Reading, MA — In February, a group of young adult divers from St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Lynnfield will be making a “Creation Care” pilgrimage to the island of Bonaire – off the coast of Venezuela – to study the current state of our oceans with the goal of engaging in long-term service work to keep our oceans healthy for generations to come.
They will be led by St. Paul’s rector, the Rev. Rob Bacon, a former U.S. Navy diver who logged over 1,000 hours underwater during his time in the Navy and who has remained an avid recreational, technical and wreck diver since leaving the Navy to enter the ministry. Joining them will be Dr. Bob Sluka, Lead Scientist for A Rocha’s International Marine Conservation Program, and Avery Davis Lamb, Executive Director of Creation Justice Ministries, headquartered in Washington D.C. Together, this team of three leaders will invite these young adults, all in their mid-20s, to “witness God’s majestic and awe-inspiring handiwork beneath the surface of our oceans as they simultaneously discern their specific call to become stewards of our oceans,” said Rev. Bacon.
During his recent sabbatical, Fr. Rob studied the present state of our oceans with experts from a variety of agencies and organizations around the country. Upon his return to St. Paul’s, he invited the Young Adult Ministry group to become certified in scuba so that he could take them diving and show them what he had learned.
The group’s three-stage Open Water Diving training took place during the fall of 2024 and comprised an online learning component, dive sessions in a local pool, then instructed ocean dives. Their first post-certification dive trip was to Key Largo, FL this past November. Their trip to Bonaire will be their second trip. Rev. Bacon said, “The goal is for these young adults to become the new wave of leadership in the Church’s Creation Careministries as they take on specific tasks with clear goals.” This project has been made possible by the generous gifts of an anonymous donor who is not a member of their church.
The parish of St. Paul’s, founded in Lynnfield in 1918, is a growing parish of the Episcopal Church that works to connect with God and each other through worship, prayer, service, and study. More information about St. Paul’s is available at stpaulslynnfield.org or call the church office at 781-334-4594.
