Norwegian Seamen’s Church in New York – 130th anniversary

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Translated from Norwegian.

Dear friends,

The Norwegian Seamen’s Church is not quite like other churches.

On its New York website, you can find information about barbeques on the roof terrace, business lunches, something called “nattklubben”, which translates as “night club”, and the women’s forum Seagull (which is perhaps part of nattklubben). You can take a tour of the Trygve Lie Gallery and you can eat traditional Norwegian rice porridge – “risgrøt” – for a donation. You can make a free phone call home to Norway, sign up for an advanced Norwegian course, read Norwegian newspapers, and much more.

And there is information about religious activities too, as well as visits to ships – to real seamen – elsewhere on the website.

I consider myself to be a man of the sea, but I don’t feel I have to be a seaman to come to this church.

The Norwegian Seamen’s Church is not quite like other churches.

It has a varied menu, room for everyone, a low threshold; it’s a place where you can relax and take a deep breath; it’s a home for those who are far from home.

This church fulfils many functions. It opens its doors to everyone; it provides a “home away from home” – the church’s motto. It is a cultural institution, a meeting place and a sacred space, all at once; a safe haven for generations of Norwegians out at sea, in both calm and stormy waters, whether the course has been “full speed ahead” or fraught with peril.

This is a peaceful harbour – in the middle of a fast-moving city.

And again, the Seaman’s Church is not like others when it comes to anniversaries. The 125th anniversary was marked with great festivity. This evening, I’m here to celebrate 130 years, and I’m sure there’ll be a celebration of 135 years as well.

So, to all of you – at home and abroad – I hereby congratulate the Norwegian Seamen’s Church in New York on its 130th anniversary.

130 years as a stout rope, perhaps for some even as a lifebuoy.

The history of the church takes us back to the summer and autumn of 1878. To a time when Oscar II had been King of Sweden and Norway for just a few years, Wilhelm I was Kaiser of Germany, Queen Victoria was in the middle of her reign, the American President – the 19th – was called Rutherford B. Hayes, and in this year – 1878 – the world was speechless with amazement at Thomas A. Edison’s new discovery – the phonograph. “Mary had a little lamb,” recited the new technological miracle.

What were these times really like – from a social point of view? For Norway, this was a period of turbulence. We need to remind ourselves that from the 1860s up to the late 1920s, thousands of Norwegians travelled to America each year. And most of them stayed. There was great poverty in Norway. By 1915, as many as 700 000 Norwegians had crossed the ocean to settle here. A huge number for a country like ours, which had a population of between 1.5 and 2 million at the time.

We should bear this in mind now that Norway is a destination for other people in need.

*****

We in the foreign service tend to think that “we were here first”, that it all started in 1905. This isn’t true. The Norwegian Seamen’s Church arrived here nearly 30 years before our time, before the foreign service was established.

One of things that impresses me most is this church’s ability to adapt, to make changes, meet new challenges, reach out to new target groups, take on new tasks.

And always with the same friendly welcome, with its hallmark of heart-warming generosity and the smell of waffles.

This very church here in New York has adapted to major changes in relation to the economy, shipping, migration, including the influx of Norwegian refugees during the Second World War, increasing numbers of students and artists, and so on – all the changes that have taken place since it first opened in Brooklyn close to the Norwegian colony and Norwegian seamen. Those were the days when the dialect of southern Norway was frequently heard on 8th Avenue. And some 50 years ago, the church followed the Norwegian colony – now somewhat smaller – to Manhattan, and then later to 52nd Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenue.

Today the whole Norwegian Seamen’s Church – at home and abroad – is a large organisation with over 200 employees and 32 churches, in addition to various North Sea priests and student priests. It is working in more than 70 countries on five continents. That’s impressive!

And you are so good at keeping up with the times that it’s now possible to make donations to the Seamen’s Church by SMS. You can just send the word “VAFFEL” to 2080 to donate NOK 75 per “waffle”. We are talking about web waffles. Get a taste of that!

*****

But while you still provide the traditional waffles and a warm welcome, there is much that has changed, and continues to change all the time. I have mentioned the users of the church. The number of ships calling and the number of seamen are falling. Now there are other groups of Norwegians who visit or live in New York, for shorter or longer periods, as first-time travellers or commuters, or marathon runners.

