THE APOSTLESHIP OF THE SEA CELEBRATES ITS 90th ANNIVERSARY

On 4^th October 1920 three men, Rev. Donald MacKintosh, Arthur Gannon and Peter Hanson, met in Glasgow as they were concerned that there was a lack of ministry to the shipping industry. Two years later they approached Pope Pius XI who gave his blessing to the ministry, and encouraged the Apostleship of the Sea to extend its mission to the oceans and shores of the hemispheres of the world.

With the support of chaplains and volunteers who have continued with generosity and dedication to care for the pastoral care of seafarers of all races, nationalities and religions, the Apostleship of the Sea has developed and spread to become a great “Work” of the Church.

It is fitting that this year 2010 has been dedicated as “The Year of the Seafarer” by the International Maritime Organization (IMO), to show deep appreciation and recognition of the extraordinary service the seafarer renders every day of their professional life, frequently under dangerous circumstances, in delivering, to the more than 6.5 billion people of the world, the wheat that makes our daily bread, the gas and oil that warms our homes and moves our vehicles, and the clothes that we wear. Our country depends on the export of our produce to allow us to import what we need from overseas.

Last year when the executive of the Apostleship of the Sea met with the New Zealand Bishops Conference, the Bishops said they wanted to put “Sea Sunday” on the New Zealand National Calendar to acknowledge this ministry and to support the work done to provide for the seafarer in our ports.

In 1998 although Wellington, Auckland, Napier and Lyttelton had AOS missions or centres, the Port of Tauranga, the largest export port in New Zealand had none. The Anglican Flying Angels and the Presbyterian Galilee Mission each had a small mission. The local branch of the AOS was started up when Bishop Denis Browne appointed Deacon Sid Wells as port chaplain under the National AOS in Wellington.

In the year 2000, the other two missions were forced to close and had to find alternative premises. They conversed with the AOS chaplain and it was decided that a coalition could be formed. This was actioned and the United Seafarers Mission (USM), an ecumenical ministry was established.

The USM has continued to grow from two small rooms and now occupies the complete ground floor of Oceania House, just inside the port gate on Hull Road. It is a commercial building owned by the Port and is subject to commercial rent and rent reviews. The Port has given a $10,000 rebate on the rental but the rental has risen from $12,560 pa plus GST to $40,000 pa plus GST. A local Trust has recently come “on board” with a substantial grant towards the rental. The benefits of being inside the port gates are the security and the access of the seafarers, with the Port providing a shuttle service between the ships and the Mission. On average 1000 seafarers visit the USM each month.

The needs of the seafarers has changed with more access to the Internet required, rather than phone calls to contact their families and loved ones. Most seafarers have laptops and the use of Skype is the normal means of contact. It is not unusual to have more than 25 on line at any one time with others waiting.

The AOS makes a monthly contribution to the cost of running the USM and we thank the Parish for the generous support given to us on Sea Sunday and through the Christmas raffles. We also thank those who donate monthly by Bank authority. The need we have is for volunteers to help run the USM to keep it open from 11.00am to 9.00pm weekdays and 2.00pm to 9.00pm on weekends. If you would like more information or to see the USM in action please contact without obligation, the secretary Paul Hickey ph 579 0547 or Deacon Sid Wells ph 544 3506