Donors Drive Success of SCI’s Ministry on the River Campaign

By the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, president and executive director of SCI

For over 25 years, the Seamen’s Church Institute’s (SCI) Ministry on the River chaplains have served mariners working our inland rivers and near-coastal waterways. We have the privilege of supporting mariners on their best days and their worst days. Being a mariner is a way of life—you both work and live on a boat. Few mariners can physically separate themselves from their workplace at the end of the day, and the demands are challenging in several ways.

This lifestyle is regimented, and the routine can feel monotonous at times. Mariners can be isolated from their family, friends and wider community for extended periods. Consequently, this can make them vulnerable to loneliness and broken relationships, distracting them from the dangerous and demanding work they are tasked to do. Once on duty, mariners have few holidays or weekends. They don’t necessarily stop working due to adverse weather conditions. Fatigue and sleep deprivation tend to become a way of life. It is through these experiences that SCI’s Ministry on the River (MOR) chaplains and chaplain associates seek to support mariners.

Beginning with just one full-time Chaplain in 1997, SCI has continued to build on its commitment to meet the evolving needs of the industry’s mariners and shoreside personnel. In 2019, with just two full-time MOR chaplains, SCI launched our Ministry on the River Endowment Campaign to raise money to fund two additional full-time river chaplains to effectively double our reach. Within weeks, $1.1 million was raised in pledges from American Commercial Barge Line (ACBL), Mark and Mary Knoy and the Ray & Kay Eckstein Charitable Trust toward the $5 million campaign goal. Although the campaign was paused due to low water conditions and the COVID-19 pandemic, when it was relaunched during the 2021 River Bell Luncheon in Paducah, Steve Golding reached out to me the next day with a generous $250,000 pledge, reigniting momentum and setting the campaign back on track.

The next three years saw steady growth toward the campaign goal. Additional pledges came in after fundraising events in Houston and New Orleans, increasing our total pledges to $2.5 million. Then, a $1 million pledge from Ingram Barge Line and a second $600,000 gift from the Eckstein Trust put us just over $4 million by Thanksgiving of 2023. Finally, on the eve of the 2024 Maritime Training Benefit Luncheon in Houston, three additional gifts from Canal Barge Company, Kirby and ACBL put us over our $5 million goal. I, my SCI colleagues and our Trustees have been deeply moved by the generosity of the companies and private individuals who have contributed to this campaign. Their giving reflects their deep appreciation and profound support for the men and women who crew these vessels, and SCI plans to turn their financial commitment into action.

To date, SCI has three full-time chaplains working the inland river system and Gulf Coast based in Paducah, Ky., New Orleans and Houston, with the goal of adding a fourth full-time chaplain in 2025. But even these four Chaplains need additional support. In the past few years, we have recruited and trained many SCI chaplain associates who augment our crisis response range throughout the thousands of miles of waterways.

Embodying a ministry of presence, SCI’s chaplains travel thousands of miles each year to meet with mariners where they are, day in and day out. All of SCI’s chaplains and chaplain associates are trained in CISM (Critical Incident Stress Management) and ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training), and a subset are additionally certified in helicopter safety to respond to incidents offshore when called.

I want to thank Mark Knoy, SCI’s board chair, who envisioned this campaign in 2018 and helped bring it to fruition. I thank our 40-plus donors for their superb generosity and commitment. And I thank the mariners who crew the boats for the trust they place in SCI’s chaplains. Whether we are responding to a crisis, christening a new vessel, delivering Christmas at Sea on the River gifts or simply enjoying a conversation, we are better off for the time we’ve spent with each mariner, and SCI is dedicated to their well-being. In the end, the world depends on mariners. Mariners depend on SCI. And SCI depends on you. I cannot thank you enough for your tremendous support.

MOR Endowment Campaign Donors

$1,000,000 and above:

• Ray & Kay Eckstein Charitable Trust
• Ingram Barge Company

$500,000 to $999,999:

• American Commercial Barge Line

$250,000 to $499,999:

• Genesis Marine
• Golding Barge Line
• Hines Furlong Line

$100,000 to $249,999:

• ADM Cares
• Blessey Marine Services
• Campbell Transportation Company
• Canal Barge Company
• Cooper Consolidated
• Crounse Corporation
• Ergon Foundation
• Kirby