Sea Sunday 2015 Sermon and Service Notes

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Sea Sunday 2015 Sermon and Service Notes

Sea Sunday 2015 Sermon and Service Notes
The theme of this year’s Sea Sunday is shipwreck. These materials focus on the work the
Mission to Seafarers has done on the recent shipwrecks around the UK coast line.
Thankfully, emergency response to shipwreck forms only part of the work that the Mission
does. The Mission works in over 260 ports in 71 countries, caring for the world’s 1.5 million
seafarers through our network of chaplains, staff and volunteers. Our centres provide a
home away from home where seafarers can relax and use internet and phone facilities to
contact their loved ones, while our ship-visitors provide on-board practical and emotional
support to crews.

Contents
Resources – page 2
Adult service – page 3
All age service – page 5
Children’s service – page 6
Prayer suggestions – page 7
Hymn suggestions – page 9

How to use these notes
These notes can be used on their own or as a framework to design your own service. Please
do feel free to alter and personalise this material, or use it as a guide to write your own. If
you have your own stories and experiences to share, which relate to the theme or seafarers’
ministry in general, they can be more powerful than just sticking to what we have suggested
here. The purpose of these materials is to encourage you and to make things easier.

Thank you for holding your Sea Sunday service

1 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

Resources

Suggested Bible readings
Old Testament: Proverbs Chapter: 8 Verses: 22-31
Gospel: Matthew Chapter: 4 Verses: 18-22
Epistle: Acts of the Apostles Chapter: 27 verse 27 - Chapter 28 Verse 2

Key Ideas
      Comparing St. Paul's ministry to the sailors to the work of the Mission Chaplains.
      In the Crisis Paul / the MtS Chaplains are: Practical, Encouraging, and Prayerful.
      They can do this because they have earned trust through the day to day ministry of
       caring for the seafarers.
      The MtS needs your support to keep doing this vital work in the day to day as well as
       in crisis.

Other resources available
In addition to these service notes, The Mission to Seafarers Sea Sunday pack also contains:
      Posters
      Pew leaflets
      Collection envelopes
      Children’s activities

If you haven’t done so already, you can order your Sea Sunday pack by visiting the Sea
Sunday website www.seadunday.org or by e-mailing seasunday@missiontoseafarers.org or
call 0207 246 2982.

The Mission to Seafarers has the following resources available to download from the Sea
Sunday website www.seasunday.org
    PowerPoint presentation about the Mission
    Pictures
    Case studies
    Videos

2 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

Adult congregation

Sermon Notes
Retell the story of St. Paul's Shipwreck
 Context: Paul is being taken under arrest to Rome for trial; he clearly is respected by
the Roman officer in charge and the sailors.
 Lead up: The ship has failed to find a good port to over-winter in so attempts to sail
to the nearest good port too late in the year (and against Paul's advice) and hits a
storm.
 The storm hits and the crew try to abandon the ship, Paul stops them.
 Paul encourages them.
 Sailors try to escape again; Paul gets to Roman officer to stop them
 Paul gets the passengers and crew to eat.
 Sailors try to run the ship aground
 It hits a sandbank and is torn to pieces
 Roman soldiers try to kill the prisoners and their officer stops them.
 They all abandon ship.
 All are saved
 They are then welcomed by the locals who together with Paul make a fire.

Reflections - what did Paul do?
 Practical: fed them, gave good advice, built a fire after the shipwreck
 Encouraging: He holds the group together; he encourages them to try to survive.
 Prayerful: He keeps on praying for them and with them for their safety.
 He could only do this because he had earned their trust earlier through good advice
and personal support.

Story of The Mission to Seafarers shipwrecks
The grounding of the MV Hoegh Osaka near Southampton
In the words of Mission Chaplain John Attenborough:

"I received a call at around 11pm on Saturday night from the Maritime and Coastguards
Agency to tell me that a vessel had run aground in the Solent and that a maritime chaplaincy
team was needed to urgently assist.... We offered to take the men to the Southampton
Seafarers Centre to make them more comfortable.

We arrived at the Centre at around 2am. The Centre Manager, Stephen Hulbert, had called
ahead to Centre staff who came in straight away. When we arrived there was hot soup,
coffee, and sandwiches ready for them all, and Amanda, Stephen's wife, had bought
blankets, jumpers and socks. I made sure that all the crew could use my mobile phone. By
4am the shipping agents and the lawyers had arrived and arranged to transfer the men to a
local hotel. We were all there to make sure that there was continuity of care for the men -
from rescue to hotel. We stayed with them every day to offer support and provided them
with basics such as toothpaste, shaving kits, etc.... and simple friendship, The emergency
situation was handled with great care, professionalism and energy by everyone involved."

3 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

Reflections
 Like Paul, the day to day visits to ships and running of the centres for seafarers by the
Chaplaincy team had earned the trust of the seafarers. They could then offer
Practical Support, Emotional encouragement, and Prayer.

