At the beginning of the year Caroline and I left Southampton for the Caribbean and 35 days later we returned to Southampton. We were on the Cunard ship, Queen Victoria. Enroute to the Caribbean and on our journey back to the UK we had many sea days. In the mornings there were lectures: for example one of the speakers was Jennie Bond, who spoke about the British royal family. Another speaker was a former governor of Belmarsh, England’s most secure prison and he spoke about prisons. Yet another speaker was a professional explorer, who amongst other places had been to the Antarctic, and climbed mountains in North Korea. Other speakers talked about the history of Cunard and the White Star Line; how to make the most of our iPhones; and the history of the Caribbean islands we would be visiting. In the evenings there was all sorts of entertainment in the large theatre: for instance, there were choirs, violinists, plays, and comedians.
On Sundays when we were not visiting Caribbean islands the ship’s captain led inter-denominational Christian services in the theatre, which were attended by some 300 people. We sang well-known hymns such as ‘Abide with me’, ‘O God our help in ages past’, ‘Lead us Heavenly Father lead us ‘and ‘Eternal Father strong to save’, and we listened to the lectionary readings for the day from the Bible. With regard to the prayers, we confessed our sins, we read the Venite, said the Apostle’s Creed, and said together the Lord’s Prayer. The Captain read the collects, and led us in the so-called General Thanksgiving. Together we said the Grace: viz. ‘The Grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with us all evermore’.
However, what for me proved to be ‘A taste of heaven’, were the meetings of the Christian fellowship, which took place on sea days. It was my privilege to lead these meetings, for I was the only Christian minister aboard the Queen Victoria. There were over 20 of us who met together every sea day. We were a mixed bunch of Christians. We had a good number of Roman Catholics. In addition there were Anglicans, Baptists, Congregationalists, Pentecostals, and people from other independent Evangelical churches. Some were retired lawyers, teachers, doctors, research chemists, and engineers, We began with reading a passage from the Bible, after which I asked those present to share with us what they felt God was saying to us. We then shared prayer requests before we prayed together. Generally speaking, the meetings lasted no more than half-an-hour.
As you can imagine, there were many theological differences between us: for instance, some believed in evolution; while two people believed the world was only 6000 years old; some believed that it is sinful to bless same-sex couple, whereas others believed that it is right to welcome same-sex couples into the church. With regard to same-sex couples, I am willing to recognise gay marriage, unlike some of my fellow Evangelicals, because if we do not do this, then we will alienate people outside the church. However, in spite of our differences, the one thing we had in common was our faith in Jesus Christ. I confess, that there were many occasion when I differed from other members of the Christian fellowship in their interpretations of the Bible. I had to remind myself of a saying of Saint Augustine, the bishop of Hippo (354-430 AD) quoted by the great 17th century Puritan, Richard Baxter (1615-1691), who was vicar of Kidderminster: “In essentials unity, in non-essentials liberty, in all things charity”. The fact is that we have a world to win, and we shall only do so as we love one another, whatever our differences. As Jesus prayed to his Father for his disciples on the night before he died, may they “be one, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17.21).