Capacity Crowd Welcomes Ecumenical Ministry Team

08-12-2009

A FULL crowd packed into the chapel of the Mill Dam Mission to Seafarers on Sunday, December 6, to witness the swearing-in of the new ecumenical ministry team which will operate in the Port of Tyne.

Around 100 people, including the Mayor of South Tyneside, Councillor John Anglin, joined the Bishop of Jarrow, the Rt Revd Mark Bryant as he commissioned Dianne Erskine of The Mission to Seafarers and Paul Atkinson of the Apostleship of the Sea as the two principal team members who will be responsible for serving seafarers visiting the port and welcoming them to the communications centre based at Mill Dam.

“Today marks a new chapter in the life of this ministry,” said the Revd Canon Ken Peters, director of justice and welfare of the Mission to Seafarers in London. “This new ecumenical partnership between the Roman Catholic Apostleship of the Sea and the Anglican Mission to Seafarers will benefit seafarers enormously, ensuring they receive the help that they need, when they need it most.”

The Bishop, who was greeted at St Hilda’s Church by a detachment of cadets from TS Collingwood, paraded through the streets of South Shields to the Mill Dam centre led by a bagpipe player. Once inside, he asked the congregation to welcome Dianne and Paul, along with the honorary ordained chaplains Monsignor Ron Brown and the Revd Canon Peter Stannard, who will oversee the running of the team.

Following the short service, the Bishop led the congregation down to the dock where the Harbour Master’s Launch was waiting. Accompanied by music from the South Shields band of The Salvation Army, the Bishop blessed the port and all those who use it for work or pleasure.

Created with flickr slideshow.

Photography by Craig Leng

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