One Christian congregation in Southern California is taking the notion of “walking on water” quite literally. In a ceremony held Sunday in La Jolla Shores, a Christian church offered a “blessing of the surfboards,” modeled after similar services for other personal vehicles.
The special Sunday worship service took place on the sand. There, pastor Tim Seery spoke to the congregants before offering individual blessings for their surfboards and other watercraft. “May this board be a blessing of joy, connection with nature, and respect for the ocean’s power,” went one of the blessings, invoked upon a congregant’s soft-top.
“By having your surfboard blessed, it’s an acknowledgement that the church can extend beyond our walls. The church is the whole world, and this is a beautiful sanctuary we have here in California,” said Seery to NBC 7.
Seery told NBC he got the idea from a New York City church that holds a “blessing of bikes.” The nearly 30-year-long tradition is held at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine. The brief service involves an oration from the reverend, followed by a ceremony which the bicycles are sprinkled with holy water. The popularity of the service has led to other congregations across the country following suit.
“When I lived on the East Coast, I discovered the Cathedral Church of Saint John the Divine blessed bicycles. In New York City, that’s perfect, because bicycles are ubiquitous. I thought ‘What could we do in California that would be very similar to that?’ I thought ‘Here in California, surfboards are our bicycles.'”