And living abroad, as a student – something I am familiar with – or as an artist, or in connection with work, as a trainee, or a diplomat or an accompanying family member, can be tough.

What we are talking about here is this: when we travel, we cross a boundary. Physically, socially, geographically, and within ourselves, each and every one of us. We step out of a fixed and familiar framework, we have to build new relations and gain new footholds.

And then it’s good – when you feel the need – to have a second home to turn to. And that is exactly what the Seamen’s Church is for a great many Norwegians and Norwegian Americans.

For we all need a network, a safety net. And we all need to be seen, by someone. In the lives we live, each one of us. In our local community, whether we are surrounded by skyscrapers or mountain tops. Our lives are lived in a local setting, even though we are all members of the global village.

*****

In continuation of this, I want to make this point: the foreign service needs the Seamen’s Church, too. And this is something I want to stress.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs enjoys long-standing, close cooperation with the Seamen’s Church – both with its main office in Bergen and not least with the churches abroad. Last year, we signed a letter of intent on even closer, more visible and more binding cooperation. I am proud of this agreement. And I have heard that it has been a source of inspiration. I am glad.   

Part of the backdrop to formalising this cooperation were the tragedies of September 11 and the tsunami in Asia – both major crises. The strengths of the Seamen’s Church became very apparent during these shocking and dramatic events. Your people skills. Your locations. Your ability to find flexible solutions.

Today, the Norwegian foreign service and the Norwegian Seamen’s Church are facing many of the same challenges. And in terms of presence and emergency response, we have many overlapping tasks. Therefore we can do more together.

For Norwegians are travelling more than ever; our travelling patterns are changing rapidly, whether we are travelling on holiday, for work, studies, or health services, or because we have a holiday home in another country. The number of journeys abroad by Norwegians has increased by 50% since 1999. More than 650 000 holiday makers travel to Spain, over 200 000 to Greece, and nearly 175 000 to the US, which is more than to countries like France. And today, between 3 000 and 4 000 Norwegians are living in and around New York. Just to mention a few figures.

This creates new and significant demands; people have expectations of what the foreign service and the Seamen’s Church should provide in the way of assistance. I have to admit that these new challenges, these expectations are very difficult for the foreign service to meet.

And these developments are taking place in a world characterised by uncertainty and insecurity. Bombs are set off in Islamabad, in Madrid, in London. Financial crises play havoc with people’s personal finances. Hurricanes destroy homes.

We are vulnerable.

In the aftermath of September 11, the Seamen’s Church demonstrated clearly its important role as a meeting place for Norwegians in the city. Here in New York, the church will be the natural centre for relatives in the event of a new crisis, in close cooperation with the Consulate General.

*****

My colleagues and I are grateful for this close cooperation with the Norwegian Seamen’s Church. We can – and should – complement each other in our work. We should complement each other’s roles in a positive way. For together we will be able to achieve far more than we could separately.

Here, I am talking about social needs. About the need for solace, support and assistance. About emergency response.

But I am also talking about how this church in New York is helping to promote Norway, and is providing yet another platform for Norwegian art and culture. A place to show who we are.

The breadth of the services the church offers is a great strength. The Seamen’s Church has maintained a steady course for 130 years – and will continue to do so in the years ahead.

*****

I have spoken of the importance of hospitality, generosity and making room for everyone; I have spoken of how people living in a great metropolis have the same basic needs as someone living in a small village – the need for community. To conclude, I would like to emphasise what a great example the Seamen’s Church sets in this respect.

This is all about basic values.

I wasn’t intending – as you will have realised – to give a sermon, but we are in a house of God, and it seems natural to sum up these thoughts and ideas with a few “simple” words from the Bible. They are: “And they did eat, and were all filled” (from the story of the feeding of the five thousand in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verse 17).

These words are true in the literal sense – here we can eat and be filled. But we are also talking about something more, about meeting a social need, and – not exactly being filled but – feeling that you belong. To rephrase one of Shakespeare’s most famous lines: to belong or not to belong, that is the question.

Here in the Norwegian Seamen’s Church. Or out in the world at large, which at the moment is dominating life in this part of New York. For the UN General Assembly is also dealing with these issues: ensuring a more equitable distribution of the world’s goods, making sure that everyone can eat their fill, that that we all belong to the world community.