Michael Hammett News

On March 1, the Rev. Michael Christopher Nation begins work at the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) as a chaplain for Ministry on the River, the nation’s only full-time pastoral care ministry on the Ohio and Lower Mississippi River systems. Operating from Vicksburg, MS (where Nation served as rector of a local parish for over 9 years), the new SCI chaplain ministers to mariners working in the Lower Mississippi River region. He succeeds the Rev. Michael Hammett who left SCI last year. Living and working in the city of Vicksburg has wrapped Nation up in the maritime industry. On the Mississippi, Vicksburg functions as a hub of river commerce with several river transportation companies operating in the area. Not surprisingly, Nation already knew about SCI.

The Rev. Michael Hammett, the newest addition to the staff of the Ministry on the River team of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI), said that he wants to make a big poster that reads, “Your chaplain is here for you.” After completing a two-week chaplaincy training program in Houston, TX, the Louisiana native began work last month, overseeing a ministry to workers on America’s inland waterways in the lower Mississippi River region. Hammett has worked inside and outside the walls of churches as an ordained United Methodist Church minister for 25 years.