by Susan Huppert, NAMMA
In port cities and landlocked towns, seemingly random people are synchronized in their concern for seafarers, especially at Christmas.
Reverend Susan Tjornehoj grew up in Colorado. As a young Lutheran pastor, her first call was to remote villages north of Nome, Alaska—a place where daily life was centered on making ends meet. Even so, God used her experience to gain a heart for seafarers through the connections she nurtured among the greater Lutheran community.
While in the Northwest, she met the Reverend Dr. Roald Kverndal, a pioneering advocate for seafarers. As a former seafarer, historian, and author of Seafarer’s Mission: Their Origin and Early Growth, Kverndal passionately worked to engage the church in the ongoing care of those working at sea. Tjornehoj connected to the idea.
“I have always been active in synod staffs,” she said. “In Alaska, where mobilizing people for service was not possible, it has always been important to me to support the larger purpose of the church with benevolence funds.”
Her next call led to Lake of the Woods in northern Minnesota, where her awareness of seafarers increased through America’s farthest-inland freshwater seaport, the Port of Duluth-Superior. There, massive cargo ships included seafarers with names and faces who would give a bittersweet wave as they slowly passed under Duluth’s iconic lift bridge out to sea. Seafarers were no longer a category of ministry but individual people.
Tjornehoj’s later call to Baltimore, Maryland, further embedded this once-obscure ministry in her heart through Seafarers’ International House in the Baltimore port. As the current president of the SIH executive board, her commitment to the global outreach directs and inspires others working within the church and local communities.
Thanks to donors, churches, and individuals, SIH operates in ports in the greater New York City area through the dedication of many, particularly at Christmas.
“Seafarers International House is the Lutheran response to the urgent needs of vulnerable seafarers and immigrants,” said Pastor and Executive Director Rev. Marsh Drege. “They are often marginalized people. Seafarers are always looking for home.”
The Reverend Craig A. Miller, Bishop of the Upper Susquehanna Synod of the ELCA, recalls his personal history with SIH, which began in 1996. It retains a prominent place for him.
“I have seen what the seafarer’s ministry has been like over the years,” said Miller. “It is something I value.”
As bishop, Miller now oversees 113 congregations, of which at least half participate in the Christmas at Sea program for the ports served by this ministry.
“We are in a landlocked location about 175 miles from a port,” said Administrative Assistant Brenda Krouse, who has been involved since 2011 and works alongside Miller.
According to Miller, she has spent “countless hours” supporting the Christmas at Sea program.
“The people love it,” said Krouse.
“One year, we had almost 1,000 bags we filled for SIH.”
Throughout the year, parishioners gather contents for the gift bags. By the November deadline, volunteers from SIH arrive with two 15-passenger vans. The church loads them “to the gills” for Christmas giving in the ports of New York and Baltimore, according to Miller.
“It seems like the folks in this synod like to provide for people in need,” he said. “They make quilts, healthcare kits, and pack trucks for hurricane relief.”
Even with declining attendance in mainline denominations across the country, leaving fewer hands for Christmas at Sea, Miller says his synod is sustaining their high level of giving.
“The greatest challenge is having the people to do that work; there isn’t an easy way to make that up,” he said. “Yet, I see an upward trend in giving to seafarers.”
Tjornehoj recalls church members in Bemidji, Minnesota, found connecting with seafarers a challenge. They traditionally made quilts for missions in Africa. When they bridged the gap between the container they filled with quilts—traveling by rail and then by ship—they could personalize the work of their hands to the lives of seafarers.
“They are smitten,” she said.
“Members are always really excited to find out the church is there.”
Miller’s broader perspective confirms this. “We are gaining interest even when losing,” he said. “I sense there is value to this. The congregations have a purpose.”
SIH was founded in 1873 by Augustana Lutheran Church, initially as a response to Swedish seafarers in the Port of New York. Shortly thereafter, it extended its care to Swedish immigrants. In 1907, the German Seamen’s Mission in New York merged with SIH, which became an affiliated mission of the ELCA in 1987.
In 2023, SIH celebrated 15 decades of service to two million seafarers and immigrants.
The current nonprofit is registered in the state of New York and serves seafarers in ports including Albany, New York; Baltimore, Maryland; New Haven, Connecticut; and the Port of New York and New Jersey.
With landlocked volunteers and those making personal connections on the docks, the cooperative outreach served almost 40,000 seafarers and immigrants during 2019. This Christmas looks to be significant as it continues to welcome the strangers among us and care for those at sea.
