by the Rev. Grace Pardun

SCI Supervisory Chaplain, Ministry on the River

Did you know we have a chapel at the Center for Maritime Education in Paducah? It’s a little chapel, just off the main entrance. It fits about 10 people comfortably, 15 if you’re willing to get cozy. Lining the walls of the chapel are stained glass windows given to The Seamen’s Church Institute from the Vanderbilts in the mid-1800s for use in one of our churches. This special little chapel doesn’t get a lot of use, as many don’t know about it. However, just recently, we were allowed to unlock the doors and light the candles, and illuminate the beautiful stained glass windows when Stephen Douglas, an instructor at the SCI’s Center for Marine Education in Paducah, got married.

Being a chaplain for Ministry on the River is a unique calling. We are invited onto boats for visits, just as chaplains on land are invited into hospital rooms. We respond to calls in the middle of the night when critical incidents happen on the river, just like chaplains on land rush to the ER as soon as their pager goes off. But, as chaplains on the river, we are invited into unique spaces that are often unexpected and always an absolute honor.

On November 11, 2025, Stephen Douglas and Jae Rayburn were united in holy matrimony in the St. Nicholas Chapel at the Center for Maritime Education in Paducah, and I had the honor of officiating. In that tiny chapel, they were surrounded by family and friends who love them dearly. We were squished in there, each one of us thrilled to be standing behind this couple, supporting them as they took the next step in their journey together. After the ceremony, we filed into the galley and had coffee and cupcakes for the reception.

This couple could have picked anywhere to have their wedding and reception, but that little chapel at the CME felt exactly right for them for this moment. There were people from the maritime industry present, there were friends they knew their whole lives, there were new friends whom they’ve gotten close with- all coming together to squeeze into the little chapel at the CME.

The Seamen’s Church Institute has been meeting the needs of seafarers and mariners since 1834, and even though a lot has changed in 191 years, we are still there for them however we can. In this situation, we were there for them by opening up the doors of the chapel and ushering them into the next chapter of their life together.