St. David's Global Sea Sunday

Veteran’s Naval Band bugler John More, St. David’s Anglican Church parishioners Captain John Horton and Nick Robinson of the Delta Lifeboat, along with Brian Cook also from the Delta, will participate in a global tribute to mariners when the parish marks Sea Sunday June 27. 

The timely easing of COVID-19 restrictions by BC’s Public Health Officer, notably a return to limited indoor gatherings, coincides with observance of the vital place the sea and those who sail it have in our lives. 

It is a day of special meaning for residents of South Delta where the very name Tsawwassen, stems from the early Coast Salish depiction ‘facing the sea’.  The sanctuary of St. David’s will be transformed for the 9am service Sunday when a dinghy and trappings of the sea will remind online ZOOM and in-person attendees of the debt owed to They that go down to the seas in ships.

In Ladner/Tsawwassen, local dependence on seafarers is fairly obvious given the area’s proximity to BC Ferries, Seaspan’s barge/ferry Terminals on the Fraser River in Delta and Surrey, tugs and barges hauling wood products, rock, gravel and cement, not forgetting the fisher folk who provide food for the table. 

The Delta Lifeboat, based in Ladner Harbour, plays a pivotal role in providing search and rescue support for commercial and native fisheries, along with other duties related to a Canadian Lifeboat Institute vessel. The Delta is captained by John Horton, a senior lifeboat commander with CLI.  

It is widely recognized that 90% of everything in shops today is imported by sea. Global trade is dependent on the shipping industry and any disruption in the delivery of goods, be it storm or other peril of the sea, directly affects one and all. It is the best possible reason to recognize and give thanks to mariners and those who work in the many supporting industries. 

The Sea Sunday Service will include Captain Horton’s description and significance of a ship’s ‘8 bells’ and the bugler’s call.

Also included is the blessing of a memorial wreath by St. David’s rector, the Rev. Simbarashi Basvi. The wreath, in memory of souls lost at sea, is to be cast afloat later that day in the main channel of the Fraser River. This will take place from the upper deck of the Delta Lifeboat, to the sound of 8 bells, the Bosun’s call and prayers by the Rev. Basvi.