ICS has been sending out Chaplains to work in holiday destinations since 1844 when the Interlaken seasonal chaplaincy was founded!

Opportunities for Resort Mission ebb and flow - it is fair to say that, at present, our work is rather more limited in scope that it has been, but it is still very healthy and - by the grace of God - we will keep looking for new opportunities in the future as resources allow.  We are blessed to have a very committed and growing team of volunteer chaplains, many of whom are in active parish ministry, who personally invest time, energy and finances to serve for two or more weeks, often together with family and other team members. 

Over the past 175+ years, mission has been undertaken in a variety of resorts and countries around Europe, responding to changing circumstances and patterns of tourism. Sometimes, we have worked in partnership with other organisations, most recently (until 2019) with the Union Lido resort in Cavallino (near Venice), that partnership lasted for around thirty years. The difficulty in working in partnership is, of course, that decisions can be made unilaterally to change policies, and new management at the resort had already chosen to stop offering both English and German chaplaincies to their guests before the pandemic, which would have prevented any work there in 2020 anyway. Another good partnership which reached its end, was with the Kandersteg International Scout Centre in Switzerland. We had enjoyed some excellent years serving the young people from around the world together with their leaders and the staff and volunteers at the centre and, on the ground, our work was greatly valued. Our chaplains there were also able to reach out to tourists and residents in the village. A third partnership, in a very different setting again to both Kandersteg and Cavallino, was with Thomson Young at Heart holidays, where many ICS chaplains worked as part of their teams with their older guests in various mediterranean resorts. When this partnership was terminated in 2006 due to a company policy change, some of the team became founder members of the ICS Resort Mission in Ibiza, which was work done in conjunction with the permanent chaplaincy on the island. This Ibiza work has had a few years 'sabbatical' but is certainly not off the radar. Many will also remember the campsite-based chaplaincies that ICS ran in many French resorts, especially in Brittany, the west coast and the south-west. Changing holiday patterns and campsite security policies eventually made this type of chaplaincy unviable, but again - should circumstances change - we would consider new opportunities.

Our most recent new work has been in partnership with the permanent island chaplaincy on Corfu. Four good years of pioneer mission here waits to be built upon this summer.

And we remain fully committed to our 'spiritual homeland' of Switzerland where we have our two church buildings: in Zermatt (since 1870) and Wengen (since 1928). Winter and summer in these two special resorts, together with our original summer chaplaincy in Interlaken where we work in close partnership with the Tourist Office, the Swiss Reformed Church and the Roman Catholic Church, give our chaplains the opportunity to reach out, through pastoral care and evangelistic conversations, to hundreds of people every year from around the world. 

And if you are going to be visiting any of these places, you will discover that our chaplains are friendly and approachable, hosting meet-ups and services every week. We’d be delighted to connect with you and hear about your holiday highlights and we love meeting new people while they are holidaying, working or living in these resort areas of Switzerland and Greece. Thank you for your interest in and support for our work, both through prayer and financial giving.

If you are interested in serving as a Resort Mission Chaplain, please click here.

To find out more about our resorts, please visit the pages on the Resort Mission page.