One of the most iconic aspects of the Seamen’s Bethel is our famous pulpit in the Whaleman’s Chapel, but did you know that wasn’t always the case? In John Houston’s 1956 adaptation of the movie Moby Dick, a pulpit fashioned after the prow of a ship is depicted. After the successful release of the movie, many visited New Bedford to see the ship-like pulpit only to find the original to be entirely different. Multiple visitors conveyed their opinions, wishing to see the pulpit from the movie instead. Thus to appease them, the New Bedford Port Society listened and installed a second one upstairs in 1961 where it remains today. Our oldest surviving pulpit, now located in the Salt Box down below, is crafted with a more New England box-design.
