Church Services

[gdy0354]

10 Day Nieuw Statendam Church Service

Are there daily or Sunday services on this ship?

[DaveOKC]

Daily Catholic Mass at 5 PM.

 

[rkacruiser]

Maybe an interdenominational service led by the Priest on Sunday.  

 

Or, on some cruises that I have sailed, some guests who are Lay Leaders in their congregation, will organize such a service.  My opinion after attending such services:  A+ for their efforts.  F for the services' impact on me.  

[FlaMariner]

Overflow attendance at a Sunday  interdenominational service led "by the congregation" on our Rotterdam TA in October. 

 

We were in one of those small "conference room" type rooms but ran out of chairs and it was standing room only.  

 

Interesting how there is no-one to officially lead it but some folks step forward and it happens.

[eggemon]

We had an informal, lay-led Sunday interdenominational service on our Nieuw Amsterdam cruise in November. Small conference room, moderate number of attendees. Hymnals were provided. We used a service outline from the Hymnal, someone agreed to lead the service and another the singing, and a few people read Scripture or shared briefly. It was a nice service.

 

32 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

Interesting how there is no-one to officially lead it but some folks step forward and it happens.

Indeed it is... Good things happen when we willingly offer what we have to God...😃

[rkacruiser]

41 minutes ago, FlaMariner said:

nteresting how there is no-one to officially lead it but some folks step forward and it happens

 

Yes, it is interesting and I hope I wasn't too negative in expressing what I felt in my previous post about lay persons filling the position that HAL should--and did--once provide.  Lay Leaders for a service don't have the same connection for me to our Heavenly Father as an ordained Minister.  Once a year in my local Church, there is a Lay Person who leads the service and provides the sermon.  Rarely, do I leave the service with the same feeling that I have when my Minister is in the Pulpit.  

 

On the other hand, as a Methodist, I have been pleasantly surprised when I have attended an interdenominational service led by a Priest.  There was a message, a connection, that was quite meaningful to me.  

 

 

Edited February 28, 2022 by rkacruiser

[RuthC]

2 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Daily Catholic Mass at 5 PM.

 

Timing is a bit more nuanced than that. 
Daily Mass is celebrated at 5:00 PM on port days and Saturday Vigil. On sea days, it is at 8:00 AM. 
Unless, port arrival is late morning/early afternoon. Then I have seen it scheduled for morning. 

[KAKcruiser]

Recently Mass has been celebrated only at 5 p.m. every day which is different than it has been for years as was explained above by RuthC.

[FlaMariner]

11 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Yes, it is interesting and I hope I wasn't too negative in expressing what I felt in my previous post about lay persons filling the position that HAL should--and did--once provide.  Lay Leaders for a service don't have the same connection for me to our Heavenly Father as an ordained Minister.  Once a year in my local Church, there is a Lay Person who leads the service and provides the sermon.  Rarely, do I leave the service with the same feeling that I have when my Minister is in the Pulpit.  

 

On the other hand, as a Methodist, I have been pleasantly surprised when I have attended an interdenominational service led by a Priest.  There was a message, a connection, that was quite meaningful to me.  

 

 

 

Didn't consider the comment negative.....I used the term "interesting" because it was nifty how folks would step forward but agree, it was not a "real" service with a true connection for us as well. 

 

I wish the Catholic priest would always handle the interdenominational service.  Not sure why that is not "in the contract"....and not just thinking about a cruise ship contract.  I hope Holland America is keeping attendance and seeing that there is an interest in meeting spiritual needs while at sea.  

 

Fellow follower of John Wesley's Methodist movement also!  The minister is educated and trained to deliver....lay leaders, not so much...IMO and experience.  Same thing happens when at home church.....if the lay leader is in charge, we find out who is preaching at the Baptist or Presbyterian church that Sunday and have been know to switch out for a Sunday. 

 

 

 

 

[DaveOKC]

12 hours ago, RuthC said:

Timing is a bit more nuanced than that. 
Daily Mass is celebrated at 5:00 PM on port days and Saturday Vigil. On sea days, it is at 8:00 AM. 
Unless, port arrival is late morning/early afternoon. Then I have seen it scheduled for morning. 

Ruth - this has changed to 5 PM daily (I think on all ships).

 

[tjcox9]

BTW, there was no priest on the Feb 5 Rotterdam cruise, but there was on the 13th. No idea why.......

[Btimmer]

4 hours ago, tjcox9 said:

BTW, there was no priest on the Feb 5 Rotterdam cruise, but there was on the 13th. No idea why.......

We were on the Zuiderdam for a B2B in January and when the Priest got off in FLL, the Priest who was to board tested positive for Covid and couldn't board.  So there was no Priest for the return 2 week voyage.  Perhaps that was the situation on your cruise.

 

As a lay person, I've volunteered to lead many interdenominational services on board.  One of the most memorable times was when we sailed from Seattle to Australia and the group connected quite well and we met daily for a Bible Study in the Pinnacle Grill in the afternoon.  Those relationships have continued on to today.  In another case we met a couple from Aruba on an Asian cruise and we've been able to maintain our friendship and connection.  We have been able to visit them 4 times since.

 

 

[RuthC]

8 hours ago, DaveOKC said:

Ruth - this has changed to 5 PM daily (I think on all ships).

 

KAKcruiser made that point last night. I appreciated the update.