Many ship visitors and leaders in maritime ministry are women, and many of the best developments of recent years are their doing. In addition, a growing number of seafarers themselves are women.

But the differences between female and male experiences have often been underdiscussed. Training, for instance, has tended to overlook both seafarers' willingness to trust female ministers and the ways in which their interest may sometimes be inappropriate. Some well-intentioned seafarers' ministries themselves have even tried to prevent women from serving, either out of beliefs about the role of women or out of a misplaced desire to protect.

The result has been that woman in seafarers' welfare have often had to find their own ways, that some have been mistreated, and that many who would have made great contributions found it impossible to stay.

This course is meant to be a first step in addressing this - by sharing the knowledge of women already involved, encouraging the new generation, and better-equipping male colleagues to train and work with women in their ministries. With interviews and consultation by Michelle DePooter (NAMMA, Christian Reformed Ministry to Seafarers), Karen Parsons (Stella Maris), Erin Burnett (University of Aberdeen), and Christine Klimkowski (Seattle Seafarers' Center).