by the Rev. Grace Pardun

Supervisory Chaplain, Ministry on the River, Upper Mississippi & Ohio River Region

From the September 2025 Quarterly Activity Report

I was in the midst of serving on a panel discussion at the Gulf Intracoastal Canal Association (GICA) conference when my phone went off. “Excuse me,” I whispered as I stood up to walk out of the room. There was no way that I was going to mute or ignore the call; it was SCI’s Ministry on the River (MOR) emergency line. 

Along the rivers and Gulf coast, we readily share and promote our crisis line, 800-708-1998, with mariners and maritime operators. It’s the line mariners call when in distress, companies call when critical incidents happen, and the general maritime community calls when they aren’t sure which chaplain they need to get a hold of. We can go weeks without that line going off. But then, all of a sudden, the hotline gets hot, and our team is deploying to boats all over, calling on the support of Chaplain Associates when our Chaplains can’t get there fast enough.  

During that conference in New Orleans, learning from our industry’s best and brightest, I received calls about a helicopter attempting to fix powerlines when it crashed into a barge below; a captain who had a heart attack in the galley of the boat while unloading groceries; and a company requesting a Service of Last Watch for a long-time mariner. Of course, the conference takes a back seat—it was time to contact our Ministry on the River team and coordinate responses. 

I believe I am like most pastoral caregivers; I am in this line of work because I want to help. I want to be there when someone is having a really bad day. I want to be their comfort when they cry and their hearts break. I want to be the one to provide resources, support, peace, and hope when everything looks terrible. And at times when there are multiple incidents like this, I hate missing opportunities to serve our mariners. I hate not being able to be there for all of them all at once. I can also confidently say that SCI’s entire chaplain corps—staff chaplains and chaplain associates alike—are all wired exactly like I am.  

In that moment in New Orleans, I recalled when I first started here at SCI and found myself in a similar situation. I lamented to SCI’s President and Executive Director, the Rev. Mark Nestlehutt, “But I want to be there!” and he calmly said, “I know you do. And we have Chaplain Associates for this.”  

His words resonated with me in this moment, too. There are times when I can not be the responding chaplain for multiple incidents. In fact, doing my job well as MOR’s Supervisory Chaplain means at times finding and coordinating with the right person to respond to these events. I had a Chaplain Associate who is good in times of crisis and difficult-to-see scenes respond to the helicopter crash. This allowed me to schedule a time where I could connect with the crew who had saved their captain from a heart attack in the days following the incident. And another of our Chaplain Associates, seasoned and effective with ceremonies, I deployed to do the Service of Last Watch.  

It is such a privilege to serve mariners. But even more, it is such a privilege to serve mariners together. The gift of collaborating with an entire team ensures that the care that we are able to provide is much more effective than if I just tried to do it all alone. We couldn’t do this ministry without our Chaplain Associates, and for their service and presence, I am so grateful.