News ofNorway, issue 10, 1996
As part of the celebration, the Norwegian Chamber of Commerce held its sixth annual Image Award Dinner, where recipients were honored for their contributions to the church. Ambassador to the United States Tom E. Vraalsen joined the celebration as did the Consul General for the southern region, Oddvar Mosnesset. Other dignitaries present included the Rev. Harald Daasvand of the Norwegian Seaman's Mission in Norway, and the Rev. Ingrid Frivoll, former pastor of the church in New Orleans.
The first Seaman's Church opened in 1876 for Norwegian mariners reaching ports like Pensacola, Florida, Mobile, Alabama, and Gulfport, Mississippi. In the late 1800s, Pensacola was a busy port with as many as 50 sailing ships awaiting cargoes of lumber, and this Seaman's Church opened there because of the many Norwegian seamen aboard these vessels. Shipping in the Gulf of Mexico moved westward and the church moved with the fleet. By 1900 the age of steamships had arrived, and since New Orleans became the principal port in the Gulf, the church followed once again.
The Seaman's Church today has many branches throughout the United States. People attending services are no longer seamen primarily. The church therefore added "Norwegian" to its name to reflect the fact that it serves people of a national heritage as well as men from a particular working realm. Today these churches serve students, au-pairs, businessmen, embassy personnel, artists and other Norwegians far from home.
The seaman's church in New Orleans will have both Chritmas Celebrations and open house on New Years Eve. For more information,call 1-504-525-3602