By Angela Youngman
Lifeboat volunteers who stand by to serve over the Christmas holiday are organising carol services around the British coastline, where communities come together to support their work which is funded by donations.
They will be joined by chaplains, on hand to preside at open-air services and concerts on quaysides, outside lifeboat stations, in medieval churches, cathedrals and hotels. Town bands, male voice choirs and businesses are all lending support.
There’s even a specially produced Christmas song, Pull Away, by the folk band Police Dog Hogan, about a Christmas Day rescue, a tribute to a service that marked its 200th anniversary this year.
Since the RNLI was founded in 1824, its lifeboat crews and lifeguards have saved more than 146,000 lives.
Many of its 238 lifeboat stations in the UK and Ireland have historic links to churches, some going back to 1824, and a team of 50 chaplains has sprung up, attached to stations around the coast.
They will all be called into action themselves this Christmas season. But they are also on hand 24/7 to offer counselling when lives are lost and to support crews in their dangerous and risky work.
Less well known is that clergy are often active members of those crews.
The chaplains in Wales
The Ven Robert Townsend, Archdeacon of Merioneth, is part of the Criccieth crew in south Wales. “I’ve learnt to appreciate the force and strength of the waters,” he says. “Going out in a high-speed 230-horsepower boat has taught me the importance of communication and asking questions. As a team, we have to work well together. I am a small inexperienced cog in a rescue team, the Good Samaritan rather than calming the waves.”
When the lifeboat crew’s pagers go off, no one knows what they will face or how long it will take to rescue people cut off by tide, drifting in the sea, or boats in danger of capsizing.
In south Wales, the Rev Mark Broadway, a Porthcawl lifeboat crew member, found himself going from one distress call to another over several hours, without a break.
On Sundays, clergy tend to stay off the lifeboat roster but problems can occur on other occasions. Officiating at a funeral, Archdeacon Townsend forgot to turn his pager off. The sound echoed around the church, but he was forgiven: “I shut it down quickly but there were a lot of smiles among the family of the person who had died — they were lifeboat crew.”
An emergency call shout even interrupted Mr Broadway’s own wedding. Knowing his involvement with the RNLI, the officiating priest told the congregation to shut off phones unless they were lifeboat crew.
You can guess what happened next. “Seventeen minutes into the service, that was exactly what happened. There was a mass exodus and most of my guests left to attend to the shout. They did get back in time to join the reception. They stopped outside the church with the lifeboat just as we came out.”
Such involvement rarely comes about as a deliberate choice, or even through past knowledge of boats. “I used to be a vicar at Beaumaris, Anglesey,” Archdeacon Townsend says. “A light aeroplane crashed into the sea, and the lifeboat was called out. I went down to the station to say we were praying for them. They said thanks, and would you like to volunteer?”
Most volunteers start as part of shore crews, helping to launch boats, driving the tractor and operating radio communications. Archdeacon Townsend vividly recalls what came next. “They asked me to take part in a trip to see if I had ‘sea legs’ — seeing if they could make me sea-sick!”
A ‘fantastic ministry’
Many other clergy are chaplains at their RNLI station, providing help, holding commemorative services, baptisms and weddings for the volunteers.
The Rev Paul Rossiter, vicar of St Hildeburgh’s, in Hoylake, Cheshire, has been RNLI chaplain for 12 years. “It is a fantastic ministry, working in and with the community,” he says. “As a child living on the Wirral, I would hear the boom go off as the lifeboat went out and I was aware someone was in trouble somewhere. It is incredibly inspiring as the high seas and quicksand are notoriously difficult.
“I provide a space where they can talk and seek help, especially after sad or tragic shouts. They seek me out for weddings and baptisms. We put on a lifeboat service every year and it has helped build long term relationships in the community.”
At Barrow Lifeboat Station, in Cumbria, the Rev Martin Williams, a retired Methodist minister, is also chaplain at the lifeboat station. “I am within walking distance of the RNLI station and as soon as the pager goes off, I am down there. There is a lot of preparation work getting it ready and helping return it. I just help as necessary. It was part of my job to name and dedicate the new inshore lifeboat earlier this year.”
Acting as a lifeboat chaplain often results in closer involvement, says the Rev Anthony O’Grady, based in Newbiggin, Northumberland. “They asked me to join the crew. Before moving to Newbiggin, it had not crossed my radar. I realised that I wanted to do it and it felt so natural to respond to the encouragement I had been given.”
Lessons in teamwork
Participating clergy say that involvement with the RNLI has strengthened their vocations, as well as their links with the community.
Archdeacon Townsend says: “Being part of a volunteer rescue organisation has taught me a lot. As archdeacon I lead a team, on the boat I am a small cog in a team of people who are younger and more experienced than me.
“Having been trained on the lifeboat by volunteers, seeing how the RNLI work has made me think about how this training style could link into the work of the Church in Wales. When you are out in a big rib [rigid inflatable boat], the helm is in charge and you have to communicate and are encouraged to ask questions.
“It is also the experience — I see a different part of creation, the force and strength of the waters. I see the sea as a place where God is, His power and His strength in creation.”
Mark Broadway in Porthcawl agreed. “One of the great things about volunteering with the RNLI is that I am meeting people from outside the church and spending time with people I wouldn’t have met. It has broadened my ministry and has been very rewarding.”
In Hoylake, Mr Rossiter says: “Working with the RNLI has cemented my community links. I felt God was calling me to come here. People don’t realise the magnitude of the work of the RNLI and all the people who are helping behind the scenes, including the clergy, to get a boat out when people are in distress on the sea. We give hours and hours of time voluntarily.”
Martin Williams at Barrow adds: “I value being part of the RNLI community and its importance to the village. We take the boat and do demonstrations in the bay for visitors to see what we do, and to fundraise. There is a lot of commitment involved and living in the village I can see how important it is to everyone. If you get the opportunity to be involved, do it — the RNLI is always looking for support.”
