Arnd Braun-Storck is often seen at New Jersey harbour carrying large blue carrier bags: the pastor at the German Seamen’s Mission in New York City takes supplies ship crews with items they have ordered. He meets the men and women on board where they live and work. They welcome Braun-Storck with open arms; he lets the seafarers do the talking, listens and prays with them when they ask. “Pastoral ministry has always been at the heart of what I do.” The 61-year-old takes the crew members along for shopping trips or drives them to the nearest railway station so that they can travel to the City.
Since the pandemic, however, his work has also included helping crew members get everyday items they need. Braun-Storck regularly buys large quantities of items such as socks, chocolate, torches and vitamins for the people on board. This is a balancing act for the pastor – he doesn’t want this activity to get out of control. Because that would mean fewer opportunities for personal interaction.
“Many seafarers feel freer to talk during a car trip,” says the theologian, who has also completed clinical counselling training. “Then they talk openly about the loneliness caused by the long separation from their family.”
Presence at the world metropolis
Much of the Port of New York is actually located in neighbouring Newark (New Jersey). It is one of the largest container ports in the USA. Apart from containers, it handles machinery and agricultural products. The most important imported goods include electronics, textiles and automotive parts. Of course the chaplains don’t look after German-speaking seafarers only. “It was always clear: when we are on board a ship, we are there for everyone,” says the seamen’s pastor.
As head of the German mission he also visits seafarers who are in hospital. When someone dies, he offers pastoral services on board. Unfortunately, he is usually unable to help directly after an incident if the ship is in transit; it may take the men and women on board several weeks until their next port call. “But the grief remains. It is certainly brutal when your colleague has a heart attack, or if a relative or frient dies far away in their home country,” says the head of the Seamen’s Mission. Many miss funerals because they are in the middle of the ocean and may arrive in port 20 days later. “It’s hard when they have to deal with it alone.”
The long road to New York
Arnd Braun-Storck hails from the Hunsrück mountains in Germany. He grew up in Montabaur, studied theology at Marburg, then moved to Hamburg. At the end of the 1980s, a friend told him about an internship at the Seamen’s Mission in New York City. Braun-Storck applied and was accepted. While working there, he got to know the Lutheran parish on the Lower East Side and began working with the homeless. He completed his vicariate at a homeless shelter of the parish.
From 1994 onwards, he stood in for his predecessor at the Seamen’s Mission, Clint Padgitt, who went to Chile for two years. His wife Beate moved to New York, supporting his missionary work. Both decided to stay permanently at the “Big Apple”. In 2012, Braun-Storck finally took over as pastor of the Seamen’s Mission after many years in hospital chaplaincy.
Managing challenging times successfully
The German Seamen’s Mission in New York City has an eventful history. It began in 1907 in Hoboken, New Jersey, with the inauguration of a seamen’s house (below, at left). At the time, there were over 2,000 seamen on German ships at the port at any time. Overnight accommodation was urgently needed amid a difficult housing situation. The Seamen’s Mission helped the seamen save money so they could support their families back home. Some 100 years later, the collapse of the global financial markets in 2008 almost broke the mission’s neck financially. “We had to decide whether to close our doors or rent out the seamen’s home temporarily,” recalls Braun-Storck.
They decided in favour of the second option and merged with the Seafarers International House – in retrospect, this proved to be the right decision. More financial bottlenecks followed during the covid pandemic. To this day, the rental income from the former “Seemannsheim” is the most important source of revenue for the mission. To offer seafarers affordable accommodation, the Seamen’s Mission has rented eleven rooms from the local Salvation Army.
The seafarers’ pastor also receives strong support from the German Society of the City of New York, which looks after German immigrants. A network of Protestant churches in the north-east of the USA ensures that 3,000 gift bags are filled with hats, scarves, nuts and Christmas greeting cards for seafarers right before Christmas. Because then as now, “The focus of our work is the well-being of seafarers,” says Braun-Storck.
The Seamen’s Mission in New York City
- Visits to ship crews
- Classical pastoral ministry
- Hospital visits
- Psychosocial counselling
- Errands & shuttle rides
- Overnight accommodation
