This project explores the religious and spiritual needs of multinational seafarers working onboard cargo ships that call in the United Kingdom or North America. We explore the history and present work of port chaplaincy in the U.S. and U.K. and the theological implications of that work on seafarers, chaplains, and local congregations. The British component of this project is based at the University of Cardiff’s Seafarers International Research Centre and supported by a grant from the Economic and Social Research Council.
The North American component of this research is based on interviews with port chaplains in Canada and the United States and ethnographic research Cadge conducted in Boston. Portions of it are in collaboration with Jason Zuidema and Michael Skaggs and are supported by a grant from the Louisville Institute designed to strength congregation-port chaplain connections. That project can be viewed here.
Primary Investigator
Helen Sampson, Director, Seafarers International Research Center, Cardiff University
Co-Investigators
Wendy Cadge, Brandeis University
Sophie Gilliat-Ray, Professor in Religious and Theological Studies, Director for the Centre for the Study of Islam in the UK, Cardiff University
Nelson Turgo, Research Associate, SIRC, Cardiff University
Graeme Smith, Head of Theology, Philosophy, and Religious Studies, University of Chichester