survivors. More than 200 crewmembers had lived, and SCI was on hand to welcome them back to land. The American Seamen’s Friend Society at 507 West Street hosted the crew, and SCI staff assisted in the distribution of clothing and toiletries to replace the items lost in

the wreck. Men received a full suit of clothes, boots and a cap, as well as a razor and comb, while the 20 surviving stewardesses received complete outfits. SCI helped provide refreshments and led a simple church service to mourn the friends and coworkers who did not make it back to shore.

One year to the day after the Titanic’s sinking, SCI dedicated

the Titanic Memorial Lighthouse on the roof of its completed 12-story headquarters at 25 South Street. It was a rainy day, forcing the crowd gathered for the ceremony to retreat inside to the auditorium. Some 300 onlookers joined SCI officials as the lighthouse was installed, rising out of the mist “impressive, dignified, a little detached from New York and the surrounding skyscrapers which form its background.” The Lighthouse housed a unique green light, powerful enough to reach from the Narrows to Sandy Hook. A time ball, designed to drop every day at noon, also featured in the Lighthouse’s design. It quickly became an iconic addition to the New York City skyline.

The Lighthouse remained at 25 South Street until 1968, when, after 55 years of service, SCI moved its headquarters to 15 State Street and the old building was demolished. SCI salvaged the Lighthouse and donated it to the South Street Seaport Museum, who had it installed on the corner of Fulton and Water streets, where it remains today amid the skyscraping financial buildings and cobblestone seaport blocks. Now, a small park surrounds the Lighthouse, providing a space for people to stop and reflect on the tragedy and its impact on Lower Manhattan one hundred years ago.

Lloyd’s List subscribers can read the entire article at http://smschur.ch/wkpVtq

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6 • The Seamen’s Church Institute The Lookout Spring 2012

E-Learning partnershipThis month, the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) enters

into partnership with Consolidated Digital Publishing Inc. (CDP) to provide e-learning resources for companies and employees in the maritime industry. SCI’s online course offerings build on more than a century of the Institute’s legacy of continuing maritime education, adding effective, proven tactics in online learning to help maritime industry employees prevent injuries and accidents at work.

SCI’s new e-learning opportunities give access to training that helps employees meet industry requirements with clear, traceable certification and increase quality, safety, health and environmental awareness. The web-based courses make issues of distance and scheduling, which render some traditional classroom scenarios impractical, a thing of the past. The online courses supplement SCI’s more conventional offerings in Paducah, kY and Houston, TX, offering training 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

SCI’s e-learning partner, CDP, has spent a quarter of a century in non-traditional learning schemes developing stand-alone and web-based training products. Troy Hackworth, President of CDP, develops peer-reviewed course modules, directly consulting with field educators to ensure the accuracy and relevance of information and

training. “We look at actual things that go into the job,” says Hackworth, “so students come away with knowledge that makes a difference in the way they work.”

Stephen Polk, Director of SCI’s Center for Maritime Education, says that CDP and SCI share a similar vision. “At SCI, we put a lot of resources behind providing first-rate training for mariners. We believe that working with CDP maintains that same high standard and helps us equip more people with essential safety training.”

SCI and CDP’s partnership offers courses to companies of all sizes, including those without their own dedicated IT or education departments. SCI’s web-based classes extend opportunities once afforded only to the largest and most resourced companies. Polk believes this extends SCI’s mission to mariners. “These are sophisticated resources,” he says, “but we can provide them and keep them affordable. We think that’s important.”

SCI’s online course catalog goes live in early May. For more information about online learning at SCI, contact Stephen polk at cme@seamenschurch.org

SCI Loses Valued Volunteerby the Rev. David M. Rider, President & Executive Director

SCI lost one of its most faithful volunteers with the unexpected death of the Rev. Deacon Tom Piccate on November 15, 2011. When Tom succumbed to a heart attack, he left behind his wife of 39 years, Mary Jane; his daughter Sharon and her husband Doug Wright; and two grandchildren, Liam and Molly. He also left behind an incredible ministry to Port Newark seafarers.

Nearly every Saturday morning for the last eight years, Tom opened SCI’s Port Newark center and provided hospitality to visiting seafarers. After a full career as a high school science teacher, Tom lived into his diaconal vocation to represent Christ in the world, and Port Newark became the focus of his ministry. Whether talking individually with international seafarers far from home, providing van transportation or visiting ships in port, Tom’s empathy and gentle humor served to connect our guests with a caring port community.

Tom showed dedication, commitment and a deep compassion for the maritime workforce. As a deacon, Tom reminded the larger Church of its opportunity to serve others to the ends of the earth—in this case the docks of Port Newark. Tom seemed totally in his element as he wore his orange safety jacket and jumped into the driver’s seat of an SCI van.

