'Christmas at Sea'
At the 9:00am service this Sunday, November 28, two baskets of handmade scarves, hats and Christmas cards will be blessed. Their destinations will be all corners of the world via freighters and container ships—and barges heading down the Mississippi river.
These “Christmas at Sea” gifts are part of the Seamen’s Church Institute (SCI) ministry. The SCI was founded almost 200 years ago by the Episcopal Church and is still affiliated with the Episcopal Church today. The SCI provides chaplains, legal aid, help with access to medical care, training in navigation skills, and much more to the (mostly) men and women who crew these large cargo vessels.
The work is hard, dangerous, and lonely. The crews are typically away from their home ports for four months at a time, but since the pandemic, that time has extended to six to eight months—or longer. In many ports of call they are not allowed to disembark.
This past summer, Saint Philip’s Prayer Shawl ministry met via Zoom with Joanne Bartosik, manager of the global Christmas at Sea program. After speaking with Joanne, the volunteers set to work knitting and crocheting hats and scarves to add to their already good supply of prayer shawls.
Joanne mentioned that the program always welcomes handmade Christmas cards from children to include with the knits. She recalled visiting ships and seeing Christmas at Sea cards taped inside crew lockers—some over a year old. She had similar tales of treasured hats and scarves.
Last Sunday, Saint Philip’s Children, Youth & Family ministry partnered with the parish’s knitters and crocheters to make holiday greeting cards. It was a wonderful opportunity for multiple generations to work together on an outreach project.
The seafarers hail from such places as the Philippines, Indonesia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, and many countries in Africa. It was exciting for the knitters and card makers to think of their offerings going from the desert out across the world's oceans.
This is the perfect ministry during a pandemic; you can knit or crochet or make cards at home. Or while on vacation!
If you would like to learn more about the Saint Philip’s Prayer Shawl Ministry, please contact parishioners Helene Woodhams at helenewoodhams@gmail.com or Linda Dewey at ldewey2020@gmail.com.
If you would like more information about Saint Philip’s Children Youth & Family Ministry, please email Mtr Taylor at taylor.devine@stphilipstucson.org.
For more information about Seamen’s Church Institute and Christmas at Sea, please visit SCI’s website.