The St. Matthew’s Abbotsford community celebrated summer together, Saturday evening, July 23rd with a dinner cruise around Chuckanut Bay and Admiralty Inlet in and around the San Juan Islands of Washington State.
The ship departed the port of Bellingham at 6:30pm and returned at 9pm not quite a “3 hour tour” as was immortalized in a 1960’s US network sit-com.
The weather was glorious and the views divine as the bright white of the late afternoon sun glinting on the wake shifted to the deep orange of evening. However, as idyllic as this nautical image may be, the real attraction were the buckets filled to the brim with freshly caught and boiled crab on ice and loaded onto the ship. All you could eat. A great way to get to know your fellow parishioners is by sharing a few shellfish. It’s hard to be demure when you are pulling a crab leg off of the shell and cracking it open.
The Reverend David Price, Priest-in-Charge of All Saints Agassiz took time out from his busy parish to attend the event and five representatives of the Synod office: Bishop Michael Ingham, Eileen & Charles Nurse and Randy & Rose Murray also joined the Reverend Allen Doerksen and the St. Matthew’s congregation on the cruise.
A very good time was had by all with much of the conversation focused on Allen’s upcoming installation as Bishop’s Missioner for the Central Fraser Valley to be held at St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, Wednesday, September 7th at 7:30pm.
The ship departed the port of Bellingham at 6:30pm and returned at 9pm not quite a “3 hour tour” as was immortalized in a 1960’s US network sit-com.
The weather was glorious and the views divine as the bright white of the late afternoon sun glinting on the wake shifted to the deep orange of evening. However, as idyllic as this nautical image may be, the real attraction were the buckets filled to the brim with freshly caught and boiled crab on ice and loaded onto the ship. All you could eat. A great way to get to know your fellow parishioners is by sharing a few shellfish. It’s hard to be demure when you are pulling a crab leg off of the shell and cracking it open.
The Reverend David Price, Priest-in-Charge of All Saints Agassiz took time out from his busy parish to attend the event and five representatives of the Synod office: Bishop Michael Ingham, Eileen & Charles Nurse and Randy & Rose Murray also joined the Reverend Allen Doerksen and the St. Matthew’s congregation on the cruise.
A very good time was had by all with much of the conversation focused on Allen’s upcoming installation as Bishop’s Missioner for the Central Fraser Valley to be held at St. Matthew’s, Abbotsford, Wednesday, September 7th at 7:30pm.
Images: Top left, Douglas MacAdams and Rev. Allen Doerksen confer prior to boarding. MIddle right, Jim and Beverly Stewart. Below: 1. Time for Desert. 2. The Sun sets over the San Juan Islands.