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The floating church is offering services to people troubled by the global credit crunch. (Reuters) |
LONDON — Nestled near the new skyscrapers and banking headquarters in London's financial district, a floating church is offering services to people troubled by the global credit crunch.
"The venue of a boat is a bit different," senior minister Marcus Nodder told Reuters on Thursday, August 21.
"It means we can appeal to people who are disillusioned with traditional church."
St. Peter's Barge, Britain's only floating Anglican church, is moored in Docklands at Canary Wharf in London.
Walking up the gangplank to the barge, one is met with a bright and airy space with new wooden fixtures, a complete contrast to a traditional church.
Starting life as a Dutch freight barge, St Peter's was purchased and re-fitted in the Netherlands at a cost of 350,000 pounds and sailed to its new home in 2003.
It had previously transported cargo between ports throughout Europe, although little else is known about its history.
Floating churches are extremely rare.
In Wales, a ship permanently moored in Cardiff Bay is used as a Christian center, while Scotland, Cambodia, Germany and Belgium all have water-based churches or had them in the past.
Trader-friendly
Jeremy Marshall, chief executive officer of UK private banking at Credit Suisse, believes the church is much needed.
"There needs to be a spiritual reality there – especially in the current, very tough times," he told Reuters.
"Many people who spend their whole life just focusing on just making money, begin to question what is the meaning of life, why am I doing that," noted Marshall, who helped set up the floating church.
He said the short, lunchtime services were designed to be "trader-friendly," accommodating people under pressure and sometimes worried about their jobs.
"I've been in the (financial) industry for more than 20 years and the pressure on employees has increased probably every year. You can't have two-hour long services."
The floating church is already drawing a growing number of attendants.
"There are a lot of Christians in the Wharf -- more than you'd think in what many see as a temple of mammon," notes Marshall.
"We are all trying in a way to gain the whole world, that's the nature of banking and finance, but as the bible says don't forget your soul at the same time."
"I know one or two members of the congregation who are going through difficult times or redundancies themselves, so it's a great support for them," says Robert Frazer, a consultant relationship manager at financial services company Northern Trust.
For Barbara McCleery, talent relationship manager at HSBC and a regular attendant of the church's lunchtime services, the main advantage of St Peter's is its location.
"From a biblical perspective, you realize there is a higher authority despite the (economic) uncertainty of today."
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