However, things do not always turn out well though and the Mission to Seafarers is there if
crises at sea turn tragic:

Sinking of the MV Cemfjord off Scotland
 The cargo ship the Cemfjord sank in the Pentland Firth off Scotland with the loss of all
eight crew on board.
 Tim Tunley, the Mission to Seafarers Chaplain, established contact with the local
community in Wick and a service held with the Scottish Episcopal Church for those
affected.
 The Mission contacted their partner agency, The Apostleship of The Sea, in Poland
(where seven of the eight crew lived) to help ensure pastoral care of the families.

Reflections
Mission to Seafarers is there for seafarers in tragedy and crisis, because of the day to day
work of visiting ships and running seafarers centres.

We are all called in crisis to offer practical, emotional, and prayerful support to those
affected.

Please support the Mission to Seafarers in their work helping seafarers in crisis and in the
day to day through:
 Offering your time to be a volunteer so we can visit more ships and meet more
seafarers.
 Offering your money to help us give the practical support that is needed.
 Most of all by offering your prayers for the work the Mission to Seafarers does.

4 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

All Age Congregation

Talk Notes
Shipwrecks past and present
 For thousands of years we have carried goods around the world on ships.
 This is hard work, dangerous, and vital.
 Ships sometimes get into trouble on the huge oceans and seas with their storms and
underwater rocks.
 St Paul was caught in such a storm and so do ships today.
 These are terrifying and often lead to people being hurt or even dying.

Paul's shipwreck and recent shipwrecks
 Paul's ship hits a bad storm and the seafarers and passengers are all terrified, just as
modern seafarers are when their ships hit bad weather. Huge waves, strong winds,
and darkness, all lead to confusion and panic.
 Then and now, they do their best to keep everybody safe and get the ship into a port.
 This is not always possible and just as Paul's ship hit a sand bank, so a huge car
transporter ship hit a sandbank this Christmas time off the south coast of England.
 Then the seafarers abandoned the ship and got to land.
 But once on land the drama is not over either for Paul's ship mates nor for modern
seafarers
 They are both: cold, hungry, disorientated, and traumatised by what has just
happened; they also have lost everything they had on the ship.

What the Mission to Seafarers does:
 The Mission to Seafarers chaplains takes on for modern seafarers the role Paul plays
in the story.
 The chaplains like Paul befriend the sailors before things get rough by visiting ships
and helping with day to day problems of pay, working conditions, and personal
support.
 When things start to go wrong on a ship, just as Paul warned the sailors of the
coming storms, we can warn the seafarers and, if it is appropriate, any port
authorities of problems.
 If disaster does strike, like Paul we are in a position to be on hand.
 We provide: shelter in our centres, food, advice, contact back home to loved ones,
but most importantly long term support for those affected.

Please support the Mission to Seafarers in their work helping seafarers in crisis and in the
day to day through:
 Offering your time to be a volunteer so they can visit more ships and meet more
seafarers
 Offering your money to help them give the practical support that is needed
 Offering your prayers for the work the Mission to Seafarers does

5 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

Children’s Service

Suggested order and Ideas
 Welcome
 Set the theme "Shipwreck"
 Song: "When I needed a neighbour"
 Story of Paul's Ship Wreck:

Paul, his friends, and lots of other people were in a boat, out at sea. There was a terrible
storm. The wind blew, the waves rolled and crashed, the boat rocked and tossed.

"We'll all be drowned!" shouted the people.

"No, we won't" said Paul calmly, "God has told me we will all be safe."

But the storm did not stop! No one could even see if it was day or night! Then - s-c-r-u-n-c-h!
The boat was stuck on the seabed - but there was dry land nearby.

The man in charge of the boat told everyone what to do. "Jump into the water and swim to
the land" he said. "If you can't swim, hold onto a piece of wood and float to shore."

And that's what they did. The boat was wrecked but everyone was safe. God had looked
after them. Just as Paul had said he would.

 Reflection: This still happens and the Mission to Seafarers does what it can to help
when it does, just like St. Paul did.
 Role play: Acting out a shipwreck and saving each other (making a carpet a raft and
getting on board out of the 'sea'.
 Song: "Kum ba Yah"
 Prayers: For us when we are in danger, for seafarers when they are in danger, thank
you Jesus that you are always with us especially when we are scared.
 Activities sheets
 Lords Prayer 'Our Father...',
 Blessing: Lord Jesus, Bless us and all the seafarers, Amen.
 Song "He's Got the whole world in his hand"

6 | Sea Sunday 2015 - Shipwreck

Prayer suggestions

Collect - Contemporary language
Almighty Father creator of the Oceans and Land
Whose Son sailed the seas and calmed the storms.
Anoint all seafarers with your Holy Spirit,
That as it breathed over the waters of creation,
So may you bring newness life to them and us.
Through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen

Collect - Traditional language
O Lord, who hast created the earth and the deep. Whose only begotten Son walked on the
waters and calmed the raging storms. Send thy Holy Ghost; and anoint all seafarers with the
most excellent gift of thy peace. That they may have strength of body and soul amidst the
raging waves. Grant this for thine only Son Jesus Christ's sake.
Amen

Intercessions
Lord God, we thank you for the gift of the oceans, for their abundant life and vast mysteries.
Teach us to look after your creation and value the seas you have made.