Redefining When To Call A Chaplain

For years, the Seamen’s Church Institute’s Ministry on the River has maintained a 24-hour toll-free number that mariners and maritime companies can use to reach a chaplain in times of crisis.

Recent conversations with mariners, shoreside staff, human resources representatives and industry partners, however, have raised an important question: What exactly constitutes a crisis?

The word often suggests that something catastrophic must happen before someone makes the call — a death, a serious accident or a life-threatening situation. Those are certainly times when SCI chaplains are prepared to respond, but our ministry is not limited to circumstances that have reached a tipping point.

SCI chaplains spend time with mariners and the shoreside personnel who support them. Through those relationships, we gain a better understanding of the pressures mariners experience on the job and at home. We work alongside members of the maritime industry to identify ways to provide support while respecting company policies and procedures.

As SCI works to strengthen a “culture of care” across the inland maritime industry, one goal is to reduce the stigma surrounding mental and physical health and create an environment in which mariners feel more comfortable seeking help.

That effort has been informed, in part, by what SCI has learned through its 2026 U.S. Inland Mariner Wellness Assessment. It also has caused us to examine the language we use when describing chaplaincy services.

Increasingly, Ministry on the River chaplains have recognized that the word “crisis” itself can become a barrier.

If mariners believe their situations must reach the level of a crisis before they call a chaplain, they may wait too long to reach out — or may never reach out at all. Our goal is to make chaplaincy support available long before a situation reaches that point.

A mariner, for example, may be struggling emotionally without considering the situation an emergency. There may be trouble at home while that mariner is hundreds of miles away. A crewmember may notice that a colleague appears depressed or is behaving differently and become concerned.

Likewise, a captain, manager or human resources representative may recognize that something does not seem right but hesitate to call because the situation does not appear “serious enough” to involve a chaplain.

That is why Ministry on the River is changing the way it describes its 24/7 toll-free number.

Rather than referring to it primarily as an emergency or crisis line, SCI wants mariners, their families and shoreside personnel to think of it simply as the Ministry on the River Chaplaincy Line, a resource available whenever something feels important, troubling or simply worth talking about.

SCI chaplains are available to listen, provide guidance and perspective and, when needed, help connect mariners or shoreside personnel with appropriate resources. The service is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

There is no threshold that must be crossed before making the call.

A person may be facing an immediate crisis, a crewmember may be concerned about someone else, or something may simply be beginning to weigh heavily on a mariner or family member.

Any of those situations is reason enough to reach out.

Mariners, family members and shoreside personnel can contact the Ministry on the River Chaplaincy Line at 800-708-1998 or email mor@seamenschurch.org and ask to speak with a chaplain.

Whether the issue is a concern or a crisis, SCI’s chaplains are there to respond. What matters to mariners matters to us.