Right Around the River Blog

Maritime Ministries Sets Sail From Rocketts Landing Marina

Post Date: 07-11-2013

Have you been down by the Rocketts Landing marina and noticed a huge sailboat docked from time to time? Chances are, you're seeing the sailboat from Maritime Ministries, an RVA-based outreach organization. We've enjoyed having their vessel down at the marina, so we thought we'd check in with the organization and learn more about what this boat is up to!

As an interdemoninational nonprofit organization established in 1991, Maritime Ministries' goal is to "reach and mobilize remote maritime communities for Christ." They sail up and down the Eastern Seaboard, building relationships with churches along the Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) and partnering with them to support ministry outreach in the churches’ area ports. Whether through sharing a meal with people on deck, handing out bread to those in need at local ports or even holding Sunday church aboard the boats, Maritime Ministries offers faith organizations an alternative way to perform outreach and engage in humanitarian work.

“Through our interdemoninational relationships and our sailboats-based outreach, we partner with a variety of organizations with the aim to educate and mobilize individuals toward mission work, and to a closer, more meaningful relationship with God,” explains President Roy Armstrong.

To achieve their goals, Maritime Ministries maintains a three-boat fleet: two 32-foot-long sailboats and one 47-foot-long sailboat (named “Praise the Lord” and the one commonly docked at the Rocketts Landing marina), which travel from the USA down to the Bahamas and Caribbean.

This year, they also opened an outreach center on Main Street in Shockoe Bottom, The River Gate Center, as an extension to their sailboat-based efforts. Through their brick-and-mortar presence, Maritime Ministries provides outreach aimed at young adults in Richmond’s Church Hill neighborhood. The center is open Tuesday through Saturday, with an open-door policy welcoming anyone interested to stop by and engage with them.

With boating season in full swing, Maritime Ministries is already staying busy sailing along the East Coast, having stopped at five different ports already. If you’d like to see one of their sailboats in action, below is the remainder of their 2013 outreach itinerary, which includes an open house aboard their sailboat at Rocketts Landing!

• July 22 – 25: Sailing excursion with Camp Piankatank students
• August 30 – September 2: Annual Labor Day Singles Retreat with VAM2
• October 5: “Friends of Maritime Ministries” River Gate Center and sailboats open house and cookout at Rocketts Landing (open to the public and all Rocketts Landing residents, more details to come!)
• October 25 – 26: Smoke on the Water Festival, Washington, N.C.

We’re happy to have Maritime Ministries regularly dock “Praise the Lord” at the Rocketts Landing Marina, and we look forward to hearing about all their adventures and experiences! To learn more about the organization, visit the Maritime Ministries website or call them at 804.615.2264.

Photos courtesy of Martime Ministries