As all of us hope to do, Tom lived vigorously until his final moment of life. Tom died several days short of his fifth anniversary of ordination. On November 13, parishioners at St. James’ Church in ridgefield, NJ celebrated his ordination and his gift of ministry among them. “Deacon Tom was a friend and a colleague who brought joy to us all,” said the rev. Mariano Gargiulo, rector of St. James’. Hours before his death, Tom emailed me about securing space in Port Newark to train upcoming deacons, a classic example of his caring servant leadership.

seamenschurch.org The Lookout Spring 2012 • 7

In late February, Douglas B. Stevenson presented to Working Group 3 of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia in Washington, DC, emphasizing the importance of caring for those impacted by piracy on the high seas. Stevenson pointed to seafarer testimonials filmed by SCI (pictured here), part of the Institute’s effort to give seafarers a voice in the discussion.

Seafarer VoiceS:

Piracy on the High SeasA video series describing pirate attacks

Among discussions of anti-piracy measures in the Gulf of Aden and special courtrooms in the Seychelles and Mauritius, the maritime industry has begun to broach a gentler, less politically hot topic in the wake

of 237 pirate attacks off the coast of Somalia in 2011. What happens to seafarers, held often for months on end, after release from a pirate hijacking? Their untold stories comprise part of a video interview compilation by the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI)—the first installment released February 21, 2012, on YouTube—to give voice to seafarers held captive by pirates. (View videos at http://smschur.ch/seafarervoices .)

While conducting research for its clinical study of the effects of piracy on seafarers, SCI has heard from many detained by pirates off the coast of Somalia. Those who survive hijackings tell of harrowing encounters and unshakable memories. “Piracy takes a terrible toll on seafarers and their families,” says the rev. David M. rider, SCI’s President and Executive Director. “Many suffer in silence.”

Seeking to break the silence, SCI asks seafarers to share their experiences, recording their first-hand accounts of pirate attacks in video interviews. The seafarers relate stories of mental and physical torture, intimidation of both them and their families and drug abuse by pirates while on board. “Those who agree to speak on camera describe something most of us cannot even imagine,” says rider.

SCI seeks to provide seafarers a platform for sharing in and contributing to the dialogue on post-piracy care. Douglas B. Stevenson, Director of SCI’s Center for Seafarers’ rights, points out that in the past others have paid scant attention to piracy’s effects on seafarers. “But that’s changing,” he says, “and through the publication of these videos, we hope to add to that change.”

Stevenson believes that through this collection of stories, seafarers will find they are not alone. “Piracy has always captured public imagination—most of which is romanticized,” he says. “We are trying to show the real human impact of piracy through seafarers’ own words.”

Stevenson also hopes that openly talking of experiences helps to normalize candid discussion of seafarer mental health issues. He identifies frequent stigmatization of mental health care and believes it prevents seafarers from seeking the benefits of therapy and treatment. “By not talking publicly about the effects of piracy, we contribute to the silence. It’s time we speak out.”

8 • The Seamen’s Church Institute

Ways to Give to SCISupport the people who deliver the goods that make our modern way of life possible.

DonateDonate online at http://

smschur.ch/g2us or scan this QR code into your mobile device.

Use the envelope in this edition of The Lookout or mail your check to The Seamen’s Church Institute, 241 Water Street, New York, NY 10038.

Call 212-349-9090 and make a contribution over the phone with your credit card.

SponsorSCI provides prominent recognition to its underwriters. Become a corporate sponsor and link your company’s philanthropy with North America’s largest and most comprehensive mariners’ service agency.

VolunteerSCI offers many ways volunteers can contribute to the work of the Institute. Call one of our centers or email volunteer@seamenschurch.org .

CollectIn addition to handknit scarves and hats, SCI’s Christmastime gift to mariners includes items found at most ordinary supermarkets donated by people like you. To find out more, contact cas@seamenschurch.org or visit our website.

Follow Go to http://facebook.com/

seamenschurch and click “like.”

Follow @seamenschurch on Twitter

Check out our photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/seamenschurch/

And, watch videos from our work at http://vimeo.com/channels/scitv

Remember SCI in your estate plans. Email legacygiving@seamenschurch.org for more information.

Meet norma Agatstein from new York City In 2001, Norma retired from working as an administrator at New York University and went looking for a beneficial way to spend some of her new free time. After seeing a story in a local

newspaper, she and her husband visited the headquarters of SCI’s volunteer knitting program Christmas at Sea. “When I saw the big wall of yarn and knitting,” she says, “I was hooked!”

Since teaming up as a volunteer with Christmas at Sea, she has become an essential part of the “Tuesday Ladies” group, the volunteer administrators of SCI’s Christmas gift distribution program. The Tuesday Ladies meet each week to tally donations of knitted items (making sure each one

receives an acknowledgement), pack boxes and, of course, knit and crochet.

Because Norma volunteers at one of SCI’s home bases, she directly sees what she calls the Institute’s “terrific job of getting things from people on land to people on water.” She appreciates that something from her hands and from her pocketbook reaches people who really need it. “When I give to SCI,” she says, “I know there is a direct route between my donation and the actual services. I like that.”

The “big wall of knitting” that lured Norma Agatstein into years of volunteering at SCI.

Want to share your story of SCI’s ministry? Email us at sci@seamenschurch.org Your support makes a difference in the lives of the mariners we serve.