Archbishop Fred Hiltz describes the invitation to take part in the annual Christmas carol service for seafarers as “a deep honour.” Photo: The General Synod/Anglican Church of Canada
Archbishop Fred Hiltz, primate of the Anglican Church of Canada, will visit London, England, in December to take part in the Mission to Seafarers’ annual Christmas carol service. This year’s service will be followed by a celebratory reception to mark the Anglican mission agency’s 160th anniversary. The service, at the mission’s home church – St Michael Paternoster Royal in the City of London – will take the form of a Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.
The service will include prayers of thanksgiving for people who live and work at sea; and conclude with a champagne reception at the Skinners Hall – home of one of the City of London’s historic livery companies – to conclude a year of celebrations of 160 years of Christian service to the seafaring community across the world.
Born in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, Hiltz has lived near the Atlantic Ocean for most of his life. He described the invitation to be a guest reader at the service as “a deep honour.”
“Canada remains a major seafaring nation, and we are deeply proud of our Canadian Missions to Seafarers, which form an integral part of the global Mission to Seafarers’ family network,” he said. “With Mission to Seafarers’ stations located in the ports of St John’s, Nfld., Vancouver, Toronto, Oshawa, Hamilton, Halifax, Thunder Bay, Windsor, Lasalle, Sarnia and Saint John, our teams are dedicated to providing help and hope in times of need.”
The Mission to Seafarers is held in high esteem by the international maritime community and the service and reception is sponsored by industry specialists Ince & Co, the worldwide business and finance lawyers, as well as BP Global and Harris Pye Engineering.
Tickets for the Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols and the anniversary reception cost £30 each and can be obtained from the Mission to Seafarers’ Ravina Patel. Email: Ravina.Patel@missiontoseafarers.org for details.