August 6, 2007
Asbury Park Journal
Sea, Sand, Sky and an Invitation to Worship
By TINA KELLEY
ASBURY PARK, N.J.
The altar is a tray for serving breakfast in bed. The pews are large
towels or striped beach chairs. And instead of doodling on the
program, distracted children can play with a bucket or bury a parent's
feet in the sand.
On Saturdays in the summer, Trinity Church, an Episcopal congregation
here, celebrates a beach Mass at 6 p.m., attracting up to 75 people
some passers-by from the Boardwalk, some regular parish members, and
some visitors from Asbury Towers, a retirement housing complex that
casts a welcome late-afternoon shadow on the sand.
"Glorify the Lord, O springs of water, seas and streams," said the
Rev. Mary Frances Schjonberg, reading from Canticle 12 in the Book of
Common Prayer, as she stood on the beach at the north end of the
Boardwalk on Saturday. "O whales and all that move in the waters, all
birds of the air, glorify the Lord."
Anyone needing to daydream during the service could watch the wind
dandling a gull feather in a footprint, or the bright orange, wiggling
toenails of a nearby parishioner.
"This was God's first church," said Sharon Babb of Neptune after the
service. "How many of those stories show Jesus preaching by the Sea of
Galilee? So I feel this is the most appropriate cathedral. When we
were mentioning `the birds of the air,' the sea gulls flew by like
they were on cue."
All the supplies for the service, including a few plastic bottles of
water for mixing with the wine, fit into a small plastic storage tub.
Paper gift bags served as collection plates.
The setting received such positive reviews that it might be worth
reconsidering the investment of billions of dollars in ecclesiastical
architecture.
"It's the most serene, beautiful atmosphere," said Erica Peitler, of
Morristown, a first-time visitor who rents a summer place in
Avon-by-the-Sea. "I felt we were connected more to each other, even if
there's so much open space here."
Everyone was encouraged to remain seated throughout the service,
except during the sharing of the sacraments. The bread and wine were
passed from person to person, which was new to some; usually the
priest distributes them.
"You say, `The body of Christ, the bread of heaven,' with the bread,
and `The blood of Christ, the cup of salvation,' with the wine," Ms.
Schjonberg said. "Don't worry if you forget it; it still works."
It is an informal parish even when it meets at its historic stone
building on Asbury Avenue, where a sign reads, "Come as you are. Jesus
wore sandals."
After the service, the Rev. David Stout, the parish rector, and the
Rev. Tom Conway, another priest, headed downtown to the city's First
Night celebration, held the first Saturday of every month. They
fielded questions from the public, encouraging passers-by to "ask a
priest anything," which led to lively conversations about faith,
premarital sex and the differences among denominations.
While the church has not yet won new members through the beach Masses,
which have been going on for three years, they do attract people who
stop, listen and participate, Mr. Stout said. On Aug. 19, at least
three people will be baptized in the ocean, an exciting challenge for
priests who usually do the ceremonies indoors by simply making a sign
of the cross on the forehead with water.
The congregation prayed to God, saying, "You laid the foundations of
the world and enclosed the sea when it burst out from the womb." And
at the benediction, Mr. Stout encouraged everyone, "Be swift to be
kind, and make haste to love."
The only music was a taunting "Turkey in the Straw" from an ice cream
truck a block away. Only after the benediction did music from a nearby
bar get loud. And then the beach planes headed north, advertising rum
and other diversions.
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