Virtual Religious Services

It’s been a busy month here at Seafarers’ House.  We’re still caring for seafarers marooned in Broward and Miami, but we’ve been able to move forward on a new project to help care for seafarers at sea!  This month we’ve collaborated with Carnival Cruise Lines to pilot a virtual religious service program.  This exciting program brings online, live-streamed multi-faith services to several ships at once, providing the opportunity for the crew to pray and worship together.  With as many as six vessels linked at once and more than 100 seafarers from the various vessels linked together, these virtual services are a bit more exuberant than our typical chapel services!  The excitement and positive energy that flows from being virtually together, from raising our voices together in pray and song, from hearing each other’s prayer requests cannot be easily put into words.  Our pastoral care team has been deeply moved by the humility, care and fellowship these crew members have for each other, and for crew serving aboard vessels all over the world.  Prayer requests have poured in, requesting blessings for loved ones at home, babies about to be born, relationships that are being challenged due to the pandemic, loved ones suffering with illness, as well as for seafarers worldwide who find themselves in the same position as these crew members.

We’re very excited to be expanding this pilot program to Royal Caribbean in the coming weeks!  We love working with our cruise partners and their care teams and wish to offer a special thank you to the Human Resources team at Carnival for their outreach and support of the program.