I would like to share my experience onboard a recent cruise. Normally the cruise ships have a priest for the Catholics as well as a Protestant minister for the interdenominational service. On the first Sunday service we were introduced to Father Mike, the Catholic priest who told us that there not being a Protestant minister on board he had offered to help out. He did a great job leading us in worship. After the service a few of us thought that it would be good if we could meet again, especially on sea days of the cruise.
We were a handful of interested people and one of us took over the task of putting an announcement in the next day’s program. Well, how many people read such items? We still were about the same number the next day. Our service was lead by “the congregation.” We did have hymnbooks so some of us led the hymn singing, some led prayers and all were invited to say their own, if they so wished. We sang some more hymns and ended up with the Lord’s Prayer.
Then someone announced that he could tell a story the next day. So that’s how it all started. Another day a scientist who had worked with the NASA Apollo program, gave us a slide show with his talk which rationalized religion and science. After about the third day we discovered that one of the people among us was a Baptist pastor. Then we discovered that we had a pianist among us. Once again we asked and pleaded at the ship’s office, this time for a keyboard. It arrived and now we had the two main people, a pastor and the organist. What wonders God works! Everyday we met new people who would ask for our plans for the day and we would tell about this gathering of church people. Although it ran in the daily program, often the answer was where is it, I don’t know anything about it. I was in awe the second Sunday and the rest of the cruise when a portioning wall between two rooms had to be opened to have enough space for all, some 50 participates. God works wonders. On several occasions my husband and I would sing “Go now in peace…” which we sing at our own church, St. John’s, White Rock, BC.
