At the Cathedral of the Casuarinas, Nourishment for a Sailor's Soul

Herb Mccormick

Kathy from Mariah Joy delivers the weekly message during Beach Church at the shady Cathedral of the Casuarinas, in George-Town, in the Bahamas.

Just before 10, on a beautiful Sunday morning in the incredible Bahamian harbor of George-Town, the dinghies began landing on the beach. On most days, this particular patch of sand is better known as Volleyball Beach, but on Sundays it shifts identities, assuming a name inspired by the massive tropical pines that cast a broad, welcome shadow from overhead. The Cathedral of the Casuarinas, they call it, the meeting place for a weekly religious service for sailors that's known as Beach Church.

In one form or another, Beach Church in George-Town has been in existence for the better part of a decade. Originally founded by some visiting cruisers, in its early years the leader of the congregation was Pastor George Beckman, an ordained priest who'd founded a prison ministry before presiding over a far freer, sunburned flock. Other ministers followed Beckman's lead until a couple of years ago, when the "seated" reverend decided he should have a real parish and split for the mainland. At that stage, the regular sailors who visit George-Town on an annual basis did what they always do when something needs attention: They took matters into their own resourceful hands.