Welcome

[Deutsch]

Welcome to the German Seamen's Mission of New York! We are a ministry of the Metropolitan New York Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. We are also a member of the worldwide German Seamen's Mission (Deutsche Seemannsmission e.V.) based in Bremen, Germany.

Our mission was founded in Hoboken, New Jersey in 1907 with a Seamen's House on Hudson Street to serve the many German merchant seafarers whose ships docked there. A history of the Mission is part of this web site.

Today, we are based at Seafarers & International House, 123 East 15th Street in Manhattan (www.sihnyc.org), an 84-room Lutheran Church guesthouse for merchant mariners, church visitors and tourists who come to New York City. It is located just off Union Square, a lively park that has a well-known farmers' market and is surrounded by interesting shops and restaurants. The subway station at Union Square has many subway lines that go all over the city.

Our main ministry takes place on board the many commercial ships (mostly container ships) that dock in the Port of New York and New Jersey. Each ship has a crew of about 23 seafarers, usually from a variety of countries, and stays in port for loading and unloading for around 18 hours. A typical German-flagged ship has a crew of around five German and Polish officers and around 16 Filipino crewmembers.) Some German-flag ships have crews from the South Pacific island nation of Kiribati (formerly know as the Gilbert Islands). The officers work a three to six-month contract, and the crew works an eight to nine-month contract. They normally fly from their home country to join the ship, often in New York. These ships sail to Europe, the Far East, South America, and many other places around the world. They carry the imported goods that are sold in our stores and are used every day by people all around the country, and they carry American exports to countries all around the world.

On board, we bring Bibles and a DVD featuring local church services and meditations, magazines and books in a variety of languages, and also phone cards to enable the seafarers to phone home at reasonable prices. If possible, we take the seafarers ashore to go shopping or sightseeing and return them to the ship in time to return to work or to sail to the next port. We take the Church and Christ's love to people who are normally unable to go to church or to come to our center in Manhattan. In this ministry, we work closely together with colleagues from the Roman Catholic mission, the Seamen's House YMCA, and the Seamen's Church Institute of New York and New Jersey.

The German Seamen's Mission of New York celebrated its 100th anniversary on Sunday, November 18, 2007 at 4:00 PM at St. Paul's Lutheran Church, 315 West 22nd Street, Manhattan. There was a festive church service with Holy Communion and a beautiful reception afterwards in the church hall. Over 130 people attended. The preacher and celebrant was The Rev. Stephen P. Bouman, Bishop, Metropolitan New York Synod, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Also present were Pastor Hero Feenders of Bremen, Germany, General Secretary of the worldwide German Seamen's Mission, and Pastor Dr. Herbert Patzelt of Munich, Germany, who is the historian of the Mission and also former German Seamen's Pastor in New York from 1954-58. Many Board Members, supporters, and people who have been connected with the mission through the years were also there.

A special guest was Consul Stefan Grabherr of the Consulate General of the Federal Republic of Germany in New York, who spoke during the service of the importance of the German Seamen's Mission to the life and soul of the Port of New York and New Jersey.

The Rev. Clint Padgitt, Seamen's Pastor