The Seamen's Church Institute of New York & New Jersey has tapped a Pennsylvania-based clergyman to serve as its new president and executive director following a nine-month search.
The Rev Mark S Nestlehutt has been selected to replace outgoing executive director the Rev David Rider and will begin his duties 18 February, the organisation announced today. SCI is the largest mariners' agency in North America.
Nestlehutt comes to New York with a raft of experience in maritime roles.
A former US Naval officer, he spent 12 years as rector of Christ Church in St Michaels, Maryland, a waterfront community whose parishioners included members of Chesapeake Bay Pilots, Delaware River Pilots, tugboat captains, ship engineers and maritime students.
“In addition to exceptional credentials and wide-ranging experience, I am particularly impressed by Mark’s genuine and heart-felt affection for the sea and the mariner," said SCI board chairman Bruce Paulsen, a partner in the New York securities law firm Seward & Kissel.
According to Craig Philip, a Vanderbilt University professor who headed the selection committee, “This position is the perfect job for the right person, and in Mark we found exactly the right person – very knowledgeable and passionate about mariners and we felt that his work experiences were somehow all intended to prepare him for SCI.”
Nestlehutt most recently has been rector at Washington Memorial Chapel in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, and has more than two decades of church experience.
Rider had led SCI for 12 years and is scheduled to retire at 1 March.
Nestlehutt said he was honoured by the selection.
“The three-fold mission of SCI to be chaplains and first-responders; to provide legal assistance and advocacy, and to facilitate advanced educational training for domestic and international mariners is a deeply-grounded and intentional ministry with and for the men and women who serve in this strategically vital vocation," Nestlehutt said.
"I look forward to building upon the work of the Rev David Rider, and working with the board and staff to address the emerging needs of mariners.”
