Weekly Worship at Sea

[russpatterson5]

Thanks everyone for the helpful responses. I appreciate that most who responded were able to share information without turning it into an argument over religious beliefs. I was counting on this community to do that, and I was not disappointed.

Your information confirms my suspicion that church, while still doable, is going to look a little different than we're used to. And that's great! We don't go out cruising so that everything stays the same right?

[MicHughV]

Check with the locals....my experience has been that various religions have " wandering "priests, ministers, etc, that move from island to island.

A "church" is not always required. I've been to religious services that were held under a tree or on the beach, etc. and not always on Sunday either. Quite enjoyable actually.

You take away all the modern day church trimmings and you are left with just the people and the actual service. It can be a very colorful and musical uplifting event and a great way to mingle with the locals who will be only too happy to embrace you and their island way of life.

My take is that most " islanders" appear to have a modicum of religious tolerance and will attend a service regardless of denomination. It's quite often a " party" affair. Food is brought, etc, etc, etc.

[AZUS]

I look for services in English as I’m not proficient in another language and want to participate in the worship, so first I’d look for Anglican parishes. (I’d be happy in any orthodox Christian church but most services are, reasonably, in the local language). Throughout the Bahamas I would show up at the local Anglican church and be welcomed - either as a brother or a welcome curiosity. I am Anglican, so I was thrilled to be able to worship there, and marveled at the diversity of worship styles in the Anglican Communion. Outside of the Bahamas, English language churches were hard to find - except in former English colonies (E.g,., Malta, Bermuda) and big cities where English often vacation (e.g., Marseille). I thought I might initiate a cruiser Bible study weekly, but seldom was at a place with a larger cruiser live aboard population and active VHF net.

[Giro]

Boy, oh boy, oh boy.........

[Gingersnap]

If a church is not available or if a gathering of Christiana is not available, there are other ways to worship. Hold your own bible service, watch internet tv church, or watch the DVDs of sermons.

[dickhein]

Here’s a thought. Contact the Universal Life Church. For a small fee they will ordain you. Completely legal. Now you can have your own services without having to seek out some strange church. You can solicit attendees from the cruisers pool or just worship with your partner. If you’re really clever, you may find some tax advantages using your boat as a house of worship. Another nice feature is that you will always agree with the content of your sermons. Peace...

[WantTo]

My wife and I cruised the Bahamas and Eastern Caribbean for two and a half years. We also enjoy weekly church services and sought them out when possible. In some places we went ashore with our iPad, found a good wi-fi connection, and watched the services from our home church in Florida. In the Bahamas, churches were a little harder to find on the small islands, but you could often hear them singing on Sunday morning and just go towards the music. In the Virgin Islands (U.S. and British) you will find a lot of options. On the French islands, most of the services were in French, but you can find English churches as well. In Domenica, the woman who did our laundry invited us to her church and even gave us a ride. In Bequia we attended a beautiful Christmas Eve service in the Anglican Church. We were anchored off Mayreau in the Grenadines one Easter and went up the hill to a Roman Catholic church. There were a lot of cruisers/charterers there from the U.S. and other countries and the priest was from the Philippines. On Union Island the next week we attended a Pentecostal service (very common in the islands). It was quite long, but we enjoyed it. Everyone was very friendly, and they thanked us for staying for the entire service since many of the other cruisers left early. Grenada has a lot of options, and there, like in other large gatherings of cruisers, there is a daily radio network where you can connect with others who may want to go to church or have an on-board Bible study. You can get “bus” transportation very easily on many of the islands. Some general comments (and I hope no one replies about me being racist; I am just giving factual information).: In several churches we were the only Caucasians, but we felt very welcomed. In one church the only other Caucasians were the pastor and his wife. The people in the Caribbean tend to dress up for church but accepted us in our casual clothes. We never wore shorts or T-shirts, I always wore shoes and socks, and my wife always had her shoulders covered. When the church was a long distance from the marina where we docked the dinghy, we often were offered rides back after the service.

[Giro]

Good and meaningful post WantTo.

