The work of port chaplains: views from seafarers served

Abstract

Seafarers have long interacted with religious figures in addition to the merchants, government officials, and members of the public they meet when ships come into port. Today these religious figures are primarily Christian chaplains who provide material and spiritual assistance in ports around the globe. This article extends research about the interactions between port chaplains and seafarers by asking—for the first time—how seafarers experience port chaplains. Drawing on lived religion approaches to the study of religion, it is clear that, while most seafarers rely on port chaplains for practical assistance, a significant minority experience them as religious figures who can be trusted, offer blessings, and quietly remind them of God. The lived religion lens reveals aspects of seafarers’ spiritual and religious agency which are frequently overlooked because they take place quietly in the interstices of their work.