Annual Mariners’ Service planned March 1 in Point Edward
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Every year as the shipping season begins, about 100 people flock to a small church in Point Edward, its archdeacon says, for prayer for the mariners working on the Great Lakes.
The annual tradition at St. Paul’s Anglican goes back some three decades at the church, which formerly acted as a beacon, reflecting light from the Fort Gratiot lighthouse in Port Huron, Mich., off its tin roof beams for ships entering the St. Clair River from Lake Huron, the Venerable Kristen Aikman said.
Songs, prayers and readings punctuate the annual interfaith service that tends to roughly double the church’s weekly average attendance, she said.
The church, which started in 1868 at the corner of Livingston and Victoria streets in Point Edward, and then moved to 210 Michigan Ave. in 1902, also holds prayer for mariners’ well-being every first Sunday of the month via Mission to Seafarers, she said.
“We like to honour and thank them for what they do to bring all of the goods here, to protect the waters,” Aikman said.
This year’s annual Mariners’ Service is slated for March 1 at 10 a.m. The morning will include guest speaker Capt. George Haynes, who captained the Ohio Department of Natural Resources research vessel Grandon in Lake Erie in 1990, had stints on military cargo and surveillance vessels, and has operated various passenger vessels.
“He knew one of my parishioner’s dads when their dad was a mariner,” Aikman said. “He’s just going to offer some information about mariners, about sea life.”
The annual tribute to the role ships and shipping has played in the life of Point Edward’s community, and a memorial for the bravery of sailors, also invites attendees to view artifacts associated with marine history on the Great Lakes in the church’s heritage room.
Local cadets attend the service and present the flags, Aikman said.
“Our folks love it,” she said, noting there’s usually a meal after the service.
“They put a lot of passion into it.”
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