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The Rev. Deacon Gail Avery and Rev. Ralph Bedard just joined our team. Gail is the new chaplain at our Portsmouth, NH location, and Ralph is the new chaplain at Portland, ME. |
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INTRODUCING GAIL AVERY AND RALPH BEDARD Hitting the Deck: Gail Avery — The new woman in town with the contagious laughter is The Rev. Deacon Gail Avery as our new part-time chaplain in Portsmouth, NH. Gail comes to Seafarer’s with a variety of experiences including work for Textbooks for Africa where she provided oversight for a program to raise money for children in South Africa who needed textbooks. She worked as a loan officer for Salem Five Mortgage Corporation, York, ME and as a Real Estate Broker in Stratham, NH. Gail also served as Program Director for the Housing Partnership in Portsmouth, NH and is an American Red Cross Swimming Instructor. From the first time Gail stepped on a ship, something was happening. Ralph, Gail and Nash were visiting a ship in Portland when Gail received an invitation. Into the galley she went. There was Gail, learning how to make Turkish coffee; adding sugar, coffee, heating it just right. She left the galley with a bag of gifts from the Turkish crew while Ralph and Nash looked on!
Gail is a member of St. John’s
Episcopal Church, Portsmouth, NH, and recently began serving as Deacon
at St. Andrews in the Valley, Tamworth, NH. Gail and her husband Kirk
live in Stratham, NH, and they have three children. Welcome aboard,
Gail! Hitting the Deck: Ralph Bedard — The new guy in town with a great sense of humor is Rev. Ralph Bedard, beginning as part-time chaplain in Portland, ME. He grew up in MA and CT, and served in the Air Force as a jet engine mechanic. Moving to Maine in 1988, he worked as a machinist at Eastern Fine Paper in Brewer. His call to ministry began at the East Eddington Community Church, in Maine. He served the Little Falls Baptist Church, Gorham, ME for 6 years, and currently serves as Interim Pastor of the Scarborough Free Baptist Church.
On a recent ship visit, Ralph lit up
the crew as he played guitar and sang some Gospel songs. It was a moment
that Ralph began to shine as he ministered to the crew with his
beautiful voice and guitar playing. When the Margit Gorthon docked in
Portland a few weeks ago, the crew called the office asking for a ride
and then they said, “Are you the Chaplain who plays the guitar?!” They
were disappointed when we had to tell them that Ralph was not on duty
that night. He has already begun to have a following on some ships and
that makes all of us very happy.
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