[Mainstreet]

My wife and I cruised the Abacos in 2017. We attended Anglican services every Sunday. Every church was extremely welcoming. Sometimes we’d arrive a bit begraggled and wet from a rough idnghyride in windy conditions. It never mattered one bit. We were always treated like long lost cousins! One caution... be prepared for lots of hugs!

[Sailing4Jesus]

The greatest place to worship the only True And Living God Our Creator is in ones own heart. Be careful to remember that to worship God one must go through the only mediator between God and men, The Man Christ Jesus.

1 Timothy 2:5-6 King James Version (KJV)

5 For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus;

6 Who gave himself a ransom for all, to be testified in due time.

[MicHughV]

My experience has been that the islanders know how to " rock" a service....if one is used to the normally quite staid and formal religious services here in the US, you will be in for a surprise....a big pleasant surprise.

While the islander congregation will tend to dress up in their Sunday finest...it is usually a very colorful display of clothing, garnered from who knows where.

In the truest sense, many "islanders" will "celebrate" their religious services, which usually includes some mighty fine singing and....dancing...hand clapping, etc....and usually a very scrumptious lunch/brunch served after...

I've been to some services, where the pastor can belt out a sermon, the likes of which you'll never hear here in the US. It can be pretty inspiring, to say the least, and even the most ardent atheist would be likely to agree that a pastor like that can send out a meaningful "message" which in all likelihood will have zero religious content, but just based on people lovin' people. Something we can all use in our lives.

It can be a "cultural" event not to be missed.

Not trying to convince anyone one way or another, but just adding my take and perspective on "island" religious services.
We, as cruisers, are just " visitors" to the islands and my opinion is not to miss a " island" church service, which is to miss a very important aspect of island life.

Religion is always such a touchy topic as everyone is entitled to their own view on the matter and I had to think twice before penning this missive so as not stir up any religious debate..but wanted to give my view based on my cruising experience.

[JanetGroene]

See my article in Perceptive Travel about our regular church going in the Bahamas and Caribbean. Church going is an important part of local life there and you'll get insights and connections not found at the chickee bar. If you can't walk from the marina, it's probable you can find a ride to the nearest church. A Hindu woman once gave me a ride to her church, which turned out to be Pentecostal Christian. Dress respectfully but suits not expected. https://www.perceptivetravel.com/iss...08/groene.html

[JanetGroene]

Originally Posted by MicHughV

My experience has been that the islanders know how to " rock" a service....if one is used to the normally quite staid and formal religious services here in the US, you will be in for a surprise....a big pleasant surprise.

While the islander congregation will tend to dress up in their Sunday finest...it is usually a very colorful display of clothing, garnered from who knows where.

In the truest sense, many "islanders" will "celebrate" their religious services, which usually includes some mighty fine singing and....dancing...hand clapping, etc....and usually a very scrumptious lunch/brunch served after...

I've been to some services, where the pastor can belt out a sermon, the likes of which you'll never hear here in the US. It can be pretty inspiring, to say the least, and even the most ardent atheist would be likely to agree that a pastor like that can send out a meaningful "message" which in all likelihood will have zero religious content, but just based on people lovin' people. Something we can all use in our lives.

It can be a "cultural" event not to be missed.

Not trying to convince anyone one way or another, but just adding my take and perspective on "island" religious services.
We, as cruisers, are just " visitors" to the islands and my opinion is not to miss a " island" church service, which is to miss a very important aspect of island life.

Religion is always such a touchy topic as everyone is entitled to their own view on the matter and I had to think twice before penning this missive so as not stir up any religious debate..but wanted to give my view based on my cruising experience.

My experience exactly. If you're there to experience the island, church is part of it.

[Benz]

Not to deny that local churches are part of local flavor, or can provide a unique cultural experience, but someone who is looking for a house of worship may not be searching for a cultural experience nor be interested so much in "how do the locals do church?" as in: where can I worship God according to conscience?
To go to church simply to get the local flavor, or get to know locals and be brought into their scene, or satisfy the curiosity, or see a show, is to miss the point of church--at least for those who take religion seriously.